GWS star Kieren Briggs says AFL ‘slowly’ gaining ground in western Sydney

GWS only has two men’s players from western Sydney, but a local star says he’s starting to see the Giants’ popularity grow.

Kieren Briggs (left) says he’s confident Aussie rules can continue to grow in western Sydney, where he once accidentally discovered the game. Picture: James Worsfold / Getty Images

GWS star Kieren Briggs says he’s noticed a significant “shift in awareness” of the AFL club in its western Sydney heartland, even if progress remains slow.

The Giants ruckman is one of only two players on the AFL list who hails from Sydney’s west despite heavy investment in the club’s junior academy.

GWS has 10 academy graduates on its list and more than a dozen others have been drafted to other clubs, but a far greater proportion of the talent has come from its Canberra and Riverina recruitment zones.

But Briggs, 24, said he was buoyed by seeing the uptake of Aussie rules in western Sydney schools and thought the club’s success over the last 12 months was helping generate more interest around their visits.

He and fellow Pennant Hills product James Peatling ran a clinic in nearby Baulkham Hills on Wednesday night as Giants players spread across 11 junior clubs in the region.

GWS Giants defender Leek Aleer takes kids through an Aussie rules drill at Baulkham Hills on Wednesday. Picture: GWS

“It’s cool to be doing these community events back where I grew up,” Briggs said.

“Having these clinics and getting into the community is the greatest way to create awareness about AFL and build a bit of excitement … the smiles we put on the kids’ faces, they have so much fun doing the drills, and you can actually see them improving each time.

“Going back to my first and second year, you’d only have a handful of kids there who actually knew who the Giants were – now you get asked to sign guernseys and hats and things like that because they actually enjoy AFL and follow the Giants.

“There’s definitely been a shift in awareness and having genuine supporters as well.”

Briggs was a junior athletics star who stumbled upon Aussie rules when a sleepover at a friend’s house ended with him being coerced into filling in for the Pennant Hills under 12s team the next day.

Giants academy members James Peatling (left) and Kieren Briggs (right) as teenagers with longtime academy head Jason Saddington. Picture: GWS Giants

He kept playing and was asked to join the GWS academy less than two years later.

Briggs said it was far more difficult to win a coveted academy spot now, which boded well for the code’s future in western Sydney.

“You can see just the raw numbers you get to academy tryouts now and even just the junior club sizes, numbers are definitely bigger at the moment,” he said.

“The academy when I was there – if you wanted to be in it, you could almost just ask, but there’s so much talent around in western Sydney and maybe they haven’t been able to tap into it in the past because of league, but it’s slowly creeping onto kids’ radars and they’re really enjoying playing it as well as watching it.

Briggs starred with a game-high 12 clearances and 34 hit-outs in the 65-point win over West Coast last Sunday. Picture: Daniel Carson / Getty Images

“Us playing good footy is helping as well – we’re always going to be striving to make AFL bigger in western Sydney.”

Briggs said the Giants’ star-studded midfield was enjoying the freedom of playing in a well-rounded side that was not relying on them too heavily in an unbeaten start to the season.

“I think we’ve been doing pretty well, we got a bit of a hurry-up after our Swans praccy game (loss),” he said.

“We know when we’re on, we can take it to any midfield, and it’s good to be able to go to stoppages and know we can score but that it’s not our only source as well.

“We have confidence from buying into each part of our game – if one part of our game is not working, we don’t have to rely on it, we can find other avenues to score.

“We’re a tight-knit group at the moment, we hang out inside and outside of footy and that shows in the way we’re playing.”