Australian Football League club Greater Western Sydney wants to be the "most-watched team in Canberra -- setting their sights on averaging more than 14,000 people for every game at Manuka Oval following their most successful season in the nation's capital," according to David Polkinghorne of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Not only did GWS have its most wins at Manuka -- beating Melbourne and Gold Coast -- it "bucked the trend of falling attendances in Canberra" with ticket sales up 36% and average attendances rising 23% to 10,132. It included its first-ever sellout in the ACT, when 14,667 watched GWS take on Geelong in July. That is in "stark contrast to their cross-code rivals" -- the Canberra Raiders' home attendance plateaued at 9,629 (up 21 on last year), while the ACT Brumbies' average fell by 358 to 12,332 at Canberra Stadium in '15. Giants COO Richard Griffiths "put the improvements down to the fledgling AFL club starting to put roots down in the nation's capital." While it was "still reviewing this year, Griffiths said the goal was to continue to build" the club's Canberra home crowds to be "close to sellouts every game." Griffiths: "We want to grow every year ... and we want to get to a point where we're performing on the field to ensure we're reaching 14,000 to 15,000 to all our games" (SMH, 9/10).
