Officials of the Greater Western Sydney Giants have acknowledged that they are considering changing the club’s name after recognising it is illogical.
The Giants made one appearance in the grand final and played their first game in the 2012 season.
However, despite the fact that the club’s popularity has grown over the past fifteen years, AFL supporters have often opposed the name, and team chairman Tim Reed now seems to acknowledge that they are correct.
Since Sydneysiders have never used the term “Greater Western Sydney” to refer to the region, there have been requests for the Giants to drop it from their name.
“It’s something we might think about in the future,” Reed stated. “A brand’s values are its most crucial component.”
The absurd moniker that the GWS Giants have been using for fifteen years may soon be changed (team captain Toby Greene shown).
Since the club’s home base has never been referred to as “Greater Western Sydney,” many football supporters have been urging the team to make the change. “No one who you ask who lives in Sydney says “I live in Greater Western Sydney.”
“People don’t naturally identify with this term, so it doesn’t help the club’s brand.”
“I lived in NSW and aside from GWS I never once heard anyone say greater western Sydney it means nothing to anyone,” one fan posted on X in response to the team’s potential new moniker.
“Greater Western Sydney, which became GWS, should never have been called that.” Another said, “It should have always been West/Western Sydney.”
“They couldn’t figure that out fifteen years ago?” another person remarked.
Another said, “It should have always just been Western Sydney Giants.”
Eddie McGuire, an AFL identity, is a supporter of the change, although he feels it falls short.
How can a football team pick a name that accurately reflects its supporters and community?
Supporters of the Giants have expressed support for eliminating the “GWS” portion of the moniker (shown, Toby Green in action).
Eddie McGuire (pictured), an AFL player, wants the team to become the NSW Giants. “I just think the NSW Giants and get them playing as they are in Canberra and get the whole lot,” McGuire said on Footy Classified on Channel Nine. They chose GWS because they didn’t want to refer to them as the Blacktown Giants or anything else. NSW, they (Giants) get the full thing—don’t just look at one little pocket.
“They aimed to disperse it in a manner similar to what the Western Bulldogs have accomplished.”
