It’s been more than 40 years since the South Melbourne Football Club packed up and moved to Sydney and became the Swans; the first serious steps for the AFL into rugby league heartland.
It took some time before the Swans were taken seriously. Millions of dollars were lost as the club struggled to convince Sydneysiders that Melbourne’s game was worth a look.
It didn’t help that rugby league was in the midst of a golden period, with the entertaining football of the 1980s and 1990s and the ‘Simply The Best’ era dominating the headlines and chatter in pubs, clubs, schoolyards and lounge rooms.
Eventually, the Swans would find their place; never tipping the scales in the battle with rugby league for eyeballs, but carving its piece of Sydney’s sporting landscape all the same.
Those running the AFL in Melbourne knew that the only way to really tackle Sydney with success, however, was to get deep into western Sydney.
Either by design or accident, the Swans had built something of an elite, eastern suburbs / north shore following, with any Sherrins landing in Sydney’s west quickly marked return to sender.
And so in 2012, the Greater Western Sydney Giants entered the competition.
A long-term strategy from the AFL, we were told, to win over the west.
The story goes that the AFL’s plan was never to win over the NRL-loving adults of western Sydney, but to instead find its way into schools; to target the next generation.
But some 12 years after they first entered the competition, has the GWS Giants moved the dial in western Sydney at all?
If you asked the AFL, the answer would be a resounding yes. There would be facts and figures to back that up, of course.
But if you took a walk down High Street in Penrith or Church Street Mall in Parramatta, the chances of seeing someone walking around in a GWS guernsey or shirt would be about as high as the ABC hiring Peter Dutton as the next host of ‘Media Watch’.
In short, next to zero.
I’d tip if you asked 100 people in Penrith who coached the Giants, none could tell you.
Now this is not a rugby league fan claiming some sort of weird victory over the AFL.
In fact, as much as I may be a league man, I love the AFL too: I’m not a naysayer, and I appreciate how good the sport can be.
But I can’t help but feel the AFL and the GWS Giants have the strategy wrong.
Right now it feels like those running the game have a complete misunderstanding of Sydney and how it works.
Given the game is so Melbourne-centric, maybe that is true.
There is growing evidence that the Giants may be western Sydney in name, but not in nature.
Take for example the Giants’ AFLW side.
This is a team capable of inspiring the next generation of female sporting talent to pick up an AFL ball and give the sport a go.
A team capable, in an era where women’s sport has enjoyed an incredible resurgence both in Australia and around the world, of carving a strong following in western Sydney.
So where do you think they play their homes games?
Somewhere in western Sydney, right?
Wrong.
The Greater Western Sydney Giants play their home matches at Henson Park in Newtown and Manuka Oval in Canberra.
I’m not sure who at the AFL needs to know this, but Newtown is not in western Sydney, and especially not Greater Western Sydney.
You could have argued it was in the west about 100 years ago, but we’ve long evolved from that.
And so how many people attended the game between the Giants and Crows at Henson Park on Sunday?
1,061.
That’s not a shot at the AFLW.
But if that crowd figure doesn’t tell you that the strategy is wrong; that a team representing western Sydney actually needs to play in western Sydney, then nothing will.
Last month the GWS Giants held a Grand Final Luncheon, as many clubs do.
Where was it?
Perhaps one of the many function centres in western Sydney? Maybe the stunning new Western Sydney Conference Centre in Penrith?
Nope. It was held at the Crown in Sydney.
Maybe there’s an argument that sponsors are Sydney-based, but even if that’s the case, surely you hold your Grand Final lunch in the area you actually represent?
Imagine the Panthers or Eels abandoning Penrith or Parramatta to hold their Grand Final lunch?
It wouldn’t happen.
And to top it off, they held the Kevin Sheedy Medal night at the Crown too. What is the obsession with abandoning western Sydney?
The GWS mens team attracted an average crowd of 12,275 this season. It is not terrible, but it was the worst in the AFL.
Down the road, the Swans attracted an average of 38,202 to their home games at the SCG. The bigger problem for the AFL in Sydney is the TV audience, with a test pattern often a chance of rating higher.
The GWS Giants have the potential to be a powerhouse in western Sydney.
They have the kind of backing in the AFL that should make Andrew Abdo and Peter V’landys nervous.
But they seem intent on stuffing it up.
There is a clear lack of understanding of what Sydneysiders consider Greater Western Sydney to be.
Right now, it feels like the AFL is abandoning a region it only ever really dipped its toe in anyway. And it’s not good enough.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.