Mark Duffield - The Editorial (21.07.2026)

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Flowing ad budget on metrics that look great till the CFO sees them, that's bull spend. And marketers are calling it out in Dashboard Confessions.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:09)
I remember telling my boss, it'll be good for the brand when leads were slow. Yeah, it wasn't.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:17)
Cut the bull spend. LinkedIn lets you target by company, job title, and more. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to linkedin.com/campaignterms and conditions apply.
Introducing Meta Glasses. You have questions, they've got answers.

**Mark Duffield** (0:36)
Hey Meta, what's the capital of Peru?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:38)
Lima. How do you say, where's the restroom in Spanish?

**Mark Duffield** (0:43)
Dónde está el baño?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:44)
Hey Meta, is a hot dog a sandwich? Technically, no. Spiritually, yes. Hey Meta, what should I do with my life? That's one of life's biggest questions.

**Mark Duffield** (0:55)
What do you think?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:57)
Ask anything with the new Meta glasses.

**Mark Duffield** (1:00)
Rating WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SEMWA. Come on!
Hello everybody, welcome to the SEMWA radio studio. We're out here at Optus Stadium. It is a Tuesday morning in Perth. We are here thanks to Beaumont Homes. Award-winning design, built to be loved forever. Partly cloudy in Perth today. Chance of a shower, a top of 18 degrees. Made in WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SEMWA. And as we welcome to you to the show, we say welcome to the AFL, to the Tasmanian Devil. So it didn't take the league long, after realising Tassie was about to announce their coach, to start throwing barbs. So outgoing Giants Chief Executive Dave Matthews declared the Devils were going to have to throw a lot of money at players to lure them to the AFL's southernmost club.
Not the most attractive place to live, Dave reckoned. Benny Gayle, the Devils Chief Executive, and a bloke who knows how to give a bit back, had a bit to give back. He pointed out that Dave might not have known what the western suburbs of Sydney were like to live in, given that he was nicely ensconced in Sydney's leafy and ritzy eastern suburbs, far from the club he was heading up. Ken Hinckley, the freshly appointed coach, and another well-versed in the toing and throwing of an AFL sledging match, just ask Jack Ginevone, labelled Matthew's comments uneducated, and he says he believes Hobart's community feel can be a major selling point for the devils. A bit like how Geelong has been able to sell the more relaxed lifestyle at the Cattery, compared to life in a bigger city.
What was Dave doing? Is he unemployed? Hinckley quipped about Matthew's changing job status, and then he went on.
If you're uneducated, you don't know. That's really important. You've got to know what you're talking about when it comes to the lifestyle. So how about that? The devils are still almost two years away from their first AFL game, and they are already in a war of words with a rival. Now for what it's worth, the devils will need to pick and choose their recruiting targets carefully, because Tasmania will not be a good fit for every gun youngster entering the AFL. Or every gun and big name wanting to move clubs. So Matthews can defend that part of his claim. But this is the part that he's going to find a lot harder to counter.
Yes, the weather in Tassie might put off a few. A modestly sized stadium, about 23,000, even if it has a roof on it, might put off a few more.
But here's the thing.
The Tasmanian devils will have one thing going for them from day one, that the GWS Giants still don't have going for them after more than 15 years. And that is public interest in their local area. And nothing kills a club's ability to retain players more quickly than a lack of public interest. Now, the devils might have a small market to harvest, but basketball aside, the market will be theirs. It will be surprising if they are not filling whatever stadium they are playing in from day one. Now, as far as the Giants go, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the GWS crowd when they played Geelong a couple of weeks ago. NG Stadium looked fuller than normal, but the crowd number came in at a tick over 13,000.
Almost 14,000 attended the game against Carleton a couple of weeks earlier. And the biggest home crowd the Giants have played in front of this season is 16,000 against Hawthorne. The Devils will fill Blundstone Arena if they play games there until their stadium is built. They will fill Utah Stadium in Launceston, and they then will fill the 23,000 stadium with a roof in Hobart, assuming it eventually gets built. Now, don't get me wrong, the Giants have done an incredible job of managing their list given the disadvantage they face because of that lack of interest. They lose players that are dispensable, and they replace them with astutely chosen kids who they feel will cope in the environment. The one player they have lost who is irreplaceable is Jeremy Cameron, but that does happen to every footy club. Their list turnover is high, but they continue to stay relevant and competitive. But do they matter to the people of Greater Western Sydney after 15 years? No, they don't. Not yet. Anyway, 487 736 736 That is the text line. Let's have your thoughts and questions. 13 12 55 is the Bower and O'Day open line.