IT wasn't quite the fairytale finish the club had been hoping for, but co-president Mark Raven says day one of the new Maryborough Giants was a resounding success.
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The Maryborough Giants made their debut in the Maryborough Castlemaine District league last Saturday.
The club has been born out of a merger between Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park and had the spotlight shone brightly on it with a stand-alone season opener at home against Talbot.
In front of a bumper crowd at Maryborough's Hedges Oval the Giants senior team fell agnoisingly short of a win on debut, losing to Talbot by one point in a thriller, 9.9 (63) to 8.14 (62).
Off the field the Giants are being led by co-presidents Raven, who has strong ties to Maryborough Rovers, and Kate Balzan, who was the president of Royal Park last season.
"It was a huge day last Saturday... it was the biggest crowd I've seen in recent times for a home and away game," Raven said this week.
"We're obviously a club that has a lot of interest in terms of people wanting to come and see what we looked like first-up and how we perform, so the day itself was an absolute success.
"It was a great start for the club."
While there had long been discussions around a potential merger of Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park over the years, both clubs acted swiftly last season to finally make it happen.
In March the two clubs confirmed they were in discussions to "explore the exciting opportunity to amalgamate from next season".
And by the end of April the decision had been made - the two clubs would cease as stand-alone rivals at the end of the season and join together for 2024.
"Bringing two clubs together is always going to have its challenges, but I think we have worked very well and been able to iron out as many issues and problems as we possibly can," Raven said.
"It was never going to be completely smooth sailing, but I think we've done a pretty good job of getting to where we are now and it's great we have been able to get the season off and running."
It was never going to be completely smooth sailing, but I think we've done a pretty good job of getting to where we are now and it's great we have been able to get the season off and running
- Mark Raven - Maryborough Giants co-president
Off-field the inaugural committee of the Giants has 10 members - five from Maryborough Rovers and five from Royal Park.
On the field from a football perspective, Raven estimates probably 60 per cent of the list has come from either Maryborough Rovers or Royal Park.
"Probably more so from the Maryborough Rovers point of view we've had a few more players who have chosen different avenues," Raven said.
"We had quite a few travellers and our former coach Joel (Radlof) has taken a few with him to Clunes, which is okay. We've been able to put together a competitive side together and the netball has been very well patronised by both clubs."
The Giants, whose senior coach is former Essendon and Brisbane Lions AFL player Damian Cupido and whose club song is based on the GWS Giants' tune, are filling the full quota of football and netball teams in their first year.
"We actually had five or six emergencies for the reserves, so we've got good numbers on our list," Raven said.
"And we've got good numbers in our juniors, which has been a big win because both clubs had struggled terribly in that area."
While the senior football team fell just short of a win on debut, the Giants' A grade netball side produced a dominant performance first-up with a 66-29 win.
Following last weekend's stand-alone season-opener, round one in the MCDFNL continues on Saturday - Avoca v Natte Bealiba, Navarre v Campbells Creek, Newstead v Dunolly, Lexton v Maldon, Harcourt v Carisbrook (6pm). Trentham bye.
