Just like we all expected from the very beginning, Israel Folau has returned to the NRL. Ah, all is right with the world. But I am pretty bummed about it.
While I never gave my actually opinion in my evaluation if Izzy’s AFL “career” (can you call it a career if it only lasts a year?) my opinion was this: he was useless on the field, but he was great off of it. While I alluded to the fact that his presence may have contributed to attendance, thereby increasing ticket sales and revenues, there isn’t really a way of measuring the number of people who came for the sole purpose of seeing Israel Folau play. One thing is for sure: he was a fan favourite. Remarkably. How do I know? 72% of jerseys sold were his number 4. That’s a ridiculously high percentage. Kobe Bryant doesn’t even pull those kinds of numbers (I’m guessing – but the other Lakers are way famous, too so I just assume).
Now… things are different. I am not going to slam Israel Folau (because I don’t have a problem with him) and I’m not going to be rude, crude and socially unattractive by calling him a disaster, because I don’t think it was – the Roar gives a pretty good explanation as to why. But with Izzy leaving, a lot changes for GWS. Like what, you may ask? Well, allow me to tell you.
First of all, I can guarantee that GWS will sell fewer guernseys. That’s a no brainer. Granted, several new players have come into the spotlight (Toby Greene and, my personal favourite, Jeremy Cameron, for instance) and now that they’re more popular, maybe that’ll boost sales. But I wouldn’t bet on it. The fact is that they’re still relatively unknown. They’re babies, in the footy sense. Better slow production of that merch…
And keep an eye on those ticket sales, which are likely to drop. This is a BIG “what if” because now that the Giants are a well-known team (thanks, in large part, to Izzy) they’ve got quite a few members and decent attendance. They even had a home game with over 30 thousand people – that’s a big deal for a new team. Gold Coast has yet to reach that milestone. But if I’m calling it like I see it, I predict very little change in attendance. New attendees will be offset by the people who were coming to see Izzy, that are no longer at games. These things are bad for income, and no one likes things that are bad for income. Never tell anyone they might be making less money. GWS better be working on some advertisements…
For which, they need a new face. Izzy was the GWS poster boy. Actually. Who will be the golden boy this year? Can you really choose? Well, I mean, you know who I would choose, but is there really one player that the public can identify as being quintesentially GWS-sy? (Giant-y? Gigantic? I’m confused, but you know what I mean) Could cause some tension among the players…
Especially now that they’ve got enough room in their salary cap for a big name. Word on the web is that they might try and woo Kurt Tippett. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they don’t. I would be unhappy and we all know that GWS lives to make me happy (No? They don’t? Are you sure?). Still. What would he even do there? GET IN THE WAY, THAT’S WHAT.
Those are just the basic things that will change: economical, political and social, in the broad sense of the words, of course. I’d love to hear some thoughts – what do you think GWS will need to focus on now that Izzy is gone? Am I completely off base in saying these things will be a concern? If so, what do you think, if anything, will change for GWS?
