Cameron column: Cats, Pies in Round 1, it doesn’t get much better
In his first column for the Addy, goalkicking ace Jeremy Cameron speaks about his excitement for the season ahead, the blockbuster clash with Collingwood and impending fatherhood.
Geelong
Don't miss out on the headlines from Geelong. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WHAT a way to start the season, the Pies at the ‘G on a Friday night.
You couldn’t ask for a better round 1 match-up. It’s certainly our biggest first-up game in a while.
I know there’s a lot of other big rivalries, but the way it finished for us last season, playing the Pies in a belting qualifying final, it doesn’t get much better.
They were the big movers last season – they flew up the ladder and were one kick away from a grand final, so they will be a tough opponent.
They play a fast, exciting brand of footy, and to think that we’ll be playing in front of upwards of 85,000-90,000 people is pretty incredible.
So I’m looking forward to that challenge straight off the bat.
It’s always good playing at the ‘G, and it’s a good feeling when footy’s back.
I can’t believe it has come around so quickly, but we’re in really good shape to give it another crack.
The atmosphere at the MCG is going to be something else.
In the two games we played against Collingwood last season, the noise was unbelievable. It definitely gets me going.
I know some players like it more than others, but as a forward, I love the crowd involvement.
In that first game we were down by a long way at three-quarter time and we needed to do something and we rolled the dice.
The crowd was certainly in their favour.
All their fans were up and about and showing lots of energy and their players were feeding off that.
But when we kicked one, then two, you could sense the Pies supporters were getting a bit anxious and our fans were rising slowly as we kicked goal after goal.
We pegged a few back and that’s a different feeling and you can ride that momentum.
It was a similar feeling in the qualifying final — the Cats fans were outnumbered in the stands.
But when I played at the Giants, that was nothing new and I don’t mind that at all.
I like being the underdog.
In saying that, we have a lot of supporters from Geelong who go to these games and they all make the trip up to the ‘G and I think it will be a lot more balanced this time around.
WILL THE PIES PLUMMIT DOWN THE LADDER?
IN my mind, I find it difficult to see Collingwood falling off the perch.
I don’t read too much into the external noise, but I have seen a bit of the Pies in the pre-season and I’m not seeing any signs that would suggest they might falter.
They’re a good side and they have a good blend of experience and youth and some quality players at both ends of the ground.
They have brought in some talent, in particular Bobbie Hill, and I know the sort of player he can be.
So if he has a good year, and the midfield is strong again with the addition of Tom Mitchell, they will be dangerous.
They’re an exciting team and Collingwood fans are lucky to be able to watch them play.
It would have been nerve-racking watching them play in so many tight games, but as a fan that’s what you want, isn’t it?
MOORE OF THE SAME?
AS a key forward, I quite often know who I am going to get most weeks.
But by the same token, I’m not 100 per cent sure I will get this time around because the Collingwood defence is so flexible.
I’ve had Darcy Moore and Jeremy Howe before and I’ve had them both in the same game, so it’s hard to know what might happen.
Billy Frampton is another one who could play on me, and Brayden Maynard can play tall and small, so there’s a few options.
So there’ll be three opponents I’ll look into it, but I won’t get caught up in it too much.
Either way, it’s going to be a great contest.
I can take a guess and say Darcy Moore will rub shoulders with me at the first bounce, but I’m really not sure.
It depends on where I start, as well.
If I’m high up the ground then it might be Moore because he likes to get up to the wing and back himself to read the play and mark the ball.
He’s a hell of a footballer, Darcy.
I’ve always had a lot of respect for the way Darcy plays his football.
He’s a big lad, and he backs himself to mark it.
And I might tread on some toes in saying this, but Alex Rance was one of the first players to get really assertive and run away from their opponent and impact the contest, mark the ball or turn it over and send the ball the other way.
Quite often I’d be standing in the middle of the ground looking pretty stupid because I’m meant to be marking the footy, but he’s run 50m influence the play.
And I would say Darcy is right up there with the best in that regard. He and Rance have a similar game style.
Tom Stewart and Sam De Koning do that for us as well, and Moore’s an incredible player when he’s in full flight.
TITLE DEFENCE
RIGHT now, it feels like a build up to a normal season.
Winning the flag does change things, and you can become complacent, but our group has gone the opposite way and the boys have come back more hungry that ever.
We’re well rested.
It was a brutal season, but the coaches and strength and conditioning staff have looked after us, and since Christmas, we’ve turned it up a couple of notches and we’ve been playing solid football against each other for a while now.
I don’t feel as though anything has changed.
We want to go and win it all again, but it’s easy to say that.
We’re focused on the now and we need to win enough home and away games to make the finals and that’s our goal right now.
It feels like there’s so much hard work to be done between now and September, and that’s why premierships are so hard to win.
We’ll take little steps along the way first.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
THAT’S why it’s so hard to go back-to-back.
As the premiers, we will be the most looked at club in the competition.
That’s what you’ve got to do, you look at the best teams and try to emulate what they do.
The spotlight in on the team that wins the flag.
I remember in previous years looking at the premier and taking parts of their game style so we can combat that and play a bit differently next time around.
Those are the things that Collingwood will be going through right now.
It’s just how it is.
It’s just another challenge and we’ll force ourselves to be better again.
You have to be ready for anything and you need to be ready for change.
And sometimes it take a while — at least a number of matches — to uncover what the best teams are doing.
I feel our sample size was the whole of last season.
Clearly we changed the way we played, but not many teams would have known how we play until rounds seven or eight, and by then we were on a roll and we finished the season so strong.
We were hard to stop, but there will be times where we need to tweak our game plan again as the opposition throw things at us.
If we roll out there thinking we can play the same way, we’ll get beaten, so we need to make changes along the way.
BABY CAMERON IS ON THE WAY
WE’RE inside two weeks and it’s exciting times.
Our baby is due on March 25, so it’s only two days after the round 2 game against Carlton.
We play on the Thursday night and hopefully we have a baby on the Friday — that would be nice — then I’ll have plenty of time to be ready to play Gold Coast up there in round 3.
I plan to play against the Pies and the Blues because both games are at the ‘G, but having said that, I’ll be walking off the field if the baby comes during either of those games.
That wouldn’t be ideal, but that’s life and family comes first.
Chris Scott has been unbelievably supportive with it all, as have all of the coaches.
Scotty mentioned that he’d rather have me out there for one quarter than not at all, if that’s how it all unfolded.
I just can’t wait to be a father.
I’ve always loved kids.
My sister had a little girl last year — the first in our immediate family — and our bub might arrive on the same day, so it’s crazy how it’s all worked out.
To be honest, it is a little unexpected for my partner, Indy, and I. We were very ready, but it was a case of ‘when’s the right time’.
I’m glad it has worked out this way.
We had played a game over in Adelaide and I came home to a really big surprise that Indy was pregnant.
It’s something you can’t always plan the way you’d like. A lot of families have difficulty falling pregnant, so we’re lucky in that sense.
We’ve been asked a few times what we’re hoping for and I’d like a boy and a girl at some stage.
And I know this changes, but I’d like a big family. In a perfect world it would be a boy and that would be awesome, but I’d love to have a little girl.
My sister, Talitha, had a little girl and my former teammate at GWS Giants Ryan Griffen, who is one of my best mates, had two girls and they’re adorable.
PREPARING FOR FATHERHOOD
It’s going to be hectic, that’s how I envisage it.
Most people would say I am a busy human being anyway with my hobbies outside of football. I have quite a lot of things I like to do.
I’m always on the golf course, out in the boat, away camping or doing stuff at home on the farm.
So I’ve always got things on, but it’s going to be busier with the little one, that’s for sure.
I might have to put those hobbies away, at least for a little while as we find our feet.
It’s an exciting time and we both can’t wait. We just want for things to go smoothly.
We’re just eager to get into it.
IT’S A SECRET
I have always wanted it that way, but Indy was eager to find out the sex of the baby initially.
But the more she thought about it, the more she wanted it to be a secret.
For the last few weeks I have been going through scenarios, ‘is it a boy, is it a girl?’ I’m prepared for both.
More Coverage
Originally published as Cameron column: Cats, Pies in Round 1, it doesn’t get much better
Join the conversation
Injury latest: Stringer pulled from VFL game with hamstring issue
Jake Stringer is in serious doubt for the early rounds of the season after a hamstring scare during a VFL hitout for GWS. Get all the injury and selection intel here.
Read more
Taste of finals, not revenge, fuels Bowes, Cats for season-opener
Geelong won’t have to wait long to get a crack at the reigning premiers, and preliminary finals foe, Brisbane as opening round approaches. But one Cat believes immediate revenge won’t be their only making.
Read more