GWS Giants skywriting over Sydney CBD

Following a theme set by that day’s post, I noticed these messages on Thursday up until about 9.45am. I was sitting at my desk when I saw the first of them but the photos of the messages that were left over Sydney’s central business district were snapped from my balcony. Each time the plane left traces in the air, the wind would gradually disperse the writing, this process of removal taking, for each message, about five minutes. The conditions on the day were perfect for the purpose and even the spring wind was blowing from the west. The messages said, in turn:

1. Your Giants
2. Never surrender
3. Jezza
4. Toby rules
5. Tnx Cogs and Kelly

In the photos message number two is a bit hard to figure out, but the meaning became more obscure over time, after the photo was taken. I learned when writing this post that “Never surrender” is the club motto. “Jezza” refers to centre half-forward Jeremy Cameron and “Toby” is half-forward flanker Toby Greene, both players in the team. “Kelly” is midfielder Joshua Kelly.

“Cogs” refers to midfielder Steve Coniglio, another player in the team. I’m not sure how Australians pronounce this man’s name (which translates as “rabbit”) but the “gl” sound is normally not used in English. The beginning of the second syllable in the English word “failure” has a sound similar to the “gl” in the name “Coniglio”. In Italian the  “gl” in this name certainly isn’t pronounced like the "gl" in “fig leaf”.

I checked the Greater Western Sydney Giants’ web page and it turned out that the team will be in a Australian Football League elimination final on Saturday. This part of the football season includes the final eight teams in the rankings. GWS Giants will be up against the Western Bulldogs, a Melbourne team with its headquarters in the suburb of Footscray.