Celebrating 15 years as a Corporate Partner of the GIANTS
Introduction
In August 2010, at Blacktown International Sportspark, an emerging corporate advisory company owner met with a guy who looked strangely familiar. The discussion was around the familiar looking guy pitching the idea to the corporate advisory guy that sponsoring the new AFL club in Western Sydney was a fantastic idea.
The corporate advisory guy was me, the company was Yarmouth Group https://www.yarmouthgroup.com/ and the familiar looking guy was former Australian test cricketer Gavin Robertson (aka Robbo or Gav).
So, what was Robbo selling in this first meeting?
Early Days
The club in 2010 was a bunch of skinny 17 and 18 year olds playing in the Under 18 TAC Cup for ‘Team GWS’. The club had just been awarded an AFL licence to enter the AFL in 2012, but had no team colours, no identity and no home ground yet. The TAC Cup team trained on a baseball field in Blacktown, staff were accommodated in a spare room at the Rooty Hill RSL, and the naysayers north and south of the Murray River said that the AFL had no place in Western Sydney.
On the positive side, the club had signed legendary and multi AFL premiership coach and player Kevin Sheedy as inaugural head coach, secured Australian corporate leader Tony Shepherd as its inaugural Chair, and secured a commitment from the NSW Government to redevelop the Sydney Showgrounds (now known as Engie Stadium) to become an AFL standard stadium. Longterm AFL recruiting sage Graeme Allan had also been appointed to the Team GWS Football Department as Football Manager.
Yarmouth was formed in Sydney out of the Global Financial Crisis during September 2008 and commenced fulltime operations in March 2009. So, the company had only been going for a bit over a year when I met with Robbo and it would be fair to say that the marketing budget at that time was not overflowing.
So, what happened in this first meeting? Robbo basically had me engaged with Team GWS ‘at hello’. You see Robbo is a very passionate man (like me), which is very obvious when you first meet him. He loves ‘the West’, thrives on a challenge, lives and breathes sport, he is tough and resilient, and he understands how playing organised community sport can positively change lives. Robbo wanted the Western Sydney football club to be a beacon of opportunity for the two million people of Western Sydney. And with Robbo pitching, it was very easy to be a believer. Part of Robbo’s pitch was ‘how often are you going to get the chance to be a foundation sponsor of an AFL club?’ The answer of course, is not often!
Country Roots
Growing up in Greater Western Victoria (this is now actually a thing based on the GIANTS moniker), I played country football and understood how a football club can shape communities (thank you CBC, South Warrnambool and Old Collegians FNCs). These types of sports clubs can be the lifeblood of the local area. They encourage community, commitment and competing.
How about if this fledgling Western Sydney AFL club could become like a regional or suburban footy club - a community asset and the lifeblood of AFL for the people of Western Sydney (and eventually Canberra and parts of regional NSW)? This idea formed part of the initial discussion between Robbo and me – can these early Team GWS believers build a community-based sports club that can compete at the highest and best standard of Australian Rules football in the land?
Well, as they say, ‘the rest is history’. Yarmouth did sign up to be a foundation corporate partner of ‘Team GWS’ in August 2010 due to the passion of the great Robbo and the belief our company could make a small difference to the communities of the West. Having spent many days rowing and coaching on both the Nepean River and at the Penrith Lakes Olympic Regatta Course, I already had a strong affinity for the West. Could my links with the West and passion for sport be helpful to this new AFL club? After 15 years, our company believes we have played a small part in bringing a GIANT vision to life!
So now on the 15th anniversary of Yarmouth committing to the GIANTS, I reflect on what an amazing journey it has been to be part of this wonderful club, representing the communities of Western Sydney, Canberra and regional NSW. We’ve enjoyed the highs (and experienced the lows) that passionately following a football club provides.
Highlights
There have been many highlights over the past 15 years and too numerous to be included in this article. However, a mention of the big ones include:
My kids running out with the team on the field numerous times;
Gatherings at the Palace Hotel, our de-facto social club in the early days. Where supporters, sponsors, parents and players got to mingle in a really supportive environment and also watching Sheeds hold court at the Palace post-match;
Our first ever win versus the Swans when lightning literally struck the stadium;
Our first finals appearance in 2016;
Getting to know the legends of our Captains Club coterie group (you know who you are);
See Jezza win the Coleman Medal at the Gold Coast in 2019; and
Our club’s courageous run into the 2019 Grand Final.
GIANTS Culture
As a corporate person with over 35 years of experience, I am attracted to working with organisations with great ‘culture’. I know that culture can be a difficult concept to define. I attended a sports event a few years back where a prominent former CEO of another AFL club reflected on what culture meant to him and to his club. This CEO talked about culture as ‘the way things are done around here’. This club, suffice to say, has been extremely successful in this century, constantly making finals, winning premierships and competing hard and fair successfully.
For Yarmouth to be continuously involved with the GIANTS for 15 years, the values of the club had to be the right fit for me personally and for our company. So, we have really resonated with ‘the ways things are done around here’ at the GIANTS.
To our company, culture is about having standards, and attempting to meet these standards day-to-day. From my experience with the club, the GIANTS have exceptional standards about how people treat each other, what sort of training levels and rehabilitation is acceptable and what types of outcomes the club should be delivering to its communities. People in the organisation buy in to the mantra that ‘the standard you walk past is the standard you accept’, meaning that if poor behaviour or performance is seen, it gets called out so that a slip in standards does NOT become a new benchmark for everyone.
What sort of words would I use to describe the culture of the club during my time at the GIANTS?
Genuine
Caring
Ruthless
Professional
Diverse
Challenging conventional norms (as a challenger brand in foreign territory)
Inclusive and welcoming to all
Entertaining (both our social media and how we play the game as the ‘orange tsunami’)
Extremely well led
Strategic
Resilient
Multicultural
Respectful
Fun
There is a saying that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ which is attributed to Peter Drucker. Personally, I believe a strong culture is most powerful when it is supported by great leadership, incisive strategy and excellent market research. For example, at the GIANTS, the agreed organisational standards are almost always met, and these standards are supported strategically from the top of the organisation; from the Board, the CEO, Head Coach and Head of Football.
Our leaders at the football club including the board, executive, staff, coaches, players, coterie groups and corporate sponsors have ensured that the initial gritty leadership generated in those difficult early days in Blacktown has gone on to thrive, and been strengthened over time as the club has slowly grown from a bold ‘start-up’ to a fully-fledged AFL team, genuinely competing for premierships, as evidence by our eight finals appearances in the past 10 seasons (and since our 2012 AFL debut).
2025
So, the club’s strong, inclusive and genuine culture combined with excellent leadership and strategy creates competitive advantage over our rivals. Our consistent finals appearances prove that we are one of the top clubs in the league over the past ten years. Of course, the ultimate prize of a premiership still awaits, and I will be here supporting the club to achieve this greatest of achievements.
In such an even 2025 AFL season, where any of the top eight finalists could salute:
GIANTS In 2025:
‘if not us, who? if not now, when?’
Building Diamonds
Another saying I am fond of is that ‘pressure builds diamonds’, and through experiencing adversity, great things can thrive, if you can see the challenges and pressure through. The GIANTS saw significant challenges and experienced some awful ‘hidings’ on the field in the early days, however the club and the players saw the pressure through to build this now successful and diverse club. A club that now boasts an AFL, VFL, AFLW and National Super Netball teams plus the GIANTS academy for up and coming male and female footballers from the West, regional NSW and the ACT. As a club, we’ve built the diamonds.
AFL’s participation rates in NSW have increased since the GIANTS’ inception, while the addition of the GIANTS and the Gold Coast Suns has also contributed to an increase in TV rights revenue for the benefit of the AFL and its 18 clubs.
Community
The GIANTS are also committed to supporting and fundraising for the communities in which we operate. The main vehicle for this philanthropy is the GIANTS Foundation. Through the Foundation, Yarmouth has supported various initiatives including ‘GIANT Hand’, which provided meals to vulnerable people in Western Sydney and later to flood-affected communities in regional NSW. The Foundation and Yarmouth has also supported The Smith Family’s Back to School programs, which aims to raise awareness and funds for The Smith Family's education programs and provides support to disadvantaged children and youth in Australia by ensuring they have access to essential school supplies, digital resources, and learning programs.
Thank You
As the GIANTS enter our eighth finals series in September 2025, and coincides with Yarmouth’s 15th anniversary of sponsoring the club, I’d like to recognise and thank the club and its leaders for the opportunity to be involved as a foundation corporate partner, as foundation player sponsor of Coleman Medalist Jeremy Cameron (a fellow western Victorian) and for allowing me to take a leadership position with the Southern Giants coterie group.
Firstly, thanks to Robbo for convincing me to get on board the GIANTS even though you ‘had me at hello’ in our first meeting (no convincing really required Robbo). To Dale Holmes our inaugural CEO and my fellow financial services professional, and to David Matthews our current CEO and leader. Culture starts at the top and thanks to Dale and Dave for indelibly shaping the amazing, competitive, inclusive and positive culture of the club.
To the many past and present Board members who have been so welcoming to my colleagues and family members over our GIANTS journey including Tony Shepherd, Tim Reed, Mel Doyle, Chris Cawsey, Peter Taylor, Chris Larsen, Adrian Fonseca and my former Lendlease colleague Steve Tucker – thank you.
There are many past and present staff members who have also treated us with great care and respect over our time at the club including Patrick Harrington, Richard Griffiths, Leigh Meyrick, Jason McCartney, Deb Keen, Stephen Doyle, Alex Stanley, Amanda Matthews, Emma German, Jack Masters and Matt Hagias. Thank you for your diligent work at the club over many years.
To the many players and past players who have been inspirational and professional to me, my colleagues, our clients and to my family including: Tommy Bugg, Adam Kennedy, Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly, Callan Ward, Phil Davis, Brent Daniels, Dylan Addison, Nick Haynes, Jon Patton, Shane Mumford, Dylan Shiel, Toby Greene, Adam Tomlinson, Jonathan Giles, Samuel Reid, Aidan Corr, Matt Buntine, Liam Sumner and Sam Frost and to all their parents and families that we have had the pleasure of getting to know since the Blacktown days.
To my old cricketing and South Warrnambool mate and GIANTS second ever Head Coach Leon Cameron - thanks for still being such a champion person, on and off the field. You lead with resilience, humility and authenticity, and I admire you greatly.
And a shout out to my GIANTS coterie friends Robert Coulter, Tatiana Coulter, Trevor Clisby and Atle Crowe-Maxwell. You bring joy, fun and commitment to the GIANTS!
And finally, a most special thank you to the Lamberts, Craig Lambert and Melissa Lambert who through their genuine care and hospitality, made me feel part of the Lambert and GIANTS family from the outset. You have left your caring and positive mark at the club forever and I will always remember your kindness.
So, here’s to another 15 years of support to come!
Go GIANTS!
#BigBigSound
Note: Header image of Gavin Robertson, Kevin Sheedy and Andrew McNeil, circa 2013, VALO Community Centre, Sydney Olympic Park.
Links:
https://www.andrewsmcneil.com/
https://www.yarmouthgroup.com/
https://www.gwsgiants.com.au/news/99122/support-the-giants-back-to-school-appeal
https://www.gwsgiants.com.au/news/232487/player-partners-perfect-10-as-cameron-reaches-150
https://www.gwsgiants.com.au/video/352891/andrew-mcneil-wishes-luck-to-the-giants