{"id":516601,"date":"2026-03-03T19:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516601\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T19:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:38:14","slug":"andrew-dillon-targets-growth-amid-nrl-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516601\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Dillon targets growth amid NRL rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s actually lifted the AFL,\u201d V\u2019landys told Melbourne radio of the NRL\u2019s Vegas venture last week. \u201cThey\u2019ve come out of their slumber. They\u2019re soon going to wake up and have a go. They should not be scared of competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a day after brushing off V\u2019landys\u2019 light-hearted barbs with a calm reminder that his code was \u201cthe most attended, played and watched sport in Australia<\/a>,\u201d Dillon remained unperturbed. He is not an administrator inclined to get drawn into a mud-slinging contest.<\/p>\n

\"AFL<\/p>\n

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon
\n speaks to school children as he poses with students from Rosehill Public School during an AFL School Connect visit to Rosehill Public School. Credit: via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Instead, he stayed on message when asked about the possibility that, one day, the AFL could close the gap in rugby league heartland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn league, there are four big clubs out west. We just want to continue to grow here,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cIf we\u2019re growing, and if we\u2019re growing at a faster rate, then, yeah, we\u2019re closing the gap. We feel that we\u2019ve got a game that is really attractive for boys and girls to play, and we feel if we can get that game in front of them, that they\u2019ll choose to play it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time we spend thinking about something other than the AFL, it\u2019s time we\u2019re not focusing on the game. Opportunities in New South Wales and Queensland in particular, that\u2019s our laser focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dillon pointed to the AFL\u2019s \u2018School Connect Program\u2019 as one example of a long-term play by the code. A PE teacher is paid to spend one day a fortnight at Rosehill Public School, and nine others nearby, introducing students to the fundamentals of Australian rules. They are scattered across the region.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Giants play Hawthorn on Saturday. Credit: Sam Mooy<\/p>\n

If kids can leave primary school with good marking ability and decent handball skills, that\u2019s a win for the AFL. A few may go on to become professional footballers, but even if they start following a team and regularly attend games, that\u2019s just as big a victory.<\/p>\n

With 78,000 participants across NSW and the ACT last year \u2013 up 10 per cent year-on-year \u2013 Dillon believes the AFL is making incremental but meaningful inroads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an investment that doesn\u2019t necessarily pay off straight away, with people going to the game on Saturday, but we know that it\u2019s about introducing boys and girls to our game and to become lifelong fans,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cWe\u2019ll back our game. It\u2019s a great game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AFL says average home attendances in NSW have risen 62 per cent over the past decade, while club memberships in Sydney have grown by 200 per cent. The Swans still consistently draw bigger crowds at the SCG than their western rivals. Yet the Giants have played finals in eight of the past 10 seasons.<\/p>\n

\"AFL<\/p>\n

AFL boss Andrew Dillon in Sydney on Tuesday. Credit: Sam Mooy<\/p>\n

When the schoolchildren were gathered for a photo and a Giants chant, Dillon found himself joining in. While he is obliged to remain neutral as the game\u2019s chief executive, there is little doubt a premiership in western Sydney would be intensely pleasing, and a significant moment for both the code and the grand plan.<\/p>\n

Australia-wide, the AFL wants one million participants by 2033 \u2013 up from about 625,000 now \u2013 with 20 per cent coming from NSW.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be great for footy in Sydney for them to win one,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cBut it\u2019d be great for the Swans, and it\u2019d be great if the Suns up on the Gold Coast, too. The Giants have done an incredible job starting from scratch only 13 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

Giants chief executive David Matthews, who has been at the club since day one, believes the gap is narrowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe foundation players of the Giants talk about when they started doing school clinics in western Sydney, they were unrecognisable,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cPeople didn\u2019t recognise the jumper, let alone the players. That\u2019s changed significantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re targeting 40,000 members [in the years to come]. We\u2019re still a young club, but our growth has been rapid. I think it\u2019s just going to accelerate.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the NRL rolls on in AFL heartland on Thursday, when the Melbourne Storm host Parramatta in their season opener, Dillon knows the jabs from V\u2019Landys are unlikely to stop.<\/p>\n

Do they bother him? A smile, then back to the script.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we\u2019ve got average crowds in the men\u2019s competition a tick under 38,000, we\u2019ve got massive viewership over our 207 home and away games, we\u2019ve got 1.4 million club members and revenue of over a billion dollars a year,\u201d Dillon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we just measure ourselves by those. We know what those [numbers] say.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s actually lifted the AFL,\u201d V\u2019landys told Melbourne radio of the NRL\u2019s Vegas venture last week. \u201cThey\u2019ve come…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-516601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}