There was a time Tom Green was just a starry-eyed kid sitting on the Manuka Oval hill.
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Come Friday night he returns to the same ground, only this time he's a GWS Giant who might just be leading the club's best and fairest count through five games. And as for that hill AFL-starved fans will watch from? Right behind it will stand a marquee for the "Tom Green fan club" brimming with his mates.
The Giants have helped set up a marquee on the wing at Manuka Oval ahead of the club's showdown with St Kilda - a side led by another Canberra product in Jack Steele - on Friday night.
The demand for tickets offered to students from UNSW Canberra, University of Canberra and ANU was so great the club scrambled to create more options.
"We've got something new this week actually. A combination of uni students have started the Tom Green fan club," Giants chief executive Dave Matthews said.
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"They've got a marquee, we've helped organise a marquee. It's a $25 ticket, your first beer is free. There was 100 tickets in that marquee and that sold out within a matter of hours, as soon as we launched it.
"We've actually had to scramble to create some further offerings because we want to continue to build our uni connection across all the universities in Canberra.
"The Tom Green fan club up on the wing there so keep an eye out for that."
After the marquee sold out, students have continued to purchase tickets with more than 200 currently expected to attend the game. Giants officials say it is an offering they will look to continue across the rest of the season.
GWS will play a record four games in Canberra this season after the COVID-19 pandemic restricted the club from bringing games to the capital as per their agreement with the ACT government.
The Giants were locked out of Manuka Oval in 2020 and only managed two games in Canberra last year.
Matthews is banking on a near-capacity crowd in Canberra on Friday night, with Giants home games against Geelong, Brisbane and Fremantle to follow.
AFL ROUND SIX
Friday: GWS Giants v St Kilda Saints at Manuka Oval, 7.50pm. Tickets from Ticketek.
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Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
