GWS is the AFL's biggest problem - not North, GC, or Tassie

[WillHayward]

GWS is a fantasy fever dream. The actual fans and TV numbers are zero.

Same people who think we need to "be patient" with GWS also think the AFL can can take over LA and China. Same parochial mentality for those pipe dream ideas.

Its the sports equivalent of colonialism and religious missionaries going to exotic places and trying to enforce their "superior" culture on people who don't want them there.

Chuck em in Canberra and get a grip on reality.

 

[WillHayward]

Nah. Just need to get back to where they were when winning.

Nobody in western Sydney gave two flying *s when they were winning.

 

[RedV3x]

Nobody in western Sydney gave two flying *s when they were winning.

Well the facts prove you wrong. GWS was tracking well at one stage.
There is nothing mysterious about Western Sydney - it's full of people and people like Australian Football.

 

[madmug]

Well the facts prove you wrong. GWS was tracking well at one stage.
There is nothing mysterious about Western Sydney - it's full of people and people like Australian Football.

Well after 12 years, crowds of 7k in an area of 2million people gives reason for concern.

Its legitimate to ask the question.

Sure, the answer is to give it time. But for many, the concern remains.

 

[Tippett2Goal]

So it raises the question as to where are these members on match days?

I know a decent number of GWS members who are in their recruiting zone and are up to 800km's from Sydney, and they speak very highly of the work Giants academy is doing in their areas
(Forbes - Wagga - Hay - Condo)

But frankly I think patience is the only real answer here, anyone expecting overnight results is kidding themselves.

Also comparing crowd figures of low drawing Victorian clubs to GWS is silly, they all benefit from somewhere between 10 and 13 games at home against another club from their own state, GWS gets 2. You should expect North/Dogs/Saints to be pulling double the numbers on average that GWS is, which they roughly are.

 

[99cents]

GWS is a fantasy fever dream. The actual fans and TV numbers are zero.

Same people who think we need to "be patient" with GWS also think the AFL can can take over LA and China. Same parochial mentality for those pipe dream ideas.

Its the sports equivalent of colonialism and religious missionaries going to exotic places and trying to enforce their "superior" culture on people who don't want them there.

Chuck em in Canberra and get a grip on reality.

Swans took a while.. 8/9k crowds mid 90's

 

[RedV3x]

Well after 12 years, crowds of 7k in an area of 2million people gives reason for concern.

Well the facts prove you wrong. GWS was tracking well at one stage.
The right management and onfield success would hopefully seen a return and betterment of that position.
There is nothing mysterious about Western Sydney - it's full of people and people like Australian Football.
Sydney especially is a winner's town.

 

[madmug]

Well the facts prove you wrong. GWS was tracking well at one stage.
The right management and onfield success would hopefully seen a return and betterment of that position.
There is nothing mysterious about Western Sydney - it's full of people and people like Australian Football.
Sydney especially is a winner's town.

'Facts, was tracking, hopefully'.

All very convincing.

One does hope & they track well soon.

But none of that is fact.

 

[Tasmanian saint]

So it raises the question as to where are these members on match days?

The 19 k figure is pretty misleading I imagine they would give away a fair few memberships like they do game tickets . the proof was there when they couldn’t even sell all there grand final allocation when they made yet apparently they had 30k members

 

[Walshawk]

Swans took a while.. 8/9k crowds mid 90's

Yes but 40k games in the 80s showed the potential. GWS have not even had a 16k non swans home crowd.

 

[czns]

The Giants had reasonable crowds around 2016-19. Were on par with a lot of the Sydney NRL crowds. I think playing at the Olympic Park is a problem because no one wants to go there.

 

[Canberra Pear]

The 19 k figure is pretty misleading I imagine they would give away a fair few memberships like they do game tickets . the proof was there when they couldn’t even sell all there grand final allocation when they made yet apparently they had 30k members

I know, pathetic right?

Can't even get more than half their members, from a famously working class region, to fork out thousands of dollars for tickets, flights and accommodation with a week's notice!

 

[madmug]

I know, pathetic right?

Can't even get more than half their members, from a famously working class region, to fork out thousands of dollars for tickets, flights and accommodation with a week's notice!

Hence the advantage Melbourne football people have.

After last year when Demon supporters had a 'devil of a time' ()getting to Perth, you think they'd understand the difficulty of traveling at short notice for a GF.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Hence the advantage Melbourne football people have.

After last year when Demon supporters had a 'devil of a time' ()getting to Perth, you think they'd understand the difficulty of traveling at short notice for a GF.

Exactly, people always talk about the Melbourne teams' unfair advantage on grand final day, but it's so damned expensive for interstate fans.

And flights and accommodation always seem to miraculously get more expensive that weekend.

 

[madmug]

Exactly, people always talk about the Melbourne teams' unfair advantage on grand final day, but it's so damned expensive for interstate fans.

And flights and accommodation always seem to miraculously get more expensive that weekend.

If the Pies make it to the GF this year I might see if I can shack up with Lounge Lizard for a night.

That'll save a few bob!!

 

[JackFlash]

The Orange colours was a mistake and they should've tugged at the heart strings and gone with a two blues colour scheme with a Red Waratah emblem. Location is also an issue as players want to live in salubrious suburbs like Darling Point, Potts Point, Paddington, Bellevue Hil, Centennial Park, Bondi or Maroubra. The West of Sydney isn't attractive for these young blokes. GWS needs to go and be called Western Sydney with a complete image change.

 

[Canberra Pear]

If the Pies make it to the GF this year I might see if I can shack up with Lounge Lizard for a night.

That'll save a few bob!!

Definitely in the realm of possibility! Hopefully they keep the flight prices down.

I got tickets to the 2017 grand final and drove from Canberra, but I wouldn't drive much further than from Canberra or Adelaide (and I'm guessing ferrying your car across the Bass Strait negates any savings).

 

[Tasmanian saint]

I know, pathetic right?

Can't even get more than half their members, from a famously working class region, to fork out thousands of dollars for tickets, fli

I know, pathetic right?

Can't even get more than half their members, from a famously working class region, to fork out thousands of dollars for tickets, flights and accommodation with a week's notice!

Working class? You do know western Sydney has some of the highest median houses prices in the country don’t you

 

[Schulzenfest]

I voted for the second option, I don't know if it would actually help but I just want them to change their name to Western Sydney because 'Greater Western Sydney' is a stupid name for a football club.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Working class? You do know western Sydney has some of the highest median houses prices in the country don’t you

So you cherry pick one part.

I wouldn't expect any club to get more than half their members' to spend thousands of dollars on a week's notice, regardless of socio-economic status.

I'm not in Sydney often, so I can't attest to whether Western Sydney is truly working class or not, but just because Western Sydney has higher median house prices than the rest of the country doesn't mean they're not working class. All of Sydney's house prices are ridiculous, but the ten lowest Sydney suburbs (probably more, that's all I could find) are all in Western Sydney.

 

[Tasmanian saint]

So you cherry pick one part.

I wouldn't expect any club to get more than half their members' to spend thousands of dollars on a week's notice, regardless of socio-economic status.

I'm not in Sydney often, so I can't attest to whether Western Sydney is truly working class or not, but just because Western Sydney has higher median house prices than the rest of the country doesn't mean they're not working class. All of Sydney's house prices are ridiculous, but the ten lowest Sydney suburbs (probably more, that's all I could find) are all in Western Sydney.

The majority of clubs would be able to do that. I think western Sydney changed a fair bit over the last decade definitely well above work class my brother has lived there the last 5 years it’s changed a lot just in that time

 

[Canberra Pear]

The majority of clubs would be able to do that. I think western Sydney changed a fair bit over the last decade definitely well above work class my brother has lived there the last 5 years it’s changed a lot just in that time

I think Melbourne-based clubs just forget what a commitment it takes to get to the grand final.

I had access as a GWS member, but just couldn't justify the costs at the time. If it were in Sydney I probably would've though as I could've just bussed it there and back in a day. Adding flights and accommodation during a peak event just adds so much.

But apparently 15k of those 30k members bought tickets (according to a bigfooty post citing The Age in 2019). They were only 2k short. Not bad to get half of the membership to pay that much to go.

Also, apparently the Swans didn't sell out in 2016. There were 200 standing tickets not used by Swans members. Considering Sydney's Melbourne roots, and obviously larger fan base, surely that's more embarrassing than the Giants only reaching 15k.

It'll be interesting to see if Brisbane sell their allocation if they make it. They've got a decent Fitzroy base, but the MCG had a reduced capacity through their early 2000s run, so it's hard to tell if they would have sold a full allocation back then, and how that'll translate now.

Has your brother embraced the Big Big Sound yet? You've got a soldier behind enemy lines, surely you've got to deploy him in the fight for the Great Code Wars.

 

[RedV3x]

But none of that is fact.

Well the facts prove you wrong. GWS was tracking well at one stage.

Now, with the right management and onfield success that would hopefully see a return to the stage where GWS were on track
and even better that position by continuing on.
There is nothing mysterious about Western Sydney - it's full of people and people like Australian Football.
Sydney especially is a winner's town.

 

[Aussie in exile]

The Orange colours was a mistake and they should've tugged at the heart strings and gone with a two blues colour scheme with a Red Waratah emblem. Location is also an issue as players want to live in salubrious suburbs like Darling Point, Potts Point, Paddington, Bellevue Hil, Centennial Park, Bondi or Maroubra. The West of Sydney isn't attractive for these young blokes. GWS needs to go and be called Western Sydney with a complete image change.

Just copying the West Tigers. Attention seeking

 

[Gigantor]

Just copying the West Tigers. Attention seeking

I didn't think the West Tigers used Charcoal.