Former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou is predicting GWS to become a “very, very big” club in the future, but his outlook on Gold Coast isn’t quite as positive.
Demetriou thinks the Suns won’t be anything more than a “small, niche club” in a “small, niche market” in the coming years.
“I’ve often said this is a 20-to-30-year build in Greater Western Sydney, but it’ll be a very, very big club one day – much bigger than the Gold Coast Suns will ever be,” Demetriou said on GWS’ special five-part podcast Here Come The Giants.
“Gold Coast will be a small, niche club in a small, niche market.
“Greater Western Sydney, tapping into the multicultural diversity, women, Indigenous, growing socio-economic backgrounds, broadcasting, two to three million people – you couldn’t get any better than that.”
Demetriou was league boss when the Suns and Giants entered the AFL in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Suns coach Stuart Dew is adamant the club and the game on the Gold Coast is in “good shape”.
“I didn’t see it,” Dew told SEN Breakfast when asked about Demetriou’s comments.
“I guess the club’s done a lot of work on the growth in this region. Wayne Campbell’s come from Sydney, and you get recognised more on the Gold Coast than in Sydney probably via population but also the amount of southern people and interest in the game.
“I think we’re building the club well. We hit 20,000 members last year, so we’ll look to top that this year and I think the participation – we’re screaming out for grounds and there’s a lot of planning going on around that.
“The game is in good shape here. I don’t think we need to label the club. We’re in good shape.”
The Suns will look to make it back-to-back wins to start 2022 when they host reigning premiers Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.