Monday Buzz: Greater Western Sydney Giants digging a hole for themselves In the AFL, Adelaide crushed an error-strewn Greater Western Sydney by 135 points at Showground Stadium. The GWS Giants enter the field at Skoda Stadium, Homebush. EVERYONE appreciates legendary coach Kevin Sheedy is doing his best to promote AFL in western Sydney, but his comment that the code should consider a third Sydney team was surely said with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. Winless after seven rounds this season, Sheedy's GWS Giants are struggling big time both on and off the field - and the AFL is running well behind football and rugby league in the battle to win the hearts and minds of footy fans in western Sydney. Yesterday was another sorry day in their short history - a 135-point flogging from the Adelaide Crows in a near-empty stadium. Despite a significant advertising spend by the AFL and some liberal ticket allocations last week, the Giants drew just 5830 fans to Skoda Stadium on a sunny Sunday in western Sydney. It was the lowest AFL crowd since 1996, when the Fitzroy Lions, in their final season, drew 5907 against Fremantle. One fan at the game emailed me to say the crowd looked half that size. Tough times lie ahead for the Giants and the AFL. Two of their next three home games at Skoda are potential crowd stinkers against West Coast and Port Adelaide. The AFL has had everything in its favour. The poor performances of Penrith and Parramatta in the NRL since the Giants entered the AFL competition should have worked in their favour. Both the Eels and the Panthers have slumped in attendances and lost disgruntled fans. Many of them jumped on board the Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League but there's no sign of them at AFL games. Because everyone loves a winner. In the early days the Wanderers crowds were nothing special but attendances increased once the team started winning regularly. The RBB became as big a story as the team and a seat to a Wanderers game became one of the hottest tickets in town. It's a lesson to all sporting codes. You can't ask fans to pay good money to go to the football each week to see lopsided games and blowouts. Fans want competitive contests, be it cricket, the football codes, tennis or basketball. The Giants have got within 30 points of only one team this year - the Swans in round one. Even the hopeless Demons beat them by 41 and the Gold Coast by 44. Yesterday finished up 187 to 46. It was nothing but an embarrassment. Not just for the players, coach and club but the game of AFL. The AFL is pumping $100 million into western Sydney. It just shows all the money in the world, all the advertising, marketing, blitzes on schools and juniors doesn't guarantee anything. Going into yesterday's game, the Giants were averaging a paltry 8117 fans for their home games at Skoda Stadium since their admission to the AFL last year. Those numbers will only get worse. I can see little hope for their future. Winning a $100 bet with Premier Barry O'Farrell on Friday night's Sharks v Wests Tigers game at Allianz. The Premier will donate the cash to the McGrath Foundation ahead of next weekend's Women in League round. Onya, Barry. The refereeing standards are worse than last year. Daniel Anderson appears to have his favourites and blindly sticks by them every week, every round. CHECK out the size of Canterbury's comeback forward Sam Kasiano. Our Belmore insiders say he's weighing more than 130kg. The jersey he wore against the Warriors on Saturday would even look like a tent on George Rose. Bulldogs prop Sam Kasiano. REPORTS in Fairfax media of Benji Marshall getting a contract extension at the Wests Tigers are wrong. The club originally agreed to upgrade his contract to coincide with a salary cap increase and are simply honouring that arrangement. EVERY time the Cronulla Sharks scored in the second half against the Wests Tigers, their players could hear sledging and abuse behind the opposition try line. After the game it was the talk of the Cronulla dressing room how the Tigers players had turned on each other.