Episode 5: The GIANTS: The name, the colours, the song, the identity

It sounds like the fun stuff, but there were a lot of people to keep happy when the new club was choosing its name, colours and guernsey design. Meanwhile, a decision to set the club up like a US college campus played a huge part in creating its culture and building a lasting bond between the playe…

Episode 4: The Team: The wheeling, dealing and draft decisions that shaped the GIANTS’ playing list

Who would you target if you were building an AFL list from scratch and had big contract offers to throw around? Clubs expected the GIANTS to come after their older, established stars like expansion teams had in the past, but they had other ideas. They had their eye on long-term success from the sta…

Episode 3: Get Sheedy: Why Kevin Sheedy was targeted to be the GIANTS’ first AFL coach

Kevin Sheedy? Really? People were surprised and many were dismissive when the AFL pursued Sheedy - in his 60s and more than two years out of the game - to be the GIANTS’ first AFL coach. But he was seen as the perfect person to not only steer a young team of players, but sell the new club to a part…

Episode 2: Team GWS: Before the GIANTS there was…

The GIANTS had to start somewhere, and it was a random collection of boys from Sydney, Canberra and country NSW – as well as a future Australian Test cricketer – who represented the new club in an AFL competition for the first time, as staff worked behind the scenes to secure the 18th AFL club lice…

Episode 1: Expansion: Why the AFL moved into western Sydney

In 2008 the AFL announced it would be introducing two new teams, on the Gold Coast and in Sydney. In the first episode of this five-part series exploring the creation of the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS, find out why the league decided to expand in the middle of a global financial crisis, why they…