My wife Rebecca is a very accomplished sports administrator. She’s been working in the sector for over 20 years. She’s currently the CEO of Gymnastics NSW. Way back in the early 2000s she was a wedding planner for a low-level function centre in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. Around 2003 she came across an advert in The Courier-Mail for a membership role at the Brisbane Lions. She knew nothing about Australian football but applied anyway.
Somehow, she impressed enough at interview to be offered the job. Wedding planning or elite sport? It was a no-brainer. Within two years she had elevated herself to an executive position as GM-Consumer Business reporting to the CEO Michael Bowers. It was post the Lions three-peat Premiership era but with Akermanis playing up, Brendan Fevolva on the scene and Leigh coming to the end of his tether – there was plenty happening at the Gabbatoir.
By 2010 it was time for Rebecca to return to her hometown and she was fortunate to be offered a job by the AFL back in Sydney. The Giants were coming and resources were being ramped up. In a short period of time, she was seconded to the Giants as their General Manager of Fan Development responsible for membership, attendance, marketing and promotion. It was a tough gig – and still is.
With the entry of the GWS Giants in 2012 the early focus was centred on the Round 1 opening clash against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium. The AFL wanted a cross-town rivalry to grow the game in NSW, like Adelaide’s Showdown and the Perth Derby. Giants coach and part-time marketing guru (and chaos agent) Kevin Sheedy dubbed it the ‘Battle of the Bridge’ referencing the geographic divide between east (Swans) and west (Giants). It’s fair to say that not everyone loved it, particularly the Swans. Swans players famously bristled at the idea they were just an ‘eastern suburbs’ club.
Part of the problem was people thought the Bridge was, of course, the famous Harbour Bridge. But no, it was the Anzac Bridge which is situated around Darling Harbour, the Fish Markets and the bohemian inner western suburbs of Balmain and Drummoyne. Sheeds loved the statue of the Anzac at the southwest end of the bridge. Battle of the Bridge it is.
From day one, it was designed less as a rivalry and more as a civil war for Sydney sporting relevance.
Rebecca worked very closely with AFL Head Office in Melbourne on the build-up, promotion and activation for that historic first Giants versus Swans clash. Long time AFL Media Manager and Executive Assistant to Andrew Demetriou, Tony Peek, was passionate about football in NSW (he was a Sydney Swans fanatic) and was the main conduit. High on the list of priorities was to design and produce an Cup to present to the winning team each year. It had to be special and reflect the significance of the occasion.
Rebecca and Tony agreed on a beautiful pewter cup, its design and dimensions. The order was placed at a prestigious trophy shop in Parramatta. But somehow, like the famous Stonehenge tragedy in Spinal Tap, things went awfully wrong. When it arrived at the office the day before the big game Rebecca was suspicious – the package containing the Cup looked unusually small. When she opened the box she near fell to the floor in horror.
A quick pic on her phone sent to Tony Peek confirmed their worst nightmare. “There is no way we can present that miniature cup on such a historic day for football in NSW,” Tony cried. And with that Rebecca jumped in her car, found the closest trophy shop and bought the biggest trophy she could find off the shelf. No time for an inscription – it will do.
When I saw this week’s media grab at the SCG with the Giants Lachie Ash and the Swans Nick ‘The Lizard’ Blakey, I caught a glimpse of the current Cup. It reminded me that somewhere in our household lay the original ‘Stonehenge’ Cup that never saw the light of day. After scrounging around in cupboards and boxes full of irrelevant junk, we finally found the cup!
I suggested to Rebecca that we should return it to the Giants for posterity. After much consternation we decided we would retain it as a memento of our time at the club. But who knows, it might appear on eBay sometime in the future, it could be worth something one day!
Rebecca with the “original” Battle of the Bridge Cup.
In the early years of this new rivalry the Swans dominated, winning eight of the first nine encounters. By mid-era the Giants had fought back, evening things up, commencing with their historic first victory over the Swans at Skoda Stadium in 2014, a game remembered for the thunder and lightning which halted play. Phil Davis did a job on Buddy Franklin who we had all thought would be a Giant.
The Swans still lead the head-to-head 20–11 going into Friday night’s clash however, recently, the trend has been incredibly even with a near split roughly of wins and losses with multiple thrillers and last-minute goals.
The rivalry has also spilled into finals where the Giants have often been the party-crashers, winning three of four finals clashes.
In what started as an excruciating mismatch the Battle of the Bridge has become one of the AFL’s most unpredictable grudge matches helped by the antics and feats of the likes of Toby Greene and Tom Papley!
The Brett Kirk Medal is awarded to the best on ground in every derby, named after Swans legend Brett Kirk. And that’s fair enough. But with the retirement (due to injury) of a player the equal of Brett Kirk in his contribution to his club both on and off the field in Callan Ward, surely both clubs and the AFL can honour his legacy by including his name on the medal. The Kirk/Ward medal has a nice ring to it.
Luke Parker holds the record with five medals (the derby king), Lance Franklin three medals, Kieren Jack three medals, Josh Kennedy one medal (the inaugural winner in 2012) and the Giants Callan Ward with two medals. Errol Gulden is the modern standout with multiple recent wins in 2023 (shared with Toby Greene) and 2024, with Chad Warner and Finn Callaghan sharing in 2025.
Now the 2026 AFL fixture has come in for some scrutiny thus far in 2026, but in scheduling a major Melbourne game between Geelong and the Western Bulldogs against the Battle of the Bridge beggars belief. The Sydney derby is supposed to be a showcase for NSW footy growth; a market where the AFL has invested millions upon millions of dollars.
By splitting TV audiences, the national spotlight on NSW footy and the Swans and Giants is hugely diminished. This, when there is outcry and contempt for the Giants and their poor crowds. It reeks yet again of the AFL’S Victoria-centric mindset. No doubt the AFL will roll out yet another convoluted justification of its fixturing rationale – the masters of spin.
The AFL, the Swans and the Giants have built a rivalry, now let people from all over the country watch it. It’s particularly frustrating when both Sydney teams are contenders, the Swans are current Premiership favourites and the Giants, with players returning from injury, are finding some form making the Battle of the Bridge one of the best games of the round.
In essence, the AFL spends a decade building the rivalry and then schedules it like it’s a Sunday morning scratch match in Nar Nar Goon.
And finally, if you happen to tune in to the Battle of the Bridge and see it through to the Cup presentation, you will do so in the knowledge that even the AFL has Spinal Tap moments.
Read more from Richard Griffiths HERE.
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Classic memories, and interesting insights.
And I will put this aside for when trying to demonstrate intertextuality to my kids. Perfect use of a Spinal Tap refernce.
Great stuff Richard. Yep, I immediately assumed the bridge referred to was the Coathanger. My daughter snagged a front-office job with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Belmore last year. Hope her journey goes half as well as Rebecca’s.
Keep the stories coming Griffo.