2012 Greater Western Sydney Giants season
# 2012 Greater Western Sydney Giants season

The 2012 Greater Western Sydney Giants season was the club's first season of senior competition in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club also fielded its reserves team in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) for its second season, but under the new name University of Western Sydney Giants.

## Club personnel

Kevin Sheedy was the first head coach of the Giants, while Mark Williams was the assistant coach.

### Playing list

**Playing statistics**

| ^ | Denotes player who is on the club's rookie list |
| - | - |
| # | Denotes nominated rookie where player has been elevated to club's senior list during season, and therefore eligible for senior selection. |
| † | Denotes player who is on the club's veteran list |

Greater Western Sydney's 2012 playing list :

| Player | # | AFL debut | Games | Goals | Behinds | Kicks | Handballs | Disposals | Marks | Tackles |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Taylor Adams | 30 | Round 5, 2012 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 167 | 131 | 298 | 51 | 53 |
| Kurt Aylett | 43 | Round 17, 2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Dean Brogan | 10 | Round 9, 2001* | 9 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 42 | 100 | 35 | 12 |
| Josh Bruce | 47 | Round 5, 2012 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 33 | 12 | 2 |
| Tomas Bugg | 14 | Round 1, 2012 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 150 | 167 | 317 | 72 | 57 |
| Matthew Buntine | 21 | Round 8, 2012 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 39 | 67 | 16 | 10 |
| Jeremy Cameron | 18 | Round 1, 2012 | 16 | 29 | 15 | 115 | 45 | 160 | 80 | 28 |
| Steve Clifton | 24 | Round 16, 2012 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 11 | 20 |
| Stephen Coniglio | 3 | Round 1, 2012 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 140 | 118 | 258 | 58 | 31 |
| Rhys Cooyou# | 49 | Round 22, 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 3 |
| Chad Cornes | 11 | Round 6, 1999* | 16 | 4 | 3 | 181 | 136 | 317 | 103 | 36 |
| Sam Darley | 13 | Round 8, 2012 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 46 | 128 | 32 | 18 |
| Phil Davis | 1 | Round 4, 2010* | 22 | 5 | 1 | 209 | 119 | 328 | 122 | 42 |
| Thomas Downie | 44 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shaun Edwards | 22 | Round 4, 2012 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 91 | 41 | 132 | 31 | 11 |
| Israel Folau | 4 | Round 1, 2012 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 39 | 41 | 80 | 22 | 18 |
| Sam Frost# | 48 | Round 17, 2012 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 14 | 37 | 14 | 5 |
| Jonathan Giles | 26 | Round 1, 2012 | 20 | 18 | 8 | 177 | 108 | 285 | 70 | 43 |
| Tim Golds | 15 | Round 20, 2012 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 1 |
| Toby Greene | 35 | Round 1, 2012 | 19 | 8 | 10 | 273 | 266 | 539 | 73 | 63 |
| Josh Growden | 41 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Curtly Hampton | 2 | Round 1, 2012 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 150 | 80 | 230 | 52 | 31 |
| Nick Haynes | 19 | Round 10, 2012 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 44 | 34 | 78 | 22 | 17 |
| Jack Hombsch | 36 | Round 1, 2012 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 51 | 130 | 37 | 18 |
| Will Hoskin-Elliott | 33 | Round 1, 2012 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 80 | 36 | 116 | 36 | 12 |
| Adam Kennedy | 40 | Round 1, 2012 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 101 | 106 | 207 | 51 | 27 |
| James McDonald | 38 | Round 17, 1997* | 13 | 4 | 3 | 100 | 97 | 197 | 31 | 67 |
| Anthony Miles | 25 | Round 4, 2012 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 54 | 128 | 34 | 28 |
| Tim Mohr | 39 | Round 1, 2012 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 98 | 60 | 158 | 53 | 24 |
| Setanta O'hAilpin | 37 | Round 7, 2005* | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Rhys Palmer | 7 | Round 2, 2008* | 15 | 9 | 9 | 158 | 128 | 286 | 66 | 34 |
| Jonathon Patton | 12 | Round 12, 2012 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 20 | 48 | 20 | 9 |
| Andrew Phillips# | 27 | Round 7, 2012 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 23 | 61 | 16 | 15 |
| Luke Power | 6 | Round 2, 1998* | 20 | 0 | 1 | 227 | 182 | 409 | 84 | 52 |
| Sam Reid | 23 | Round 22, 2008* | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 36 | 64 | 14 | 13 |
| Sam Schulz | 45 | Round 12, 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Tom Scully | 9 | Round 1, 2010* | 19 | 4 | 4 | 177 | 209 | 386 | 51 | 85 |
| Tim Segrave | 46 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dylan Shiel | 5 | Round 1, 2012 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 108 | 120 | 228 | 39 | 46 |
| Devon Smith | 34 | Round 1, 2012 | 20 | 10 | 19 | 174 | 144 | 318 | 61 | 85 |
| Liam Sumner | 28 | Round 6, 2012 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 3 | 4 |
| Adam Tomlinson | 20 | Round 1, 2012 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 56 | 43 | 99 | 31 | 16 |
| Jacob Townsend | 31 | Round 1, 2012 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 50 | 38 | 88 | 25 | 37 |
| Adam Treloar | 17 | Round 3, 2012 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 223 | 157 | 380 | 86 | 48 |
| Dom Tyson | 29 | Round 1, 2012 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 68 | 90 | 158 | 46 | 23 |
| Gerald Ugle | 32 | Round 17, 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Callan Ward | 8 | Round 11, 2008* | 20 | 8 | 11 | 278 | 210 | 488 | 86 | 100 |
| Mark Whiley | 42 | Round 12, 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 15 | 35 | 15 | 5 |
| Nathan Wilson | 16 | Round 1, 2012 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 37 | 19 | 56 | 15 | 20 |

*= Player made his debut at a club other than Greater Western Sydney.

All statistics taken from AFL.com.au

## Season summary

### Pre-season matches

Greater Western Sydney's 2012 NAB Cup fixture (Week 1 – Lightning matches) :

| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores | Scores | Scores | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position | Ref |
| 1 | Saturday, 18 February (7:15 pm) | Western Bulldogs | 1.3.3 (30) | 0.5.5 (35) | Lost by 5 points | Blacktown Olympic Park | 7,086 | | |
| 1 | Saturday, 18 February (9:25 pm) | Collingwood | 0.5.2 (32) | 0.5.5 (35) | Lost by 3 points | Blacktown Olympic Park | 7,086 | | |

Greater Western Sydney's 2012 NAB Cup fixture (Weeks 2, 3 & 4 – Full-length matches) :

| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores | Scores | Scores | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position | Ref |
| 2 | Saturday, 3 March (3:40 pm) | Hawthorn | 0.4.10 (34) | 2.12.18 (108) | Lost by 74 points | Aurora Stadium | 5,100 | | |
| 3 | Saturday, 10 March (5:30 pm) | Gold Coast | 0.11.10 (76) | 1.8.6 (63) | Won by 13 points | Lavington Sports Ground | 6,740 | | |
| 4 | Saturday, 17 March (12:30 pm) | Richmond | 10.6 (66) | 20.20 (140) | Lost by 74 points | Manuka Oval | 4,222 | | |

### Regular season

Greater Western Sydney's 2012 AFL season fixture :

| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ref |||
| 1 | Saturday, 24 March (7:20 pm) | Sydney | 5.7 (37) | 14.16 (100) | Lost by 63 points | ANZ Stadium | 38,203 | 18th |
| 2 | Sunday, 8 April (1:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 8.6 (54) | 28.15 (183) | Lost by 129 points | Blundstone Arena | 11,127 | 18th |
| 3 | Sunday, 15 April (1:10 pm) | West Coast | 10.9 (69) | 23.12 (150) | Lost by 81 points | Blacktown Olympic Park | 6,875 | 18th |
| 4 | Saturday, 21 April (4:10 pm) | Adelaide | 7.8 (50) | 13.18 (96) | Lost by 46 points | AAMI Stadium | 28,261 | 18th |
| 5 | Saturday, 28 April (1:45 pm) | Western Bulldogs | 9.8 (62) | 15.14 (104) | Lost by 42 points | Manuka Oval | 9,128 | 18th |
| 6 | Sunday, 6 May (2:45 pm) | Carlton | 6.7 (43) | 15.20 (110) | Lost by 67 points | Etihad Stadium | 28,213 | 18th |
| 7 | Saturday, 12 May (1:40 pm) | Gold Coast | 13.16 (94) | 9.13 (67) | Won by 27 points | Manuka Oval | 8,603 | 16th |
| 8 | Sunday, 20 May (1:40 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 5.10 (40) | 19.18 (132) | Lost by 92 points | The Gabba | 16,049 | 16th |
| 9 | Saturday, 26 May (7:40 pm) | Essendon | 7.11 (53) | 18.11 (119) | Lost by 66 points | Skoda Stadium | 11,887 | 16th |
| 10 | Saturday, 2 June (1:45 pm) | Geelong | 9.7 (61) | 19.12 (126) | Lost by 65 points | Simonds Stadium | 17,243 | 17th |
| 11 | — | Bye | — | — | — | — | |
| 12 | Saturday, 16 June (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 12.2 (74) | 11.20 (86) | Lost by 12 points | Skoda Stadium | 7,538 | 17th |
| 13 | Sunday, 24 June (3:15 pm) | Melbourne | 9.3 (57) | 20.15 (135) | Lost by 78 points | MCG | 20,070 | 17th |
| 14 | Saturday, 30 June (7:40 pm) | Sydney | 5.8 (38) | 19.18 (132) | Lost by 94 points | ANZ Stadium | 22,565 | 17th |
| 15 | Sunday, 8 July (1:10 pm) | Hawthorn | 4.7 (31) | 28.25 (193) | Lost by 162 points | MCG | 26,518 | 17th |
| 16 | Sunday, 15 July (1:10 pm) | Adelaide | 8.11 (59) | 27.16 (178) | Lost by 119 points | Skoda Stadium | 7,669 | 18th |
| 17 | Sunday, 22 July (2:40 pm) | Fremantle | 5.7 (37) | 18.24 (132) | Lost by 95 points | Patersons Stadium | 28,767 | 18th |
| 18 | Sunday, 28 July (4:40 pm) | Collingwood | 7.12 (54) | 26.18 (174) | Lost by 120 points | Skoda Stadium | 8,102 | 18th |
| 19 | Saturday, 4 August (2:10 pm) | Port Adelaide | 16.11 (107) | 10.13 (73) | Won by 34 points | Skoda Stadium | 6,811 | 17th |
| 20 | Saturday, 11 August (4:40 pm) | Gold Coast | 12.7 (79) | 16.13 (109) | Lost by 30 points | Metricon Stadium | 14,657 | 18th |
| 21 | Saturday, 18 August (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 9.5 (59) | 11.18 (84) | Lost by 25 points | Manuka Oval | 7,561 | 18th |
| 22 | Saturday, 25 August (1:45 pm) | St Kilda | 5.5 (35) | 25.13 (163) | Lost by 128 points | Etihad Stadium | 17,327 | 18th |
| 23 | Saturday, 1 September (4:40 pm) | North Melbourne | 11.11 (77) | 16.9 (105) | Lost by 28 points | Skoda Stadium | 6,696 | 18th |

**Ladder**

2012 AFL ladder :

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hawthorn | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2679 | 1733 | 154.6 | 68 | Finals series |
| 2 | Adelaide | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2428 | 1833 | 132.5 | 68 | Finals series |
| 3 | Sydney (P) | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2290 | 1629 | 140.6 | 64 | Finals series |
| 4 | Collingwood | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2123 | 1823 | 116.5 | 64 | Finals series |
| 5 | West Coast | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2244 | 1807 | 124.2 | 60 | Finals series |
| 6 | Geelong | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2209 | 1886 | 117.1 | 60 | Finals series |
| 7 | Fremantle | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 1956 | 1691 | 115.7 | 56 | Finals series |
| 8 | North Melbourne | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2359 | 2097 | 112.5 | 56 | Finals series |
| 9 | St Kilda | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2347 | 1903 | 123.3 | 48 | |
| 10 | Carlton | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2079 | 1925 | 108.0 | 44 | |
| 11 | Essendon | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2091 | 2090 | 100.0 | 44 | |
| 12 | Richmond | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 2169 | 1943 | 111.6 | 42 | |
| 13 | Brisbane Lions | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1904 | 2092 | 91.0 | 40 | |
| 14 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 1691 | 2144 | 78.9 | 22 | |
| 15 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 1542 | 2301 | 67.0 | 20 | |
| 16 | Melbourne | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1580 | 2341 | 67.5 | 16 | |
| 17 | Gold Coast | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 1509 | 2481 | 60.8 | 12 | |
| 18 | Greater Western Sydney | 22 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 1270 | 2751 | 46.2 | 8 | |

## NEAFL season

### Results

Greater Western Sydney's 2012 NEAFL season fixture :

| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Ladder position |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ref |||
| 1 | Saturday, 24 March (3:50 pm) | Sydney | 4.10 (34) | 23.13 (151) | Lost by 117 points | ANZ Stadium | 8th |
| 2 | — | Bye | — | — | — | — | 9th |
| 3 | Saturday, 7 April (1:00 pm) | Brisbane | 12.9 (81) | 15.19 (109) | Lost by 28 points | Blacktown Olympic Park | 9th |
| 4 | Sunday, 15 April (4:15 pm) | Sydney Hills | 19.16 (130) | 13.19 (94) | Won by 36 points | Blacktown Olympic Park | 8th |
| 5 | Saturday, 21 April (1:45 pm) | Queanbeyan | 14.14 (98) | 13.16 (94) | Won by 4 points | Blacktown Olympic Park | 6th |
| 6 | Saturday, 28 April (9:30 am) | Eastlake | | | | Manuka Oval | |
