Leon_Cameron

Leon Cameron

Leon Cameron

Australian rules footballer, born 1972

Leon Cameron (born 2 September 1972) is a former Australian rules footballer who is the former senior coach of the Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) in the Australian Football League (AFL). His AFL playing career lasted from 1990 to 2003 and included 256 senior games – 172 for the Western Bulldogs and 84 for Richmond.

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AFL playing career

Footscray/Western Bulldogs

Cameron was recruited from South Warrnambool Football Club with the 7th selection in the 1988 National Draft for the Footscray Football Club (Bulldogs). He played 172 games and kicked 68 goals for the Bulldogs between 1990 and 1999 and won the Charles Sutton Medal in 1993 and The Age Footballer of the Year award in 1995.[1][2]

Richmond

In 2000, Cameron was traded to the Richmond Football Club where he played a further 84 games and kicked 40 goals over four seasons before retiring at the end of the 2003 AFL season.[3][4][5]

AFL coaching career

Assistant coaching roles

After retirement Cameron returned to the Western Bulldogs as an assistant coach from 2004 to the end of 2010. In September 2010 he accepted an assistant coaching role with Hawthorn,[6] playing an instrumental role in the club as they reached the 2012 AFL Grand Final, which was lost to the Sydney Swans. It was Cameron's first Grand Final as an AFL player or coach after three preliminary final losses as a player (two at the Western Bulldogs and one at Richmond) and another four as an assistant coach (three at the Bulldogs and one at Hawthorn).[7]

Cameron then joined Greater Western Sydney as the senior assistant coach for the 2013 season with a contract that appointed him as the senior coach from 2014.[8]

First senior coaching role

Greater Western Sydney

On 1 September 2013, after Kevin Sheedy coached his 679th and final game as a senior coach in the VFL-AFL, the competing teams formed a guard of honour for Sheedy and a handover ceremony took place with Sheedy passing the baton to Leon Cameron who succeeded him as senior coach.[9] Cameron's contract, signed in October 2012, stipulated one year as assistant coach under senior coach Sheedy and then 3 years as the senior coach.[10]

Cameron's tenure saw the Giants reach five out of a possible six finals series between 2016 and 2021, the most memorable among those being the Giants' narrow preliminary final loss to eventual premiers the Western Bulldogs, as well as Greater Western Sydney's inaugural grand final appearance in 2019, where they were defeated by Richmond by 89 points.[11][12]

Despite the Giants making the 2021 AFL finals series, Cameron resigned as senior coach of GWS Giants on 12 May 2022 after eight years in the senior coaching role. This followed a string of poor on-field results for the Giants, and saw Cameron replaced by assistant coach Mark McVeigh as GWS caretaker senior coach for the rest of the 2022 season, following a farewell game against Carlton in Round 9, 2022.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] In the match, GWS lost by a margin of 30 points, and Cameron left the field through a guard of honour from both sides.[22][23]

Statistics

Playing statistics

[24]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
More information Season, Team ...

Coaching statistics

[25]
More information Legend ...
More information Season, Team ...

Notes

  1. Leon Cameron stood down as coach of GWS at the conclusion of round 9, 2022. At this point in the season, GWS were 15th on the ladder with two wins and seven losses.

References

  1. [1]
    Mithen, Anthony (3 September 1995). "Cameron hopes success will rub off on Dogs". The Age. p. 40.
  2. [2]
    "LEON CAMERON". Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  3. [3]
    Greenberg, Tony (19 October 2012). "Top 20 Tiger trade pick-ups: No. 9". Richmond Football Club. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  4. [4]
    "Cameron to retire following Tigers, Hawks clash". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 26 August 2003. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  5. [5]
    "LEON CAMERON". Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  6. [6]
    Lane, Samantha (28 August 2011). "The pick of the litter". The Sunday Age. p. 5.
  7. [7]
    "First things first for Hawks midfield coach, then Leon Cameron to make Power move". News.com.au. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  8. [8]
    Cowley, Michael (4 October 2012). "Port to miss as Cameron goes north". The Age.
  9. [9]
    "Gary Ablett stars as Kevin Sheedy's coaching career ends with an 83-point loss", News Ltd, 1 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  10. [10]
    "Cameron the future for GWS", Sydney Morning Herald, 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  11. [11]
    Beveridge, Riley (28 September 2019). "Orange crushed: Tigers roar once more under Dimma's dynasty". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  12. [12]
    "AFL grand final 2019 as it happened: Richmond crush GWS". 28 September 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  13. [13]
    Barrett, Damien; Gabelich, Josh (12 May 2022). "LEON RESIGNS: Giants coach quits after nine years in 'good decision'". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  14. [14]
    "'This is a good decision': Cameron, Giants make mutual call to part ways". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  15. [15]
    "Leon Cameron resigns as GWS coach, ending nine-year tenure at AFL club". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  16. [16]
    "Leon Cameron explains why he resigned as Greater Western Sydney coach". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  17. [17]
    "Leon Cameron reveals what led to Giant break-up as coach steps down eight rounds into ninth AFL season". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  18. [18]
    "Leon Cameron quits after nine years as Greater Western Sydney Giants coach". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  19. [19]
    "Leon Cameron explains why he resigned as Greater Western Sydney coach". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  20. [20]
    "Thank You Leon". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  21. [21]
    "Leon Cameron makes shock decision to resign as GWS Giants coach, Alastair Clarkson and Nathan Buckley in the frame to replace him". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  22. [22]
    "Leon Cameron's dignified GWS Giants exit fits his treasured tenure". 15 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  23. [23]
    "Blues crash Cameron party as spirited Giants farewell coach, but Williams injury sours win". 15 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  24. [24]
    Leon Cameron's player profile at AFL Tables
  25. [25]
    "Leon Cameron's coaching profile". AFL Tables.
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