Greater Western Sydney Football Club

Greater Western Sydney

Names
Full name	Greater Western Sydney Football Club
Nickname(s)	GWS, Giants
Club details
Founded	2009
Colours	Orange      Charcoal      White
Competition	Australian Football League
Coach	Kevin Sheedy
Captain(s)	Phil Davis (co-captain) Luke Power (co-captain) Callan Ward (co-Captain)
Ground(s)	Skoda Stadium (capacity: 25,000)
	ANZ Stadium (capacity: 82,500)
	Blacktown International Sportspark (training) (capacity: 10,000)
Other information
Official website	www.gwsgiants.com.au

The Greater Western Sydney Football Club, nicknamed the Giants, is an Australian rules football club based in Blacktown, New South Wales, that will begin playing in the Australian Football League (AFL) in the 2012 season. Representing the Greater Western Sydney area of Sydney, Australia, the club is based at the Blacktown International Sportspark, but will play its home games at the higher-capacity Skoda Stadium and ANZ Stadium. Greater Western Sydney will also four games a season at Manuka Oval in Canberra as part of a deal with the government of the Australian Capital Territory.

Greater Western Sydney was awarded the 18th AFL licence in November 2008, defeating a bid from Tasmania. Kevin Sheedy was appointed inaugural coach in November 2009, signing a three-year contract. Before entering the AFL, the club played in the TAC Cup in 2010 and North East Australian Football League in 2011, as well as the 2011 and 2012 AFL pre-season tournaments. As part of special concessions offered by the AFL, the club recruited heavily at the 2010 and 2011 AFL Drafts, and was able to select a number of uncontracted players from other clubs. Greater Western Sydney also recruited Israel Folau, a former rugby league player, from the Brisbane Broncos. Prior to the start of the 2012 NAB Cup, Phil Davis, Luke Power and Callan Ward were named co-captains of the club. A reserve team, the UWS Giants, will participate in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) from 2012, as part of a partnership between the club and the University of Western Sydney.

History

See also: Australian rules football in New South Wales

"Sydney Kangaroos" proposal

See also: Proposed relocation of the North Melbourne Football Club

The idea of an AFL team from western Sydney originated from the AFL's plans in 1999 to make the North Melbourne Football Club (known then simply as the Kangaroos) Sydney's second team. Following the momentum of the relocated Swans Grand Final appearance, the AFL had backed the move for North Melbourne, a club which had then previously gained market exposure by defeating the Swans in their first re-location Grand Final appearance. However the venture was unsuccessful and after several games a season North Melbourne never managed to draw crowds of over 15,000 at the Sydney Cricket Ground before finally leaving the market and experimenting with Canberra and later the Gold Coast.^{[citation needed]}

WSFC interest rekindled

The AFL's interest in the Western Sydney market appeared to be rekindled after the Sydney Swans' second, more successful Grand Final appearance in 2005, which started grassroots interest in the game in the highly-populous region.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, the AFL introduced the NSW Scholarships scheme, primarily aimed at juniors in West Sydney market to foster home grown talent and produce AFL players, a region which despite its large and growing population, had produced few professional Australian rules footballers.^{[citation needed]}

The AFL was buoyed in 2006 when it gained the support of then NSW premier Morris Iemma and the league became a partner in the Blacktown sporting facility in Rooty Hill, New South Wales. The facility was announced as the new home base for its team out of western Sydney in 2007; it announced that it had planned to grant its 18th licence in mid to late 2008.

It was reported that in January 2008, the AFL officially registered the business name Western Sydney Football Club Ltd with ASIC.

"Sydney Celtics"

See also: Irish experiment

In March 2008, it was revealed by the media that the AFL had considered a radical proposal to launch an Irish-dominated team in Sydney's western suburbs, which would perform before an international audience under the "Celtic" brand name. The "Sydney Celtics" plan was first put to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou in early 2007 by Gaelic Players Association executive Donal O'Neill. It was said that the proposal originated at the International Rules series in Ireland in late 2006 when O'Neill put forward a plan to purchase an AFL licence in Sydney. However, the AFL has since stated that this is unlikely to be a serious option.

Formation

Establishment support

Israel Folau, a high-profile recruit by the club. The former rugby league player was from the Brisbane Broncos

In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish an eighteenth side in Western Sydney.

The Western Sydney working party devising player rules and draft concessions for the second Sydney team met on 22 July 2008.

During 2008, the AFL Commission, whose agenda was to make a final decision on the Western Sydney Football Club, delayed it on multiple occasions. During the same year, in November, the AFL announced a A$100 million venture for a boutique stadium at the Sydney Showgrounds in Homebush, in the city's west.

After a third meeting in Sydney in November, the AFL cited the Economic crisis of 2008 as being a key factor in the delays. While the AFL reiterated its stance on the Western Sydney licence, the commission admitted that the delay in the decision was due to financial remodeling of the bid in response to the crisis, and conceded that the debut of the team in the AFL may eventuate one or more seasons later than initially suggested. The expansion licence drew increasing media skepticism and public criticism, particularly in the light of a poor finals attendance in Sydney, declining Sydney Swans attendances and memberships, the economic crisis and the Tasmanian AFL Bid which had gained significant momentum and public support during 2008. An Australian Senate enquiry in to the Tasmanian AFL Bid concluded that Sydney had "insurmountable cultural barriers" to the establishment of a second AFL team.

In May 2009, AIS/AFL Academy coach Alan McConnell was appointed as the club's high performance manager. McConnell is the first full-time appointment for Western Sydney and his new role commenced on 1 July 2009.

Amongst the players heavily pursued by the new club include Adelaide forward Taylor Walker, fallen former Essendon and St Kilda forward Andrew Lovett and former No.1 draft pick and St Kilda centreman Brendon Goddard. Already, three players have signed on with the club for its inaugural season: Adelaide's Phil Davis, the Western Bulldogs' Callan Ward and Fremantle's 2008 AFL Rising Star Rhys Palmer.

Coach

On 9 November 2009, Kevin Sheedy signed to a three-year contract and was named as the inaugural coach of the Western Sydney Football Club. His role commenced on 2 February 2010.

Player signings

Five AFL listed players have already announced they will be playing for the Giants in 2012. Adelaide defender Phil Davis, Bulldogs midfielders Callan Ward and Sam Reid, Fremantle midfielder Rhys Palmer and Melbourne midfielder Tom Scully have signed on to play for Western Sydney.

Former Melbourne Captain James McDonald, Brisbane veteran Luke Power and Port Adelaide ruckman Dean Brogan and midfielder Chad Cornes have announced they will be coming out of retirement to play for the Giants in 2012. McDonald and Power will take on roles of playing Assistant Coaches.

Sponsors

In November 2010 Skoda Australia was announced as the team's first major sponsor, signing a three-year contract which includes naming rights to the team's home ground at the Sydney Showground.

Canberra

The Giants are expected to play four games a year at Manuka Oval (three regular season, one preseason) for the first 10 years after signing a deal with the ACT Government worth $23 million. A Canberra logo will be incorporated on its guernsey, with a separate Canberra guernsey being used for games at Manuka. A GWS-ACT Academy is also intended to be created, with the territory also gaining representation on the club's board.

Club symbols

On 16 November 2010, Greater Western Sydney announced their club guernseys and their nickname of the "Giants".

The team colours are orange, charcoal and white, with the club unveiling two prospective home jumpers for next year to be decided by fans. One is orange with a large, stylised "G" in the centre and charcoal strips on the sides, with the other featuring orange in the top half and a white "G" wrapped around charcoal colours in the bottom half. The colour of the team's shorts is charcoal and their socks are orange. Their away guernsey features sky blue and white. During the 2011 season a clash guernsey was unveiled. The jumper has a light grey background with a charcoal rendition of the home jumper's G on the chest. The team motto is Think Big. Live Big. Play Big. Their mascot G-Man was unveiled on 18th February 2012 before the team took the ground for their first NAB Cup match of 2012.

The team song There's A Big Big Sound was first unveiled to the foundation members and 2012 members on 16th February 2012 via a phone call, the following day the team song was released to the public. The song was written and produced by award-winning Australian artist Harry Angus of Australian band The Cat Empire.

Players

Greater Western Sydney Football Club
Senior squad						Rookie List		Coaching staff
* 1 Phil Davis (C)  2 Curtly Hampton  3 Stephen Coniglio  4 Israel Folau  5 Dylan Shiel  6 Luke Power (C)  7 Rhys Palmer  8 Callan Ward (C)  9 Tom Scully 10 Dean Brogan 11 Chad Cornes 12 Jonathon Patton 13 Sam Darley 14 Thomas Bugg 15 Tim Golds 16 Nathan Wilson 17 Adam Treloar 18 Jeremy Cameron 19 Nick Haynes 20 Adam Tomlinson 21 Matthew Buntine 22 Shaun Edwards 23 Sam Reid		24 Stephen Clifton 25 Anthony Miles 26 Jonathan Giles 28 Liam Sumner 29 Dom Tyson 30 Taylor Adams 31 Jacob Townsend 32 Gerard Ugle 33 Will Hoskin-Elliott 34 Devon Smith 35 Toby Greene 36 Jack Hombsch 37 Setanta Ó hAilpín 38 James McDonald 39 Tim Mohr 40 Adam Kennedy 41 Josh Growden 42 Mark Whiley 43 Kurt Aylett 44 Tom Downie 45 Sam Schulz 47 Josh Bruce				27 Andrew Phillips 46 Tim Segrave 48 Sam Frost 49 Rhys Cooyou		Head coach Kevin Sheedy Assistant coaches Mark Williams James McDonald Luke Power Brett Hand Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain Long-term injury list Upgraded rookie(s) Updated: 1 February 2012 Source(s): AFL List Lodgement & Draft list

Recruitment

Greater Western Sydney were provided with similar recruitment entitlements to the Gold Coast who had entered the AFL the year before the Giants. Key differences included that their access to a uncontracted player from each other AFL club was able to be acted on in either 2011 or 2012. The club was also allocated the ability to trade up to four selections in a "mini-draft" of players born between January and April 1994, that would otherwise not be eligible to be drafted until the 2012 AFL Draft. They also were given the first selection in each round of the 2011 AFL Draft as well as selections 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 in the first round of the draft.

During the 2011 season, there was constant speculation that Melbourne's Tom Scully, Western Bulldogs's Callan Ward, Adelaide's Taylor Walker and Fremantle's Rhys Palmer would sign with the Giants. In August 2011, Adelaide's Phil Davis became the first player to announce that he would sign with the Giants.

The 2011 Trade Week saw the Giants take part in nine trades, involving two selections in the mini-draft as well trading away players who had previously nominated for the draft in return for additional early draft selections in the 2011 AFL Draft, that resulted in them holding the first five draft selections and 11 of the first 14.

Uncontracted player selections

Player	Former club	Date	Compensation
Davis, PhilPhil Davis	Adelaide	20110802 !2 August 2011	One first-round draft pick.
Ward, CallanCallan Ward	Western Bulldogs	20110905 !5 September 2011	One first-round draft pick.
Palmer, RhysRhys Palmer	Fremantle	20110906 !6 September 2011	One end-of-first-round draft pick.
Scully, TomTom Scully	Melbourne	20110912 !12 September 2011	Two first-round draft picks.
Reid, SamSam Reid	Western Bulldogs	20111013 !13 October 2011	One third-round draft pick.

External links

• Greater Western Sydney Football Club official website