GIANTS Director and former Head Coach Kevin Sheedy has criticised the timing of the AFL's trial of player names on jumpers.
The AFL announced that a league-wide trial would take place during Round 5 when the GIANTS are playing in Adelaide against the Crows on Easter Sunday.
Sheedy has been a long time advocate of names on the back of the jumpers to build the profile of players in NSW and Queensland.
The four-time premiership winning coach tweeted his disapproval that the AFL will conduct the trial when the GIANTS and fellow expansion club Gold Coast Suns are both playing away games.
"Great decision by AFL to put names on jumpers. Pity we are playing an away game in Adelaide that weekend. Smart then dumb,” tweeted Sheedy.
"As I enter my fifth year in Sydney good to know the martians are still alive in Melbourne."
GIANTS forward Jeremy Cameron posed in a GIANTS guernsey with his name on the back last year. Names on playing shirts are commonplace in other sports around the world but so far haven’t been used in the AFL.
Sheedy told AFL.com.au last year that a change would help efforts to have people in Sydney recognise and identify with the GIANTS' emerging superstars.
"I'm in the marketplace of explaining who we are so if people want to get to know Jeremy Cameron, people want to know [Stephen] Coniglio…we've got to try to make superstars in Sydney," Sheedy said.
"Don't run around with blank sheets of paper on their back. Don't run around with a whiteboard with nothing on it."
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou backed Sheedy’s idea when in Sydney at the GIANTS’ final home match of the 2013 season.
“I’ve always believed that having names on jumpers is something we should pursue” he said.
“When you are trying to grow the game particularly in New South Wales and Queensland it makes sense to give as much information as possible.”
After revealing the GIANTS’ guernsey numbers for the 2014 season yesterday, GIANTS CEO David Matthews said he supported the change.
"It's a special moment to get your first AFL jumper with a number on it. As we have said, we'd love to think that one day soon players names will also appear on the backs of jumpers," he said.
"This would be a great initiative and help promote the players and build their followings particularly with young players."
Numbers were introduced into the game for the first time during the 1911 finals series, with the second semi-final between Carlton and Essendon being the first game played where players from both teams wore numbers.
Before 1911 only touring teams had worn numbers to help spectators to identify players and promoters spruik the game.
Initially the numbers worn were considered too small but they changed in the off-season and became standard in 1912 with their introduction central to the beginning of the Footy Record.
