On the 10th anniversary of the club’s first-ever game, the GIANTS are proud to launch a new podcast from award-winning journalist and GIANTS recruiter Emma Quayle.
The GIANTS first ran out on to an AFL field as the GIANTS on March 24, 2012 to open their inaugural 2012 season against the Swans.
But before that, countless hours were spent by dedicated people to build a brand new club from scratch.
This five-part series details why the AFL expanded into western Sydney, who and what were Team GWS, the operation to get legendary coach Kevin Sheedy, building the first playing list and becoming the GIANTS; the name, the colours, the song and identity.
Over 12 months in lockdown last year, Quayle spoke to all the key leaders involved in the inception of the club including former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou, inaugural GIANTS CEO Dale Holmes and current GIANTS CEO David Matthews and Chairman Tony Shepherd.
The series features the club’s inaugural staff - first-ever staff member and current AFLW coach Alan McConnell, Brett Hand who spent a decade at the club in coaching and welfare roles and Mel Lambert who, along with husband Craig, were responsible for the care of a group of 18-year-olds.
Quayle catches up with inaugural coach and AFL legend Kevin Sheedy and his original senior assistant Mark Williams along with the first football boss Graeme ‘Gubby’ Allan and list manager Stephen Silvagni.
Former Team GWS player and current Australian test wicketkeeper Alex Carey shares how his football career started and ended while inaugural co-captain Luke Power and recruit Tom Scully detail their moves to the AFL’s newest club.
The first episode of Here Come the GIANTS is out now on your favourite podcast platform. Stay tuned as the rest of the series becomes available over the coming weeks.
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 decided to move into western Sydney, what resistance was met from other clubs and why no-one gave up on the chase for Tony Shepherd as the new club’s first chairman.
Episode features:
Andrew Demetriou, former AFL chief executive officer
Dale Holmes, original GIANTS chief executive officer
David Matthews, current GIANTS chief executive officer
Tony Shepherd, inaugural and current GIANTS chairman
LISTEN NOW:
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 licence and a very big name decided to cross over from the NRL. As coach Alan McConnell discovered, the kids were a long, long way from being AFL ready.
Episode features:
Alan McConnell, coach of Team GWS and the club’s first employee
Dale Holmes, original GIANTS chief executive officer
Cam Bernasconi, Team GWS player and current GIANTS Academy coach
Alex Carey, Team GWS player and current Australian cricket team member
Brett Hand, Team GWS assistant coach
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 of the country that had never loved AFL football. They just had to talk him into it.
Episode features:
Kevin Sheedy, inaugural GIANTS head coach
Mark Williams, inaugural GIANTS senior assistant coach
Andrew Demetriou, former AFL chief executive officer
Dale Holmes, original GIANTS chief executive officer
David Matthews, current GIANTS chief executive officer
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 start, even if it would make for a tough first few seasons.
Episode features:
Graeme Allan, GIANTS’ first head of football
Stephen Silvagni, GIANTS’ original list manager
Phil Davis, original GIANTS recruit and inaugural co-captain
Callan Ward, original GIANTS recruit and inaugural co-captain
Dale Holmes, original GIANTS chief executive officer
Tom Scully, former GIANTS player and original signing
Luke Power, former GIANTS player and inaugural co-captain
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 players, as the crucial hunt for a permanent home base began.
Episode features:
Graeme Allan, GIANTS’ first head of football
Dale Holmes, original GIANTS chief executive officer
Mel Lambert, who headed up the club’s welfare program with husband Craig
Andrew Demetriou, former AFL chief executive officer
David Matthews, current GIANTS chief executive officer
Phil Davis, original GIANTS recruit and inaugural co-captain
Tom Scully, former GIANTS player
Luke Power, former GIANTs player and inaugural co-captain
Here Come the GIANTS was written, hosted and produced by Emma Quayle with audio editing and sound design by Craig Abercrombie.
Listen to Here Come the GIANTS on the player above or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Please follow and leave a rating.
