GWS Hit 10,000 Members

[Beaussie]

Well done Giants. Massive achievement and still 7 months before the first official game in the AFL. =D>

Giants hit 10,000 members
Sydney
August 24, 2011 - 2:58PM .

The AFL took another step towards its goal of making a mark in western Sydney by officially signing its 10,000th Greater Western Sydney club member on Wednesday.

The Giants announced the milestone with their first game in the senior competition still seven months away, to the delight of their chief executive Dale Holmes.

"This is a big achievement for us," Holmes said.

"We're well aware that there is still a long way to go and we do have some big ambitions for the future.

"But to have 10,000 people already committing to the Giants and putting their hand up to say I support the club, that's a great result.

"The passion from our supporters has been really inspiring.

"From a family of six that are just learning the game, right through to a mother and son who have travelled across the country to every game with us this year, they're all getting behind their local club."

The next major mark for the Giants will come in the AFL draft, to be held in Sydney in November.

AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/gian ... z1VwgWjWGZ

[TLPG]

Good work, Giants, I have to say. But I remain concerned for the Swans membership in 2012.

[Beaussie]

The Swans will be fine TLPG. We have a hardcore base of 20-25k in Sydney. In good times those numbers swell to 30k-35k.

[King-Eliagh]

I'm worried too TLPG.

Firstly I'd suggest the swans coach is fairly ordinary in comparison to Kevin Sheedy. Then you've got the swans fairly ordinary and inconsistent form of late, then GWS have the Irael factor, and then you will most probably have more than a handful of stars entering the GWS team as a result of the extra $ they will receive.

I for one am considering a switch from the swannies and really dont know how accurate beaussies "20-25 thousand hardcore fans" suggestion is... I think a lot of the majority of swans members arent hardcore at all.

Time will tell...

[Beaussie]

Not surprised you don't know much about the Swans KE. The hardcore numbers are correct. Any real Swans fans will tell ya that.

[TLPG]

The Swans will be fine TLPG. We have a hardcore base of 20-25k in Sydney. In good times those numbers swell to 30k-35k.

Sydney sports fans are notoriously fickle. You only have to look at the BS NRL figures to know that's true. Ditto the A League. All of the Swans hardcore following come from a much lower number locally. The majority are South Melbourne supporters.

I just can't rid myself of the feeling that the Giants will do more harm than good in Sydney. I know you said that they're including Canberra in their catchment which would be a good move of course and that might have contributed to the numbers. In fact I hope it did in one sense. For two reasons. One - it shows a possible hardcore base from the get go, and two - it means that there could still be some poaching from the fan base of Penrith, Parramatta and the Wests half of West Tigers to come.

Renewed Swans memberships for 2012 will be a key to that, as will the Giants performance in the NAB Cup and who they pick up from the out of contract players.

Look, I hope that the Giants do wreck the membership levels of the NRL clubs. Maybe in the initial stages they might. I just refuse to believe that the Panthers at least won't try and fight back. And I still don't believe that the market share on the AFL in Sydney is enough for two clubs yet.

[powerful]

10,000 members is a pretty good hit - with some success these numbers will grow - hopefully the people of Sydney West will get behind them