Hosted by GIANTS number one ticketholder Melissa Doyle and AFL great Robert ‘Dipper’ Dipierdomenico, the lunches featured a star-studded line-up.
Brisbane Lions triple-premiership captain Michael Voss and Sydney Swans premiership skipper Barry Hall headlined the events and gave audiences their insights on this weekend’s Grand Final.
Both Voss and Hall tipped the Swans for Saturday’s decider with Voss declaring he’d recently changed his mind after tipping the Hawks all year.
The duo also advocated strongly for the Academies in the northern states, with Voss saying they offered huge opportunities for developing local talent.
Both events also featured panel discussions that included coaching legend Kevin Sheedy, current coach Leon Cameron, Head of Football Graeme Allan and List Manager Stephen Silvagni.
Silvagni revealed the GIANTS would again look to be active during trade week and talked up the chances of drafting local Canberra player Jack Steele at the ACT lunch.
Almost 500 people attended the Canberra lunch at the National Arboretum thanks to UNSW Canberra and the event also featured addresses from AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn and UNSW’s Professor Michael Frater.
ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr also spoke, declaring it wouldn’t be long before the GIANTS would be playing in the Grand Final, hopefully against his beloved Hawks.
The Sydney lunch was held on Wednesday at Doltone House in Sydney with almost 600 guests in attendance.
Guests also got to participate in a live auction with some huge items up for grabs including a holiday to Aspen, a framed Hawthorn guernsey and Devon Smith’s match-worn boots.
