Whichever way you look at it, the appointment of AFL legend Kevin Sheedy as the inaugural coach of Team GWS is a masterstroke.
The AFL will need all the big guns it can possibly get its hands on in the battle for the hearts and minds of the western Sydney folk and in Sheedy it has itself a bone fide howitzer.
The process of establishing the proposed 18th AFL team in rugby league heartland will be a long and arduous one.
The AFL has even conceded it could take as many as 30 years before the rewards are finally reaped from its audacious push into the region.
But Andrew Demetriou and his team have given this against-the-odds venture a fighting chance by installing one of the great spruikers the game has ever known as its head coach for the next three years.
Sheedy played pivotal roles in bringing about concepts such as the traditional Anzac Day clash, the 'Dream Time at the G' match which celebrates the contribution of indigenous players to the game and the Eureka match between North Melbourne and Richmond.
From a marketing perspective, there really isn't a better candidate for the job.
But the beauty about Sheedy is that he actually knows how to coach as well.
While he was criticised in his twilight years with the Bombers for his game style and dubious recruitments, Sheedy guided Essendon to four premierships, seven grand finals and 19 finals appearances in an amazing 27-year span.
In that time he transformed Essendon from a suburban sleeping giant into a thriving national powerhouse the envy of sporting clubs the country over.
Undoubtedly there will be the sceptics who question the motives of the AFL for bypassing a promising young coaching candidate in favour of Sheedy who will be 64 by the time Team GWS plays its first home-and-away match.
But let's be honest, Team GWS will be lucky to be competitive at all in its first year.
Vince Lombardi would struggle to get this team into the top eight (or top nine or, heaven forbid, top 10) in 2012, so why not give the gig to a proven senior coach who would be capable of creating more hype and buzz around this fledgling outfit than any other?
Sheedy is exactly what western Sydney needs and the AFL gets a huge tick for this move.
You can't accuse the AFL of complacency either.
Not only has it just ensured one of the all-time greats of the game will be the figurehead of Team GWS but the announcement came hot on the heels of renowned rugby league official Grant Mayer's appointment as its commercial sponsorship manager.
Well played indeed.