GIANTS Chief Executive David Matthews today said an article in the Daily Telegraph and subsequent television commentary in relation to the Sydney Swans was inaccurate.
"In an article by Tyson Otto in today's Telegraph he incorrectly attributed comments to me accusing the Swans of failing to promote the game in Sydney. I made no such comments,” said Matthews.
"What he was referring to was an article earlier this year by Andrew Wu in the Sydney Morning Herald in which we discussed, amongst other things, the need for the GIANTS to be the most accessible club in terms of media relative to other clubs including the Swans. I subsequently explained the context of the article to both Swans CEO Andrew Ireland and Coach John Longmire.
"On Fox Sports News this morning the Daily Telegraph's AFL Editor Neil Cordy referred to today's article and said that I believed the Swans had done nothing or very little to promote the code in Sydney.
"Again, this is simply inaccurate. Those comments were not made and did not form part of the article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
"On the contrary, I worked with AFL Development for 14 years and collaborated with the Swans on a number of the programs that were developed and implemented. I have a strong, first-hand appreciation of the promotional work the Swans and their players have undertaken in the community.
"The GIANTS will continue to pursue our objective to be one of the most accessible clubs in the AFL. We believe the presence of a second club in NSW and the ACT has helped promote the game and build awareness of AFL in the media.
"We will continue to work with the Swans to promote the game as we have this week ahead of Sunday's Derby at the SCG,” he said.