Jeremy Cameron opens up on replacing Tom Hawkins, the magical 100-goal mark
There’s a ton of change unfolding at Geelong. Bailey Smith’s in, club legend Tom Hawkins is out. One constant? Jeremy Cameron up forward, who says he feels as good as ever leading into 2025.
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While they may be mourning the departure of one legend, there is some very good news for Geelong fans about their other resident superstar forward.
Jeremy Cameron feels like he’s 26 again.
As the Cats enter a season for the first time since 2007 without Tom Hawkins, the man who will take over as the captain of the forward line is feeling younger than ever.
Cameron, who turns 32 on April Fool’s Day, says his body and mind are feeling like they did back in 2019 when he had his best season, kicking 76 goals to win the Coleman Medal while at Greater Western Sydney.
Asked how many years he might have left, Cameron – who is coming out-of-contract – pauses before saying: “It’s an interesting question, right now if you asked me I’d say I’m 26, that’s certainly how my mindset is.
“Right now the body is feeling good, feeling really comfortable. I obviously love Geelong, love the supporters, love everything about the club.
“I can’t see that changing any time soon, but I haven’t really put that much thought into it. I definitely don’t feel 35, I feel like I’m on the younger side.”
NEXT-GEN CAT HAS TWO HANDS ON HAWKINS’ SPOT
Since joining the Cats in 2021, Cameron has kicked more than 50 goals in three of his four seasons. After Hawkins had led the club’s goal kicking tally for 11 consecutive years, the former Giant took the reins in the past couple of seasons, kicking 53 goals in 2023 and 64 last year.
He knows his job is going to be harder without Hawkins who even in the backend of his career demanded a high-quality defender to keep him in check.
Cameron will rely on a 20-gamer in Shannon Neale who he says has made positive steps over the summer.
“It’s definitely going to be different,” Cameron says. “But we have a good mix, Shannon has played his fair share of football now so he knows what it takes.
“He’s a big lad and his work ethic and the way he wants to get better each and every day has really stood out for me.
“He has shown some really good form so he will step nicely into that role. I mean they are really big shoes to fill though, aren’t they? The big Hawk kicking 800 snags and playing 350 games, but it’s exciting.”
Cameron says the Cats’ forwards got a sneak peek of what the future would hold when Hawkins missed the last part of 2024 because of injury.
“We have got a nice mix that we have played with for a fair chunk of my time here,” Cameron says. “Also probably at the back end of last year we got a look at it anyway because Hawk was unfortunately injured.
“My role depends on who we are playing and what (Chris) Scotty needs. I can get around the ground or play deep. I sort of like changing it up and not playing in one position.
“I’m just happy to wait and see how it all unfolds.”
PLENTY OF DANGER UP FORWARD
In the opening scratch match of the pre-season against Hawthorn, Cameron had Cats skipper Patrick Dangerfield standing alongside him in a move that is set to become more regular in 2025.
“We know he can kick goals, he’s shown that in the past even when he was at his absolute best, he kicked a lot of goals as a midfielder,” Cameron says.
“So we know he is damaging wherever he plays and whether he is in the middle giving us the grunt out of there, we know what he can do.
“Or if he is playing a role for us in the forward line, we know he is going to be powerful and explosive and hopefully sets us up well as a good target to kick to.”
BRING BACK THE CENTURIONS
On the subject of kicking goals, Cameron isn’t giving up hope about a player reaching the magical 100-goal mark in a season again.
While many believe those days are numbered given it hasn’t happened for 16 years – Lance “Buddy” Franklin kicked 113 majors in 2008 – the Cats spearhead wants to see it again.
“I can’t say we’re fully done with it,” Cameron says. “I reckon it will happen at some stage, it would have to be an unbelievable team because you have got to obviously get it to the forwards a bit and be playing really red-hot footy.
“We have so many targets throughout the forward line, every club does, you look at Carlton they have got two keys but even the smalls are kicking lots of goals.
“Tyson (Stengle) kicks 40 to 50 goals every year as well. It’s just a really good balance and that is the key these days rather than having one guy kick 100 goals, you have three that kick 30 or 40.
“That’s harder to shut down for other teams. I would like to see it happen again but I can’t see myself doing it.”
Cameron recalls being the centre of the century goals discussion a couple of times when he got off to a flyer to start the season.
“I have started really hot before at the start of the season and it gets talked about in round 4 and then by round 10 you’re nowhere near it,” he says.
“It’s hard to play like that and absolutely nail it each and every week. The better football you are playing the more the opposition want to absolutely shut you down, too, and then other options become available like (Brad) Closey, Tyson (Stengle) and Gryan (Miers), they can all kick goals.”
BAZBALL A STARRING ADDITION
One player Cameron is excited about seeing kick him the ball is Bailey Smith.
Smith is another example of Geelong’s reputation as a destination club with the former Western Bulldog making his way down the highway to resume his career after a serious knee injury disrupted his time at the Whitten Oval.
The Cats are looking to raise the bar on and off the field – they’re seeking 100,000 members for the first time – with Cameron convinced Smith will be another great advertisement of the magical powers at GMHBA Stadium.
“He has been awesome since the day he got here,” Cameron says. “He missed a bit of football with his injury last year but he’s shown a lot over the pre-season.
“He’s fit and firing and we saw a snippet the other day (in the practice match against Hawthorn). I look forward to having him deliver the football to me this season.”
OFF-SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Cameron has been busy over the summer, the highlight getting married to his partner, Indiana, but the pain of last year’s preliminary final loss to the Brisbane Lions isn’t too far away.
“It is always flattening to get that close, to be honest it didn’t even feel like 10 points because that was in the last couple of minutes. I mean, I think with four minutes to go when Ollie Henry kicked that goal, we were in front.
“That’s how close we were, it’s flattening on the day. You get past it and a lot of people probably didn’t even have us making finals last year, but we know what we can do internally.”
He admits to having mixed emotions the following week when he watched the Lions dominate Sydney in the grand final.
“I have gotten better as I have gotten older (watching the GF). I did watch it with friends and family at my place,” Cameron says. “They played really well and it sort of gave me flashbacks of 2022 when we won it (against Sydney).
“It felt eerily similar and it’s always hard to watch because of what could have been.”
Originally published as Jeremy Cameron opens up on replacing Tom Hawkins, the magical 100-goal mark
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