Sport
26 June, 2023
Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park merger brings new football and netball name to town
There’s a big, big sound coming to Maryborough in 2024, with the confirmation of the Maryborough Giants name on Monday morning. A press release from the two clubs, jointly released, confirmed a long-held belief that the club would take the...
There’s a big, big sound coming to Maryborough in 2024, with the confirmation of the Maryborough Giants name on Monday morning.
A press release from the two clubs, jointly released, confirmed a long-held belief that the club would take the Maryborough Giants name.
“The boards of the Maryborough Rovers FNC and Royal Park FNC are pleased to announce after extensive consultation with members of both clubs that the new club born from the amalgamation of Maryborough Rovers FNC and Royal Park FNC will be called the Maryborough Giants Football Netball Club,” the statement reads.
“The Maryborough Giants FNC will compete for the first time in the 2024 Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League season.
“The purpose of this amalgamation was to create a new club that the Maryborough community can be proud to support and that opposing clubs respect. The combination of resources will reduce the pressures of being sustainable arising due to societal trends both at junior and senior grades.
“The announcement of the Maryborough Giants FNC name is an historical occasion. Both clubs are committed to acknowledging the history that has led to this exciting announcement within the design of the new on-field apparel.
“The Working Party is operating behind the scenes to plan and attract coaches, players and volunteers in preparation for the 2024 MCDFNL season.”
Planning documents during the process seen by The Maryborough District Advertiser outlines club brandings, the team song and jumper designs.
As it is, the Giants will take their name from the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the AFL, with their colours of orange, charcoal and grey to be adopted into the branding and apparel. The club song, with slight variations, will also be lifted from the GWS Giants song.
The new club has confirmed that home games will be played at Hedges Oval, given the status of the ground’s facilities in comparison to Jubilee Oval, as well as future grants which will update the club’s netball court. However, plans are afoot to also take home games to Jubilee or Princes Park in the future in conjunction with the wishes of Rovers supporters and life members.
Royal Park president Kate Balzan confirmed that all parties were happy with the name.
“It’s great that it’s all finalised, that we have talked to the existing members and players and they were happy with it, so it’s great that we can put a name to the new club now,” she said.
“I think it will bode well with the people of the town, and I think it’s about coming together. I think the Giants is a good way to go forward.
“It’s another step forward and it’s good to have it confirmed and registered.”
The catchphrase of “Honour The Past, Own The Future” has been adopted by the club, which is something that Balzan believes emphatically answers any doubters for the new club.
“On the release, it says that we want to honour the past and own the future, which is what we want to put forward,” she said.
“It’s really nice to have a little catchphrase to keep in our mind, especially for those who have doubts, it’s a good way to move forward.”
The naming of the Giants follows other clubs in Victoria which are following suit in rebranding their club to take on the moniker, which is being pushed heavily by the AFL in the wake of GWS being formed just over a decade ago.
Other clubs that have adopted the Giants moniker in the last decade include the Southern Mallee Giants in the Wimmera Football League — themselves the result of a merger between the Hopetoun and Beulah football clubs in 2014, while the Geelong West Giants in the Geelong Football League and Geelong District Football League also adopted the name in 2016. Dartmoor is another club that have taken on the name in the South West District Football Netball League.
"We’ve spoken to a majority of the players, and they’re all excited for it. It’s something we need to knuckle down on now, but we’d like to take on as many players as we can if they’re willing to hang around and be a part of it." - Daniel Wiseman, Maryborough Rovers president.
Balzan offered an insight into the naming of the club.
“There were a couple of other names that were mooted. The Phoenix was an interesting one among a few that came through, but those and the Giants were the main two that we were working on,” she said.
Balzan confirmed that the club were now working on sorting out their inaugural list for the 2024 season, now that the club name, colours and song were all confirmed and ready to go.
“The working party have been talking to coaches and players to put feelers out to see who might be available for next season. But now that we have that name, we can move forward and get some names out there for sure,” she said.
Maryborough Rovers counterpart Daniel Wiseman said he too was excited about the prospect of the 2024 season.
“It’s another thing to tick off, and really good to have the Giants name out into the open now, and now we can look to move forward and plan hard for next season,” he said.
Wiseman backed up Balzan’s comments about the Giants’ naming process.
“The Giants have been the main one we’ve had in the background the whole time, and we just needed to confirm which one the clubs wanted to go with, and the Giants was the winner out of that. We just needed to get it cleared up,” he said.
“I think it’s an exciting rebrand. Something different. It’s a really good part of it, compared to some stock-standard names from the past.”
Wiseman also confirmed that players and volunteers are on the agenda for next season.
“We’ve spoken to a majority of the players, and they’re all excited for it. It’s something we need to knuckle down on now, but we’d like to take on as many players as we can if they’re willing to hang around and be a part of it. Put the two lists together, and we’d be competitive straight away,” he said.
“If we can retain as many of the volunteers as we have and even pick up a couple more, that would go a long way to make things easier for the new club. The more hands on deck, the easier it will be for everyone.”
In the meantime, Rovers and Royal Park will continue their seasons in two weeks time, with Rovers set to meet Newstead, while Royal Park will take on Avoca.