Greater Western Sydney is at the centre of a Giant divide in Canberra football that has left the region's leading representative team starved of sponsorship dollars.
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The Giants are seven years into their 10-year, $23 million partnership with the ACT government to play three premiership fixtures and a pre-season match in Canberra per year, and they will return to host to Fremantle Dockers at Manuka Oval on Saturday.
The Canberra Demons have been left fearing not enough of the AFL pie is being fed to the local game with the Eastlake club forced to cough up more than "$750,000" per year to run the NEAFL team.
Demons vice-president Brian Quade says the Demons are struggling to find sponsors and have been kept off Manuka Oval, and he fears there won't be a voice vouching for Canberra when negotiations to extend the GWS partnership heat up.
Quade says the Demons were told by ACT chief minister Andrew Barr that Manuka Oval is being kept for "elite sport", leaving Canberra to train at Aranda Oval with "a tent" to get changed in during pre-season.
The Demons will play five home games at Manuka Oval this season before shifting to the redeveloped Phillip Oval complex in July, which is far less expensive for the club to play at.
AFL Canberra boss Steve Mahar maintains the region's governing body is working closely with the Giants to make sure the capital's needs are met when GWS chief executive David Matthews meets with the ACT government and AFL officials to extend the partnership.
"The Canberra Demons struggle for sponsorship and it’s not only the Giants getting the government money they get, they then get the next level of corporate sponsorship in the town," Quade said.
"There’s very little that filters down to local AFL or a regional side like the Demons. It’s okay and it’s great, but what does actually filter down to the local level? We’ve got six teams in our local competition, two of those are really struggling.
"With that much money going to GWS, we’ve got youth girls, youth women, needing better facilities at grounds for change rooms.
"We play four games here a year, is the AFL going to put any money into making sure Manuka is upgraded? It’s not all bad but the biggest concern I’ve got is if there is a massive deal done to play AFL here for the next 10 years and that deal is sorted out, there won’t be a local voice at the table.
"You can say the AFL probably think about us but how much of the dollars drifts down to local AFL to your Tuggeranong’s and Gungahlin’s, your youth girls?
"You can say games promote it and that’s great but you’re still depending on chook raffles or small sponsors to keep the show going."
GWS are willing to shift finals games to Canberra and Matthews says the club's deal with the ACT government has become much more than a handful of AFL games in the capital every year.
Manuka Oval has been bordering on a full house for most Giants games in recent years and the club steers a host of development programs in the region, while also playing AFLW and Super Netball games in Canberra.
Mahar believes there is no genuine animosity between local clubs and the Giants, adamant the benefits of the deal far outweigh the costs.
"The bigger picture is bringing elite teams to Canberra and the benefits of having elite players out at clubs and helping grassroots participation as well as those pathways," Mahar said.
"We’ve got a coaching forum [on Friday night] with Mark McVeigh and Brad Miller around upskilling our coaches. The benefits that the Giants bring to the region far outweigh any other concerns that people might have.
"We work with the Giants around what we would like to see. It has a massive flow-on effect for our participation and fan engagement activities.
"We’re not at the table when they have those discussions but we feed information to the Giants to be able to use at those discussions."
AFL ROUND FOUR
Saturday: GWS Giants v Fremantle Dockers at Manuka Oval, 1.45pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
