# 2015 Greater Western Sydney Giants season

The Greater Western Sydney Giants' 2015 season was its 4th season in the Australian Football League (AFL).

## Club summary

The 2015 AFL season was the 119th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; having entered the competition in 2012, it was the 4th season contested by the Greater Western Sydney Giants. Spotless Stadium once again acted as the club's primary home ground, hosting eight of the club's eleven home games, with three games played at their secondary home ground, StarTrack Oval in Canberra. The three matches at StarTrack Oval were against Melbourne, the Gold Coast Suns and Geelong in rounds 2, 4 and 17 respectively.
Because Spotless Stadium was unavailable for the first five rounds of the regular season due to its required use by the Sydney Royal Easter Show, the club played its first two home games in Canberra, while the first of the two annual Sydney Derbies against the Sydney Swans were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Round 3, with the Giants hosting the return fixture in Round 21. The club played Carlton, Gold Coast, Melbourne, St Kilda and Sydney twice during the regular season, and traveled interstate ten times (six times to Melbourne, twice to Perth and once each to the Gold Coast and Adelaide).
Major sponsors Virgin Australia and Lifebroker continued as the club's two major sponsors, while BLK will manufacture the club's on-and-off field apparel for the next five seasons starting in 2015.

## Senior Personnel

Leon Cameron continued as the club's head coach for the second consecutive season, while Callan Ward and Phil Davis continued as the club's co-captains for the fourth consecutive season. Both have held their respective positions since 2014 and 2012, respectively.

## Playing list changes

The Giants underwent an overhaul of their playing list during the off-season, bringing in experienced players Joel Patfull and Ryan Griffen from the Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs, respectively, during the trade period. In addition to Josh Hunt and Stephen Gilham announcing their retirements shortly before the conclusion of the regular season, the club also offloaded several key players, including the previous year's number one draft pick, Tom Boyd, who wanted to be traded to the Western Bulldogs after only one season at the Giants, Kristian Jaksch and Mark Whiley, who were both traded to Carlton, Jonathan Giles, who requested a trade home to South Australia but ultimately ended up at Essendon, and Sam Frost, who was traded to Melbourne after also requesting a trade back to his home state.
The following summarises all player changes between the conclusion of the 2014 season and the commencement of the 2015 season.

### In

| Player | Previous Club | League | via |
| Joel Patfull | Brisbane Lions | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |
| Ryan Griffen | Western Bulldogs | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |
| Jarrod Pickett | South Fremantle Football Club | WAFL | AFL Draft |
| Caleb Marchbank | Murray Bushrangers | TAC Cup | AFL Draft |
| Paul Ahern | Calder Cannons | TAC Cup | AFL Draft |
| Pat McKenna | Gisborne Football Club | Bendigo Football League | AFL Draft |
| Jack Steele | Belconnen Football Club | NEAFL | AFL Draft |

### Out

| Player | New Club | League | via |
| Josh Hunt | Retirement | N/A | N/A |
| Stephen Gilham | Retirement | N/A | N/A |
| Jonathan O'Rourke | Hawthorn | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |
| Kristian Jaksch | Carlton | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |
| Mark Whiley | Carlton | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |
| Tom Boyd | Western Bulldogs | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |
| Jonathan Giles | Essendon | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |
| Sam Frost | Melbourne | Australian Football League | AFL Trade Period |

## Season summary
### Pre-season matches

The club played three practice matches as part of the 2015 NAB Challenge, which were played under modified pre-season rules, including nine-point goals.
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Greater Western Sydney's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Greater Western Sydney's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Greater Western Sydney's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | Saturday, 7 March (4:10 pm) | Gold Coast | 0.14.10 (94) | 2.6.4 (58) | Won by 36 points | Blacktown International Sportspark | 1,787 |
| 2 | Friday, 13 March (7:10 pm) | Essendon | 0.14.13 (97) | 0.8.4 (52) | Won by 45 points | Spotless Stadium | 2,505 |
| 3 | Sunday, 22 March (1:10 pm) | Sydney | 0.9.13 (67) | 0.11.7 (73) | Lost by 6 points | StarTrack Oval | ??? |
| Source ||||||||

### Premiership Season
#### Home and away season

| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Greater Western Sydney's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Greater Western Sydney's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Greater Western Sydney's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| 1 | Sunday, 5 April (1:10 pm) | St Kilda | 11.12 (78) | 12.15 (87) | Won by 9 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 18,794 | 7th |
| 2 | Saturday, 11 April (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 15.11 (101) | 8.8 (56) | Won by 45 points | StarTrack Oval (H) | 7,760 | 3rd |
| 3 | Saturday, 18 April (4:35 pm) | Sydney | 16.15 (111) | 12.18 (90) | Lost by 21 points | Sydney Cricket Ground (A) | 31,966 | 7th |
| 4 | Saturday, 25 April (5:40 pm) | Gold Coast | 16.23 (119) | 7.11 (53) | Won by 66 points | StarTrack Oval (H) | 6,917 | 2nd |
| 5 | Saturday, 2 May (5:40 pm) | West Coast | 18.12 (120) | 4.9 (33) | Lost by 87 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 34,554 | 8th |
| 6 | Saturday, 9 May (4:35 pm) | Hawthorn | 16.12 (108) | 14.14 (98) | Won by 10 points | Spotless Stadium (H) | 13,556 | 6th |
| 7 | Saturday, 16 May (4:35 pm) | Carlton | 9.3 (57) | 19.21 (135) | Won by 78 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 16,676 | 5th |
| 8 | Saturday, 23 May (2:10 pm) | Adelaide | 16.12 (108) | 12.12 (84) | Won by 24 points | Spotless Stadium (H) | 9,481 | 4th |
| 9 | Saturday, 30 May (4:35 pm) | Western Bulldogs | 16.17 (113) | 11.2 (68) | Lost by 45 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 16,395 | 5th |
| 10 | Sunday, 7 June (1:10 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 14.13 (97) | 10.7 (67) | Won by 30 points | Spotless Stadium (H) | 9,079 | 5th |
| 11 | Sunday, 14 June (1:10 pm) | Collingwood | 18.11 (119) | 11.11 (77) | Lost by 42 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 43,390 | 5th |
| 12 | Saturday, 20 June (4:35 pm) | North Melbourne | 8.13 (61) | 18.9 (117) | Lost by 56 points | Spotless Stadium (H) | 7,824 | 6th |
| 13 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | |
| 14 | Saturday, 4 July (1:40 pm) | Richmond | 10.18 (78) | 10.9 (69) | Lost by 9 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 35,968 | 9th |
| 15 | Sunday, 12 July (1:10 pm) | St Kilda | 12.12 (84) | 6.13 (49) | Won by 35 points | Spotless Stadium (H) | 9,178 | 8th |
| 16 | Saturday, 18 July (2:10 pm) | Gold Coast | 12.7 (79) | 13.16 (94) | Won by 15 points | Metricon Stadium (A) | 9,589 | 7th |
| 17 | Saturday, 25 July (1:45 pm) | Geelong | 6.6 (42) | 9.15 (69) | Lost by 27 points | StarTrack Oval (H) | 14,667 | 9th |
| 18 | Sunday, 2 August (2:40 pm) | Fremantle | 12.12 (84) | 9.9 (63) | Lost by 21 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 34,626 | 10th |
| 19 | Sunday, 9 August (3:20 pm) | Essendon | 14.9 (93) | 8.13 (61) | Won by 32 points | Spotless Stadium (H) | 10,093 | 10th |
| 20 | Saturday, 15 August (4:05 pm) | Port Adelaide | �16.15 (111) | 13.12 (90) | Lost by 21 points | Adelaide Oval (A) | 33,281 | 10th |
| 21 | Saturday, 22 August (2:10 pm) | Sydney | | | | Spotless Stadium (H) | | |
| 22 | Saturday, 29 August (1:45 pm) | Carlton | | | | Spotless Stadium (H) | | |
| 23 | TBD | Melbourne | | | | Etihad Stadium (A) | | |
| Source |||||||||

## Ladder

2015 AFL ladder :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
| 1 | Fremantle | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 1857 | 1564 | 118.7 | 68 | Finals series |
| 2 | West Coast | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 2330 | 1572 | 148.2 | 66 | Finals series |
| 3 | Hawthorn (P) | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2452 | 1548 | 158.4 | 64 | Finals series |
| 4 | Sydney | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2006 | 1578 | 127.1 | 64 | Finals series |
| 5 | Richmond | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 1930 | 1568 | 123.1 | 60 | Finals series |
| 6 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2101 | 1825 | 115.1 | 56 | Finals series |
| 7 | Adelaide | 21 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 2107 | 1821 | 115.7 | 54 | Finals series |
| 8 | North Melbourne | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2062 | 1937 | 106.5 | 52 | Finals series |
| 9 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2002 | 1874 | 106.8 | 48 | |
| 10 | Geelong | 21 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1853 | 1833 | 101.1 | 48 | |
| 11 | Greater Western Sydney | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1872 | 1891 | 99.0 | 44 | |
| 12 | Collingwood | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1972 | 1856 | 106.3 | 40 | |
| 13 | Melbourne | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1573 | 2044 | 77.0 | 28 | |
| 14 | St Kilda | 22 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 1695 | 2162 | 78.4 | 26 | |
| 15 | Essendon | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1580 | 2134 | 74.0 | 24 | |
| 16 | Gold Coast | 22 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 1633 | 2240 | 72.9 | 18 | |
| 17 | Brisbane Lions | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1557 | 2306 | 67.5 | 16 | |
| 18 | Carlton | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1525 | 2354 | 64.8 | 16 | |
* 1 2 The round 14 match between Adelaide and Geelong was cancelled due to the death of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh, and both teams were awarded two premiership points each.

## Awards, Records & Milestones
### Awards

* Round 2:
** Prime Minister's Cup (AFL)

### Records

As 2015 was Greater Western Sydney's best season since the club was admitted to the competition, a large range of records and milestones were met and broken during the season:
* Round 1:
** Greater Western Sydney's first win over St Kilda in a premiership match
** Greater Western Sydney's third consecutive away win
* Round 2:
** Greater Western Sydney's third consecutive win (club record)
** Highest score in any quarter: 9.2 (56) in the third quarter
** Highest score in any half: 13.5 (83) in the second half
** Biggest turnaround in a premiership match (78 points; were 33 points down in the second quarter, went on to win by 45)
* Round 4:
** Highest ladder placing after a completed round: 2nd
* Round 6:
** Greater Western Sydney's first win over Hawthorn in a premiership match
** Greater Western Sydney's first win against a defending premier
** Equal most goals kicked in a match by a Giants player: Jeremy Cameron (7.0, also kicked that many against Collingwood in Round 18, 2013)
** Most goals kicked by in a match by a Giants player at Sydney Showground Stadium: Jeremy Cameron (7.0)
* Round 7:
** Greater Western Sydney's greatest winning margin (78 points)
** Greater Western Sydney's highest ever score (19.21 (135))
* Round 8:
** Greater Western Sydney's best ever first quarter score (6.4 (40))
** Greater Western Sydney's first win over Adelaide in a premiership match
* Round 10:
** Greater Western Sydney's win over the Brisbane Lions was their seventh victory for the season, thus breaking the record for most wins in a single season.

### Milestones

* Round 1:
** Ryan Griffen – First game for Greater Western Sydney
** Joel Patfull – First game for Greater Western Sydney
** Tomas Bugg – 50th AFL game
** Dylan Shiel – 50th AFL game
* Round 4:
** Rhys Palmer – 100th AFL game
* Round 6:
** Stephen Coniglio – 50th AFL game
* Round 9:
** Heath Shaw – 200th AFL game
* Round 12:
** Caleb Marchbank – AFL debut
** Jack Steele – AFL debut
* Round 16:
** Curtly Hampton – 50th AFL game
** Tom Scully – 100th AFL game
* Round 17:
** Adam Tomlinson – 50th AFL game

## Brownlow Medal
### Results

* Round
* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* 18
* 19
* 20
* 21
* 22
* 23

### Brownlow Medal tally

| Player | 1 vote games | 2 vote games | 3 vote games | Total votes |
| Total | | | | |
* italics denotes ineligible player

## Tribunal cases

| Player | Round | Charge category | Verdict | Points | Result | Victim | Club | Ref(s) |
| Devon Smith | 7 | Rough conduct | Guilty | N/A | $1,000 fine | Bryce Gibbs | Carlton | |