The Greater Western Sydney GIANTS today announced that the club would be developing a strategic alliance with Netball NSW to help develop the new NSW based team in the newly created 2017 National Netball League.

GIANTS CEO David Matthews said there was an undeniable synergy between the AFL’s youngest club and netball’s newest club.

“Australian Football has a long and proud history of partnering with netball at a community level and we see this alliance as a great fit for both codes at the elite level in New South Wales,” Mr Matthews said.

“We congratulate Netball NSW on receiving a new licence for what will be an extremely exciting national netball competition in 2017. Being an active and engaged member of the Western Sydney and ACT communities has been a cornerstone of our club’s work since inception and we know this new netball team has a sharp focus on delivering meaningful sport and community outcomes.

“We see this partnership as a great way of making our club even more appealing to every single person in Western Sydney and the ACT.

“We have a huge amount of respect for netball, their leadership and their vision for the next step in the sport’s evolution in New South Wales. We know that together our sports can have a genuine partnership and develop meaningful outcomes for both organisations and our supporters.

“Ultimately this partnership provides an opportunity for both organisations to grow in every conceivable way – and in our case this means further building on the significant strides we’ve made in the community over the past six years. It also enables the GIANTS to further engage females and families, a key area of focus for our club."