West Sydney FC (AFL)

West Sydney (AKA GWS Giants) is an existing club that plays in the Australian Football League, and has previously played in the North East Australian FL. The club was formed in 2009 and has not won any premierships.
== Formation ==
As early as 1999, an AFL club in Sydney's west was mooted. Attempts were made to establish North Melbourne in Sydney but it failed miserably as they were seen as an invader. In March 2008, the sixteen existing club presidents approved an expansion of the AFL to include a club from Sydney's west. There is no actual formation date and there were delays because of the Global Financial Crisis and pressure from politicians to have the 18th club eminate from Tasmania instead. The latter was ignored by the AFL, and the club was nursed into existence via the TAC Cup in 2010 and the North East Australian FL in 2011.
== First season ==
Under the guidance of the legendary Kevin Sheedy as coach, the Giants had a poor debut season in the TAC Cup, thrashed in their debut game by the Northern Knights to the tune of 94 points at Blacktown. The club won just two games in 2010, although that was enough to avoid the wooden spoon ahead of the Bendigo Pioneers. The club was made up of the pick of New South Wales under 18 players.
== NEAFL ==
The Giants moved to senior football for the first time, and played in the North East AFL in 2011 in the Eastern Conference. They won their opening match against Ainslie, and did a better job finishing the season in third place with a record of 12 wins and five losses. Interestingly only two of those losses were to a club in their conference, and both of them were to the Sydney reserves. The other three were all to Northern Conference teams. However in something of an upset, Eastlake ended the season for the Giants by winning the first semi final at Manuka Oval easily by 68 points.
== First AFL season ==
In 2012 the Giants were moved up to the AFL and their debut game for premiership points was played in the opening round as a stand alone game against Sydney in the first ever Battle of the Bridge at the Olympic Stadium. The Swans won comfortably. West Sydney's second home game was played at Blacktown where they were easily defeated by West Coast, before they played two home games at Manuka Oval. The second of these would be the Giants first ever AFL win, achieved over Gold Coast. It would be in round nine that the Giants would debut their proper home at Sydney Showgrounds where they were beaten comfortably by Essendon. It would not be until round nineteen that West Sydney would win their first game at their Sydney home - a 34 point win over Port Adelaide. The two wins would not prevent the Giants from the wooden spoon in their first season.
== 2013-2019 ==
In 2013 another wooden spoon didn't inspire much confidence. But slow improvement started in 2014 with a rise to sixteenth and then eleventh in 2015.
It would be in 2016 that the Giants would make the finals for the first time and the top four at that, finishing fourth. And their first ever final would be a Battle of the Bridge against their Harbour City rivals, Sydney. And it was a fine finals debut with West Sydney accounting for the Swans strongly by 36 points getting the week off. In the preliminary final they ran into a club that had a bit in common with them - the Western Bulldogs. The western suburbs of Sydney against the western suburbs of Melbourne. In a tough and sometimes spiteful clash, the Bulldogs would prevail by 6 points - en route to the flag and the Giants needing to start again.
Another fourth place finish followed, but not a great start to their campaign - losing the Adelaide by the same margin they won their finals debut the previous year - 36 points. The Giants came back with a 67 point thrashing of West Coast in the semi final, but they were beaten by eventual premiers Richmond in the preliminary final - the second year in a row that West Sydney would lose to the team who would win the flag the previous week. In 2018 the club slipped to sixth and had their second Battle of the Bridge final against Sydney. And the Giants would win again, this time by 49 points. But Collingwood wouled stop them in the semi final with a 10 point victory.
In 2019 West Sydney would finish sixth, setting up an elimination final clash with the Western Bulldogs. This one though would fizzle out as the Giants won easily by 58 points. The club followed that with a heart stopping 3 point win over Brisbane to make their third preliminary final where they met Collingwood. Another close game followed with West Sydney getting the win by just 4 points to enter their first ever grand final. It would be against Richmond. But it would be a nightmare for the Giants. After kicking the first goal of the game, they would only kick two more as nerves and inexperience wracked the team and the game would be lost by 89 points.
== 2020 ==
West Sydney seemed to be beginning a big rebound with a resounding first round thrashing of Geelong in 2020, before the break due to the COVID-19 pandemic hit. When games resumed in June the Giants suffered two straight losses followed by two straight wins and then another two losses. They were unable to get a roll on and were thirteenth on the ladder. But then three straight wins provided hope launching them into the eight, only for the bye to rob them of their momentum and two straight losses had them out of the eight again. Another two wins had them back again, but West Sydney finished the home and away season with three more losses on the trot including a final round thrashed at the hands of St Kilda confirming the finish in tenth spot. It would be the first time since 2015 that the Giants didn't play in the finals.
== 2021 ==
West Sydney started 2021 poorly with three striaght losses. But they then won five of the next seven games to get into the eight. A belting at the hands of Brisbane going into the bye though ejected the Giants from the finals group, and then a draw with lowly North Melbourne didn't auger well. But they came back with two wins (with a loss in between) with the second win being a massive upset over top side Melbourne and they were back in the eight again. But two losses in a row had them out again. However in the last five rounds West Sydney would only lose once and this would elevate them to seventh spot and a return to the finals.
The elimination final against Sydney in the Battle of the Bridge would be played in Launceston thanks to the pandemic and the Giants would get a narrow win to advance. They then travelled to Perth for the semi final against Geelong where their season would end to the tune of 35 points.
== 2022 ==
With the recent seasons of promise, West Sydney failed to deliver in 2022. The first half of the season only garnered three wins with the best one probably the 59 point win over Adelaide. But they were clearly a shadow of what they had been hitting fourteenth place going into the bye. And the second half of the season was no better with only three more wins. The 11 point loss to Collingwood was perhaps the best performance of this period, but they ended up finishing sixteenth - a spot they last finished at in 2014.
== 2023 ==
Not many were expecting much from the Giants in 2023, and after the opening round win over Adelaide the next three games were all losses. A narrow in over the struggling Hawthorn and a loss to Brisbane didn't help and while it was nice to win the Battle of the Bridge, that was followed by three straight losses and West Sydney were fifteenth. But then after a win over Geelong and a loss to Richmond, the Giants got a roll on through the bye. Seven wins in a row and suddenly they looked threatening as they rose to sixth and in the eight. Two straight losses followed though, including the return Battle of the Bridge and they were tenth. But a huge 126 point belting of Essendon had them back in the eight with a round to go. The last round game against Carlton became must win after the Western Bulldogs upended Geelong, and they did it to lock in seventh spot.
The elimination final saw West Sydney defeat St Kilda by 24 points to advance to the first semi final against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval. The Giants surprised many with another win, by 23 points. This put them in the preliminary final against Collingwood. West Sydney went so close to repeating their 2019 effort but this time it would be the Magpies winning by a point to end the season for the Giants.
== Reserves ==
When the club was elevated to the AFL in 2012, the need for a reserve grade arrangement allowed for the Giants to continue to play in the NEAFL - albeit now with it's reserves instead of it's seniors. This lasted until 2019, with the team winning the club's first silverware in 2016 defeating the Sydney reserves in the grand final. The team did not play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Category:Australian FL clubs
Category:North East AFL clubs