“Russell Westbrook has ruined my day,” groans Tom Green as he thunders into the GWS Giants café before the weekly recording of podcast In the Green Room.
The 24-year-old Greater Western Sydney midfielder has been watching the Denver Nuggets play the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nuggets centre Nikola Jokić – “my GOAT,” says Green – has recorded the highest triple-double in NBA history, a career-best 61 points. But in overtime, point guard Westbrook misses a lay-up, then fouls to give the Timberwolves the free throws to win 140-139.
GWS Giants player Tom Green and social media content manager Jacob Gaynor, who host podcast In the Green Room. Credit: Janie Barrett
After five minutes, Green is still fuming. “As In the Green Room listeners know, I’m pretty outspoken,” he tells co-host and Giants content manager Jacob Gaynor at the start of the episode, “so in the changing rooms I’m obviously a target of people trying to get into me at any given opportunity”.
“Jack Buckley, into me. Leek Aleer, into me. Binga [Brent Daniels], into me. Snooze [Toby Bedford], into me – and [Westbrook] sells the game like that,” he laughs.
The ease with which the candid moment becomes content is testament to an innovative strategy that has seen GWS, the AFL’s newest playing club – with about 36,600 members – have an outsized online presence, with hundreds of thousands of followers.
The irreverent style originated by Gaynor, allowing supporters inside the changing rooms to take part in the banter, or swap memes, has seen some (including the Sydney Swans) complain, but most quietly take notes. Gone are the days when clubs of all codes just posted training photos or match highlights.
The 27-year-old Gaynor, who started working at GWS in 2021 after producing content for the AFL, says the club’s size and location in rugby league territory meant he could always follow a non-traditional approach.
“We could probably do things and say things that other clubs wouldn’t necessarily do or say,” he says, praising coach Adam Kingsley for allowing access to the players. “He’s on board with the cheekiness.”
That includes pranking team-members. In a recent TikTok, snake-averse key defender Buckley giggles nervously as he handles a live python. In another, draftees are told it’s traditional to film them singing the club song: cue squeaky-voiced renditions of “It’s the sound of the mighty Giants”.
Gaynor, who won’t ask the same of a Toby Greene as he will of a Cooper Hamilton (the delisted player has returned as the club’s “social media guinea pig”), has never had a player say no.
“They know what market we’re in, and know that they have to be different to stand out,” he says. “But I’m never going to make a player uncomfortable.”
Willing participant Green, known as one of the league’s best midfielders, has helped the Giants build a solid start to the season as they chase their elusive first AFL premiership. Meanwhile, the podcast had its first live show at Gather Round in Adelaide this month – Gaynor now has his own celebrity to rival some Giants players.
Green, pictured in action against the Sydney Swans in the 2024 Qualifying Final, has one of the highest average disposal rates so far this season.Credit: AFL Photos
Green says they don’t mind. “I certainly try and keep him understanding where he is,” he says. “But no, he also deserves it.”
“He’s revolutionised what sports social media has been in this country.”
In the Green Room is not without controversy. Last year, an episode was taken down and Green apologised unreservedly after being reprimanded by the AFL for criticising the league’s tribunal on dangerous tackles.
Asked if the club scrutinises the podcast edit more closely, Gaynor says: “They do now.”
“We’re representing the brand and the club and as a whole, the AFL, so we’ve definitely learnt our lesson.”
The pair met at Marist College in Canberra, where Green’s family relocated in 2011 after moving frequently (his father is a retired defence helicopter pilot). Gaynor’s younger brother was in the same year as Green.Credit: Janie Barrett
Green, who is often busy training or studying politics, says he still enjoys using the platform to speak his mind, whether through a basketball rant or discussing the upcoming federal election or mental health. One viral segment saw Gaynor ask Green to call up a friend– ex-Giant Matt Flynn – and tell him that he loves him.
“Jacob does all of the heavy lifting, to be honest. I don’t know how much that is. It might not be much,” he grins.
But Gaynor has worked hard to enliven the Swans rivalry, which reached new heights at last year’s qualifying final Sydney derby. In July, Swans CEO Tom Harley described a viral video of Greene parodying Swan Isaac Heeney’s apology after failing to overturn a one-match suspension last season as “crude” and “low-brow”.
Gaynor’s love of targeting the Swans (Collingwood are another frequent victim) is strange considering he grew up supporting them. Posts often refer to the team as South Melbourne, mocking their Victorian origins. “I know the sensitive subjects,” he says.
Gaynor, now a Giants “diehard”, is also an avid Arsenal fan. His style has been influenced by EPL fan-produced content, including notorious YouTube channel ArsenalFanTV; he says he loves “how deep the rivalries are in English football”.
“I’d love the Swans and us to be like [infamous rivals] Arsenal and Tottenham. You pick one. There’s no sitting on the fence.”
