GOLD COAST's first taste of success at the weekend may be seen as a shot in the arm for Greater Western Sydney, but it would be unwise to judge the Giants' prospects for their debut season based on the Suns' performance this year. That's the warning from coach Kevin Sheedy.
Rather than be heartened by the Suns' shock win, a circumspect Sheedy said the situations confronting the Suns and the Giants - the AFL's two newest clubs - could not be compared.
''If they win the next 10 does that mean we'll win 10 to match them next year? I don't think that's the right way to look about it either,'' Sheedy said.
''I think it's too early to work out the formula of what is success on the Gold Coast and what is success in the GWS region. How do you judge success? At the moment success in the AFL is staying alive in the competition, that's going to be one of the most difficult things, isn't it?
''We've got no right to walk in after the Swans have been there for 30 years to think it's going to be five minutes [and then we're] 'on'. We want to be successful as soon as we can but what that time is I don't know.''
Industry insiders contacted by the Herald, however, have painted a brighter picture. One insider, who did not wish to be named, said the Suns' upset victory over Port Adelaide would make it easier for the Giants to entice big-name recruits to the club.
Rather than seeing any fledgling club as a potential whipping boy, players would now start thinking along the lines of how well the Suns could be placed in two or three years, he said.
Collingwood premiership star Dane Swan is now out of bounds to the Giants after signing a new deal recently but teammate Dale Thomas, Carlton gun Marc Murphy and highly rated Melbourne teenager Tom Scully remain attainable for the Giants.
There is a feeling among the 16 established teams that if the cashed-up Giants decided to target an elite player there would be a ''90 per cent chance'' that the player's club would not be able to match terms financially.
It's accepted that the salary cap of $8.2 million is not large enough for a club to pay one player $1.5 million while keeping the 40 or so other players on the list satisfied.
Should the likes of Thomas and Murphy stay put, the Giants will become more reliant on unearthing players from southern NSW and the Northern Territory.
''We've been given an enormous zone of over four million people. We've got to work with our academies. We might find some terrific players in the first four or five years that nobody knows is even out there yet,'' Sheedy said.
The other gold mine for the Giants will be the AFL draft, from which they will have nine of the first 15 picks.
The downside, however, will come at the end of the club's second year, in 2013, when many of their prized picks, who were offered two- rather than three-year deals, come off contract.
The Suns, who were the hunter last season, will become the hunted in 12 months' time as they battle clubs using the lure of returning home to poach Gold Coast's talented kids.
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