Tag Archives: Greater Western Sydney Giants

Sydney Athletes Need To Get On Twitter.

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Do you remember the post I did about the best Sydney athletes to follow on Twitter?  Well, I didn’t say this in the post, but it wasn’t hard to choose because they’re aren’t very many Sydney athletes who use Twitter.  Don’t get me wrong – the guys I chose are awesome accounts and there were many that didn’t make the cut.  But it got me thinking… what’s deal with Australia and Twitter?

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t feel like Australians use Twitter as much as the US.  Maybe it’s just my friends and my choice of sport teams, but that’s how it seems. But according to Google, Twitter has more than 1.1 million active users in Australia, which is about 6.4% of internet users – roughly the same as the US and the UK.  I assume this number is going to grow, especially in Australia where businesses haven’t really tapped into the resource yet, but for some reason teams don’t have their players on Twitter.  Why?

If these reasons aren’t enough, the you should know that having your players on Twitter is amazingly beneficial to a team for one main reason: it allows fan interaction.

Leagues agree that fan interaction is important – the game day experience, making  fans feel connected to the team, athletes and each other, provide them unique access, and free advertising.

Game day experience. I love the way GWS has used Twitter during games and I think more clubs should adopt this.  Fans tweet about the game and add the appropriate hashtag (relative to who GWS is playing, or the classic #gogiants) and GWS selects a few to put on the big screen. Every team should do this.  No big screen? It’s pretty cool to read the tweets outloud on the speakers – that would be perfect for NBL games! They could certainly step this up, as well.  Broadcast more tweets – even GWS doesn’t do enough – and respond to fans’ tweets – there’s hardly any of that going on.  There should be a space for fan tweets on every club’s website.  I would even go so far as to select one player per game to interact with fans.  Injured players, substitutes, those in the dug out, or even those spend most of their time on the bench (a great way to involve the whole team!) are perfect candidates for this.  Show their tweets on the big screen or read their conversations with fans aloud.  Let me tell you that if I tweeted about Jeremy Cameron during a GWS game, he tweeted me back and it was on the big screen… well, I might die of joy.

Establish connections.  This one is a no-brainer.  Everyone is excited when their team or favourite player responds to their tweet or retweets them.  It’s SUCH an easy way to boost fan morale.  And seriously, how hard is it to press the retweet button? And while it may be superficial, fans do feel like the get to know players through their Twitter accounts.  I’ve been following Todd Van Steensel of the Sydney Blue Sox for a few months now and I know quite a bit of about his activities – I vividly remember when he watched ‘The Dark Knight’ for the first time a couple months ago (I also have a pretty great memory, so there’s that) and I think his updates about school and WBC are nothing short of hilarious.  Yes, it’s superficial but allowing fans to make connections to players is good for them and you.  As a result, I feel guilt about not being able to go to any Blue Sox games this year.  I live a few hours away, so it’s difficult, but I still feel bad about it because I feel like Todd Van Steensel is my amigo. Weird, I know, but I’m not the only person who feels that way.

Unique access.  I don’t know of any team that has done this yet… but I have an idea: give exclusive access to members (or a certain group of people).  You can protect your account so people have to be approved to follow.  Teams could easily create this sort of account and only grant access to members.  They could show exclusive photos or videos or give exclusive information.  This could be the place to update with member news, offer new packages, run draws and give prizes – so many possibilities!  It could be a lot of fun!  Just another way to reward those who are loyal to your team.

Free advertising.  Do I really need to explain this?  Twitter is free and if athletes promote games or other events, you essentially have free advertising.  Who can afford to NOT have free advertising?

The one downside to this is it can be a bit of a challenge to manage your players on Twitter, and social media outlets in general.  There have been many cases in which athletes post inappropriate things on their accounts which get them into trouble – mainly they get fined.  But this is very easily avoided: coach them.  You coach them in all other aspects, why not this one?

Overall, Twitter is valuable and I fail to see why teams aren’t taking advantage of it… why do you think? Is it because they don’t think it hits their target audience?  Because they don’t see it’s use value?  They don’t know how to apply it to their club?  I’d be interested to know…

A New Structure For The AFL.

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Competitive balance: a scenario in which every team has an equal chance of winning a championship;  one team is not dominating the league; in a perfectly balanced competition, every team’s win-lose percentage would equal .500

In my ‘Best of the Week’ post from 12 January, I told you all about a new blog I found called Footy Maths and shared an article called ‘A Very Good Year?’  There were lots of interesting ideas in there that I’ve been thinking about.

In the article, the author talks about why a 17 round season won’t work (NOTE: they say it’s 17 weeks, but I assume teams will still get a BYE so I think it’ll be 18 weeks, 17 rounds).  He then briefly mentions that what could work is dividing the league into 3 divisions of 6 teams each and says even that has its downfalls.  Which it does.  they said they would talk about it in a future post but I am impatient and I want to talk about doing it my way.

I really liked the suggestion that the league be split into 3 divisions.  I assume they meant clubs would play those in their division twice, which results in a 22 round season (23 weeks, most likely).  The problem is: how?  If they were do divide geographically, they’d get this (I assume)

West Central East
Adelaide St Kilda Sydney Swans
Port Adelaide Carlton GWS
West Coast Collingwood Gold Coast
Fremantle North Melbourne Brisbane Lions
Western Bulldogs Melbourne Richmond
Essendon Geelong Hawthorn

Let’s look at this, shall we?

First, looking at the non-play aspects, dividing geographically means attendance would probably increase since there would be less travel for people.  It could also mean better rivalries since you’re playing against the same teams for the top spots each year.  However, while Aussies aren’t known to be big scrappers (especially AFL fans) maybe encouraging rivalries (especially for those Collingwood fans) isn’t such a good idea.

Looking at the way the actual season would play out… this is where I see a problem.  The number of strong and weak teams in each division is relatively equal.  But when the talent is spread out, it is very likely that certain teams would dominate the league.  If this were to be the structure in 2013, for example, the East division has obvious winners – there is no doubt that Hawthorn and Sydney would steamroll GWS, GC and Brisbane.  In the west, Adelaide and West Coast would crush Port and the Bulldogs. In the Central division, things could get a bit interesting since Collingwood and Geelong were near the bottom of the eight, but odds are they would come out on top over Melbourne and Carlton.  And there you have it – your top teams from 2012 would be on top once again.

Since the AFL has devices in place, such at the reverse order draft, then it is possible that teams improve and rise to the top of their division.  There would probably be a very obvious pattern: teams such as GWS, Gold Coast and Port lose for a few years, get a bunch of great draft picks (hopefully!) and move to the top.  After a few years, the teams who had moved to the bottom will move to the top again… and it’s all one big cycle.  That’s no fun.  And it’s not interesting.

This division would be difficult because the clubs closest in quality (meaning they are closest on the ladder) are in Melbourne making it more difficult for Melbourne clubs to get into the eight.  This could be a good thing because it limits the number of Melbourne-based clubs that are in the finals, and that specific division will be relatively balanced in terms of competition.  The teams in the East, by contrast, have two expansion teams making it easier for the other four to move up in the ladder, meaning Sydney and Hawthorn would be in the finals for at least for the next couple of years.  This would be poor competitive balance.

Most leagues strive for competitive balance since one team dominating the league is bad for attendance, sponsorship, and fan morale.  If we assume that the AFL also strives for competitive balance then this is a poor model.  A good model would be where each team has the opportunity to do well, they all have the opportunity to get into the eight, and they all have the opportunity to win half their games (see definition of competitive balance at the top.  That would be a good model… and I know what model should be used.  Are you ready? (Deep breathe)

Split the league into thirds… by their ladder position from the previous year.

Yes. That’s right.  Is your mind blown?  Good.  I’ll let that sit for a while and next week, I’ll tell you why this would work.  This post is already ridiculously long.

(Oh, by the way, if this goes into effect, then it’s time for the AFL to give in and admit they need me)

Best Sydney Athletes To Follow On Twitter.

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Here’s the problem with a lot of athlete’s Twitter accounts: they retweet. A lot. Or they get into conversations with people that no one knows and carry on for ages. Now, that’s great and all, but I need some information, guys.  That’s why I don’t follow athletes. And that is also why I have done the leg work for you by rounding up the best of the best.  Yes, that’s right. I looked at the Twitter accounts of every. Single. Athlete.  Playing for the Swans, GWS, Kings, Hawks and Blue Sox. It was not easy. Whew. The things I do for you.

GWS Giants

Winner: Phil Davis – @phildavis_1

One of the more frequent tweeters on this list, Davis had me at ‘wannabe masterchef and battler at FIFA.’ Oh, to be young.  This guy is one of the best for news from a player perspective.  He updates aabout hsi real life, sure, but he talks about footy a lot, as well as other sports, and there’s something to be said about a player who contributes to the game and doesn’t just play it.

Sample Tweet: “First press conference of year with @FOXSPORTS_NEWS. Sheeds just giving out gold! #nocomment”

Interested in reading the rest? Head over to Babes Dig Balls to check it out!

Goodbye, Izzy Dearest. What Now?

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Just like we all expected from the very beginning, Israel Folau has returned to the NRL. Ah, all is right with the world. But I am pretty bummed about it.

While I never gave my actually opinion in my evaluation if Izzy’s AFL “career” (can you call it a career if it only lasts a year?) my opinion was this: he was useless on the field, but he was great off of it.  While I alluded to the fact that his presence may have contributed to attendance, thereby increasing ticket sales and revenues, there isn’t really a way of measuring the number of people who came for the sole purpose of seeing Israel Folau play. One thing is for sure: he was a fan favourite.  Remarkably.  How do I know? 72% of jerseys sold were his number 4.  That’s a ridiculously high percentage.  Kobe Bryant doesn’t even pull those kinds of numbers (I’m guessing – but the other Lakers are way famous, too so I just assume).

Now… things are different.  I am not going to slam Israel Folau (because I don’t have a problem with him) and I’m not going to be rude, crude and socially unattractive by calling him a disaster, because I don’t think it was – the Roar gives a pretty good explanation as to why.  But with Izzy leaving, a lot changes for GWS.  Like what, you may ask? Well, allow me to tell you.

First of all, I can guarantee that GWS will sell fewer guernseys.  That’s a no brainer.  Granted, several new players have come into the spotlight (Toby Greene and, my personal favourite, Jeremy Cameron, for instance) and now that they’re more popular, maybe that’ll boost sales.  But I wouldn’t bet on it.  The fact is that they’re still relatively unknown. They’re babies, in the footy sense.  Better slow production of that merch…

And keep an eye on those ticket sales, which are likely to drop.  This is a BIG “what if” because now that the Giants are a well-known team (thanks, in large part, to Izzy) they’ve got quite a few members and decent attendance.  They even had a home game with over 30 thousand people – that’s a big deal for a new team.  Gold Coast has yet to reach that milestone.  But if I’m calling it like I see it, I predict very little change in attendance.  New attendees will be offset by the people who were coming to see Izzy, that are no longer at games.  These things are bad for income, and no one likes things that are bad for income.  Never tell anyone they might be making less money.  GWS better be working on some advertisements…

For which, they need a new face.  Izzy was the GWS poster boy.  Actually.  Who will be the golden boy this year?  Can you really choose?  Well, I mean, you know who I would choose, but is there really one player that the public can identify as being quintesentially GWS-sy? (Giant-y? Gigantic? I’m confused, but you know what I mean) Could cause some tension among the players…

Especially now that they’ve got enough room in their salary cap for a big name.  Word on the web is that they might try and woo Kurt Tippett.  But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they don’t. I would be unhappy and we all know that GWS lives to make me happy (No? They don’t? Are you sure?).  Still. What would he even do there? GET IN THE WAY, THAT’S WHAT.

Those are just the basic things that will change: economical, political and social, in the broad sense of the words, of course. I’d love to hear some thoughts – what do you think GWS will need to focus on now that Izzy is gone?  Am I completely off base in saying these things will be a concern?  If so, what do you think, if anything, will change for GWS?

Merchandise Part 2: Things Pro Teams Should Stop Selling.

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Yesterday, I wrote a post on things Sydney pro teams should sell.  I mentioned that they seem to sell things that no one would ever buy.  At least, no one I know. It seems like a waste of money.  If a club has to choose between these things and the ones I wrote about yesterday, they should ALWAYS choose the ones I wrote about yesterday.  Here are the things they should stop selling.

Really, really expensive stuff.  Memorabilia is one thing, and I know that die-hard fans will pay any amount for something they love in order to support a team but there has to be a line. The Swans, for instance, have a $190 poster. WHAT?!  Nearly two hundred dollars for a sports poster? Insanity. It’s not even signed.  Although, it does look like candy canes, so maybe for Christmas?

Massive stuff.  No. I do not need a refrigerator. No thank you.  Nor do I need an entire bar. Who buys these things?! Even if you have them, do you really have all the matching furnishings?  And if you are a man who has something like this, I am willing to bet you are single because if you were married, your wife would make you throw this nonsense out.

Window treatments. This is just in bad taste.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Gaudy items. As we have established time and time again, I fully support looking like a supporter (ha ha – that’s a funny sentence) but there are some things that are too much.  Like that Adam Goodes shirt I posted yesterday.  Or this hat. Or anything pinkified (don’t get me started on sexism and body image in sport and media).  Who buys this stuff? I can’t imagine that anyone would buy such… elaborate items.

Bedding in any size other than single.  I say this because I think it is perfectly acceptable to be a child and have sports team bedding. That’s adorable and I think it’d make an amazing bedroom.  But if you need to buy a queen size doona… I just don’t know. You need to seriously rethink your values because I can’t imagine you will have a family (read: be procreating) in a bed like that.

Okay. That’s my two cents.  I just don’t understand some things. Why are you doing it to yourselves? Don’t you think you could be doing so much better?!

Note: I have to commend the Port Adelaide Power and Collingwood Magpies because I scoured their shops looking for ugly stuff and couldn’t find anything. Seriously. Great merch guys. They did have the expensive stuff, but everyone does, so I can’t ding them for that. Oh, and also, they had items from my list yesterday :)   And the Hawthorn Hawks? Their shop needs work. Serious work.