Greater Western Sydney to pay big price for losing talented local Jack Steele to St Kilda
NO club likes to lose talented young players like Jack Steele but the price the Giants pay in his home town of Canberra could be an expensive one.
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NO club likes to lose talented young players like Jack Steele but the price the Giants pay in his home town of Canberra could be an expensive one.
With the Canberra Raiders on the rise in the NRL, GWS could be swamped by the popularity of Ricky Stuart’s green machine.
Steele is the only player from the fledgling AFL club with true roots in the national capital.
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Co-captain Phil Davis spent some high school years there and Harry Himmelberg played there for Eastlake before joining GWS.
But the young midfield gun is a genuine local product having grown up there and worked as a development officer with the club before becoming a Giant two years ago.
Steele’s departure to the Saints on a four-year deal leaves GWS with only Davis and Himmelberg’s thin connections to the capital and no players from Greater Western Sydney on their books.
They have seven players from the Riverina led by Zac Williams (Narrandera), Jacob Hopper (Leeton) and Matt Kennedy (Collingullie) but it’s a long way for those fans to travel even to Canberra.
As the Giants look to build on a sustained period of on-field success they have virtually no local players from anywhere near Spotless Stadium and Manuka Oval to drive interest levels.
Compare this to their cross town rivals the Swans who now have a significant number of local players in key roles at the club including co-captains Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh (Pennant Hills), All Australian defender Dane Rampe (Clovelly), Rising Star Callum Mills (North Shore) as well as Dan Robinson (Mosman) Brandon Jack, Jack Hiscox (Glebe) Abe Davis and Jordan Foote (Maroobra).
They also have young stars Isaac Heeney (Newcastle) and Sam Naismith (Gunnedah) who are breaking new ground in AFL support in NSW.
The Swans have had 35 years to build their local talent base compared to the Giants five but Steele’s loss is a step in the wrong direction.
“We were really keen to keep Jack,” GWS football manager Wayne Campbell said.
“We presented to Jack, his management and his parents, Leon (Cameron), Craig (Cameron) and I which was a show of our desire to keep him. There was a longer tenure on offer, greater monetary value and more of a guarantee of playing senior footy (at St Kilda). We couldn’t match the three things they were talking about.”
Steele has played 17 games in his two seasons at GWS.
In other news the Giants could land pick three from the Fremantle Dockers for Cam McCarthy.
They are keen to move up the draft order and have a host of picks and players to negotiate with.
They have number seven and hope to have number five from Carlton for Caleb Marchbank. They also have 15, 16, 31 and 33. Will Hoskin-Elliott has also been linked with Collingwood.
Originally published as Greater Western Sydney to pay big price for losing talented local Jack Steele to St Kilda
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