The AFL colossus took a figurative deep breath this week, flexed its considerable muscle and put on show arguably the biggest gamble in the code's history.

In 20 years' time, historians will look at November 16-18, 2010 as the point where the league started going to a whole new level.

Or this week will go down as the grand unveiling of a mighty two-pronged gambit that, in retrospect, was never really going to work.

On Tuesday night, the AFL officially launched its 18th team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, who will join the league in 2012.

A day later, the AFL caravan kept heading north and descended on the Gold Coast for the league's industry conference, followed by the national draft.

More than anything, the league's south-east Queensland events were a promotional exercise for its 17th team, the Gold Coast Suns, who debut next season.

So far, the signs are good - Gold Coast are a young, impressive organisation. They appear ready and they have a lot going for them.

And whatever you think of the GWS colours and Israel Folau's potential as an AFL player, coach Kevin Sheedy is the ideal man for the job as chief spruiker.

But it's like the Suns taking David Swallow as their No.1 draft pick, only on a far greater scale - no-one can know right now whether the right decision has been made.

The AFL can pump as much money and resources as they like into the Suns and Giants. The risks are still numerous and profound.

Gold Coast have given themselves every chance and are in a market that already has a healthy Australian Rules presence.

What stands out already is the Suns are behaving like an AFL club, not as a nervous newcomer.

A great example is the brilliant strategy during trade week, when they effectively double-dipped into their generous recruiting concessions.

Any rival club who lost an uncontracted player to Gold Coast gained a compensation draft pick, which is valid until 2014.

The Suns targeted those compensation picks and gained a handful, which they have warehoused.

In short, they have extended the year-one concessions.

Gold Coast should be the easier of the two expansions, but how will they cope when, inevitably, their many young players struggle in the first couple of seasons?

What happens if the Suns soar and the stuttering Brisbane Lions, just up the highway, descend into a prolonged slump?

The whole point of the exercise for the Suns and Giants is to have two solid teams in one market.

There remains an argument that south-east Queensland and greater Sydney are just not ready for that. Maybe the regions never will be ready.

Still, an obvious advantage for GWS, by far the tougher of the two expansions, is they will learn from Gold Coast's experiences.

No doubt they will use the "warehousing" strategy - and they have two years of recruiting concessions, one more than the Suns.

But the AFL are under no illusions that GWS, in particular, will be a long, arduous haul.

"We've always believed there are two different builds of football clubs - here, on the Gold Coast, we do know there is an understanding of AFL football," said league chief executive Andrew Demetriou.

"In Greater Western Sydney, it's completely different, it's a much longer-term strategy, it's a longer-term patience.

"We're trying to win the hearts and minds of people who don't have AFL flow off their tongue."

GWS may be the most culturally-diverse area in Australia - Demetriou says 220 languages are spoken there.

Now it's 221, given Sheedy's quirky outlook has taken residence.

GWS is also hard-core rugby league territory, with soccer also popular - then daylight to the AFL.

Geelong premiership captain Tom Harley has done some work with AFL NSW in western Sydney and he admitted at the Giants launch that "a few kids thought I was a St Kilda player, but that's okay".

Sheedy was his energetic self at the launch, tirelessly working the room, promoting the club and even spending time in the membership van trying to convince guests to sign up.

His value to the GWS project cannot be underestimated. There are Amazonian tribes who have barely had contact with the outside world who might know of Kevin Sheedy.

GWS earned plenty of welcome publicity from the launch night, including back page stories in some Sydney newspapers, but it still remains to be seen whether they will attract fans in such a rugby league stronghold.

Then there is the whole question of what constitutes success for these two new teams. Premierships? Membership? Being able to exist without AFL financial support?

Demetriou openly admits he has no definitive answer.

He was sitting at a Wednesday media conference next to Frank Hawkins, an American media executive who has worked extensively with gridiron.

Hawkins was the keynote speaker at this week's industry conference and said the GWS project was not only feasible, but vital.

"I find it very interesting and it's a really gutsy play to move specifically into an area is known for its diversity, but it's essential for the growth of the sport," he said.

"Grass roots is probably the single-most important thing - get people playing the game, get people understanding the game, get people feeling it's a part of their daily lives.

"As that happens, the roots will grow - it may take forever, but the roots will grow."

There may well have been a little nervous tick in the pit of Demetriou's stomach when he heard that word "forever".

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