GWS Giants coach Leon Cameron concedes Brett Deledio’s frank form assessment has some truth
Ahead of a grand final replay against Richmond on Friday night, GWS Giants coach Leon Cameron hopes his under-fire side reacts positively to a candid form assessment from a former star player.
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GWS coach Leon Cameron has challenged any Giants player who has taken criticism from ex-teammate Brett Deledio as a personal “attack” – to actually get out there and do something about it on Friday night.
Deledio’s frank assessment that the out-of-sorts Giants tend to play as individuals rather than as a team when things aren’t going well, raised a few eyebrows given it was coming from a respected figure who was in the GWS inner sanctum right up to the end of last year.
Cameron said he didn’t agree with everything Deledio laid out on ABC Grandstand, but admits there was truth in the brutally honest feedback.
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That is a significant admission for the coach to make given part of Deledio’s analysis was directed at him and the freedom he allows players to play with as coach. And also because GWS captain Stephen Coniglio has respectfully dismissed what Deledio had said.
On Fox Footy’s On The Couch, ex-greats including Nick Riewoldt were somewhat taken aback that Deledio had been so forthright so soon after leaving the dressing room.
But Cameron doesn’t believe Deledio’s take down had come from a bad place, in fact, the coach sounded like he felt it could be a good thing if any wounded players felt they had a point to prove.
“… I think he makes a pretty good point. When push came to shove in the last two weeks we’ve probably gone away from these little things that matter the most,” said Cameron.
“You can’t argue probably with the (radio comments).
“… If people look at it as a stinging attack on their credibility or individualism on the footy field, then do something about it.
“When the pressure comes on Friday night we’ve got to make sure our concentration levels are at an all-time high. Our consistency to do the little things really, really well has to be there, because if it’s not, someone will write another article next week.
“I acknowledge it. I don’t agree on all of (Deledio’s comments), but I do agree with some of it and we’ve got to make sure we deliver.”
Cameron said he took it as constructive criticism rather than a former player breaking the dressing room code of solidarity.
“I don’t think it was coming from a bad place,” said the coach, who expects Toby Greene back to face Richmond.
“Brett spent three years up here. People will look at it probably like it’s coming from a bad place. It’s not the case. He had a tough time up here because of his body and his injuries, but he contributed in a way that we loved having him around.”
The crux of what Deledio told ABC Grandstand was based around supremely talented players trying to turn around trying situations on their own, rather than showing the discipline to combine together in one cohesive structure.
“I think at times when things start to go bad, they all try to use their own ability to win the game, versus trying to do it together and that is where they ultimately fall down because it is a bunch of 22 individuals versus a collective team,” Deledio said.
Meanwhile, coach Cameron said senior ruckmen Shane Mumford and Sam Jacobs were now under pressure from young big men Kieren Briggs and Matthew Flynn to hold their spot.
Giants: Forget Clarko, we only want one man
GWS Giants have doubled down on their long-term commitment to Leon Cameron, guaranteeing that a two-year contract extension for the coach will be honoured no matter what.
The club was on the verge of announcing Cameron’s new deal when the COVID-19 shutdown hit and the AFL put a freeze on all player and football staff contracts given the financial uncertainty gripping the game.
With a contract that is yet to be formally lodged or rubber stamped, GWS’s recent form slump has now sparked questions over whether Cameron might now find himself in a COVID-induced twilight zone.
Premiership great Matthew Lloyd said on Footy Classified he would personally reconsider any agreement made with Cameron if the Giants missed the finals, and questioned whether GWS might be tempted into making a play for Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson.
However, in a year when handshakes have been banned, GWS want Cameron to know that theirs is bond.
Giants’ chief executive David Matthews has emphatically declared that Clarkson or no Clarkson, finals or no finals, Leon Cameron is locked in at Sydney Olympic Park.
“I think people are misunderstanding what we’re saying. (These questions about if) there’s a contract extension or not. There already is one. We’ve already made a commitment,” Matthews told News Corp.
“Right now we have a coach for 2021, 2022. We have no interest in anyone else.
“We think Leon is building something. You face some headwinds in any season and at the moment we need to recapture some form.
“But that’s not down to one person. That’s down to a lot of people.
“Nothing has changed at all. We committed to an extension with Leon beyond this season a few months ago now and that holds firm.
“We absolutely have confidence that he’s the right person to be leading us.
“Leon is the only coach that’s (won finals in each of past four years). I have no doubt he’s already had success as a coach, because it’s not all just measured on whether you can get a premiership. There’s other factors.
“They’re hard to win as we know. But we’re still striving to win one. And he’ll be the person leading us.”
Gold Coast last week signed Stuart Dew to a new contract.
Matthews says the only reason Cameron’s deal hasn’t been officially lodged is because the club has been doing its maths on the new parameters of the AFL’s drastically reduced soft cap.
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“They’ve probably got to the point on some details and we will too. We haven’t had any rush. Leon knows where he stands with us and he knows his future is secure,” said Matthews.
“Those things will be completed in time. It’s only the last couple of weeks that the AFL has confirmed where they see the soft cap heading so we just need to take some time about how that all balances out.
“That in no way, brings into question any commitment we’ve got to Leon Cameron. None at all.”
There has been renewed conjecture over Clarkson’s future at Hawthorn following comments made by Hawks President Jeff Kennett which appeared to suggest his current deal might be his last.
Former AFL coach Ross Lyon and others have spoken about how they would love to see Clarkson set loose on a new club.
Matthews said he isn’t interested in people outside the Giants trying to join dots and said GWS’s current predicament on the ladder needed to be put into perspective.
“The speculation doesn’t really concern me externally. We know there’s a lot of the season left to go,” he said.
“We would still expect to make finals. We review our performance whether we do or we don’t. But we’re committed to our coach Leon Cameron.
“ … We’ve seen in past years it doesn’t take much to turn things around and we’ve done it before. We’ve fought our way out of form slumps before. So we’re confident.”
STEPHEN CONIGLIO DEFENDS GWS PLAYING GROUP
Stephen Coniglio has dismissed claims from former Giant Brett Deledio that GWS play like “individuals” when the chips are down.
Following a week of intense speculation over his place in the team, the Giants captain broke his silence on Monday and admitted he has been guilty of trying to take on too much in his first year as skipper as he resolves to delegate more responsibility to other senior players.
GWS have been copping it from all angles after losing their way since the AFL season resumed, but perhaps the most stinging criticism of all has come from Deledio, who up until a few months ago was part of the inner sanctum.
Deledio accused the Giants on ABC Grandstand of not playing as a team when things are going against them.
“That’s where they ultimately fall down,” said Deledio, who spent three years in the GWS system.
“Because it’s a bunch of 22 individuals versus a collective team.”
Coniglio denied the Giants were splintering under pressure and said he did not agree with Deledio’s assertion.
“No I don’t (agree),” he said.
“I think there’s no doubt in our first four or five years that you could definitely have a few more examples of that individual over collective approach, but we’ve made some huge ground on that and at the moment I don’t see that at all.
“I’m really good friends with Brett. We loved having him as part of the Giants and of course he’s entitled to his own opinion.
“From the outside, he’s probably not the only one who shares that view.
“But that collective approach and playing for one another, it’s something we do pride ourselves on.”
A report last week speculated that Coniglio’s place in the team was not safe.
GWS denied they’d talked about dropping Coniglio, but did say that no one at the club – not even the captain – was immune from that type of match committee scrutiny.
Some have worried about whether the extra burden of the captaincy has weighed on Coniglio this year and been a contributing factor to his form struggles – although he was the Giants’ best against Brisbane on Saturday.
Coniglio said he was relishing the leadership, but admitted he has learnt some lessons about managing his time.
“I think there’s definitely (scope) for me to use guys around me a little bit more. A lot of the time I’ll take on things and, not be afraid to ask for help, but at times, shy away from that and want to try and do a lot on my own,” Coniglio said.
“I think for me (I can) just share the load a little bit more.
“Give guys a little bit more to do is probably one thing definitely I can learn from this experience.”
Coniglio said the captaincy had not been the reason for his below par performances.
“I’ve loved stepping up from being vice-captain and captain. The biggest thing for me, I always knew I was going to have challenges at some stages,” he said.
“During my tenure so far as captain, particularly with what’s going on at the moment in the football industry – its territory that nobody has ever been in before.
“Whether it’s as a captain, coach, GM, President – we’re in unfamiliar territory.”
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GIANTS SHARE BLAME FOR ‘S***HOUSE’ FORM
The GWS playing group has rallied around besieged captain Stephen Coniglio, angry he has been made a scapegoat for their own ‘s***house’ form.
Coniglio rallied from a week under the microscope to stand up for the Giants in their latest loss to Brisbane, but star forward Jeremy Cameron said it was unfair the skipper was singled out in the first place.
Talk that Coniglio’s place in the team might be under threat has prompted Cameron to speak out and declare the Giants playing group are behind their captain 100 per cent as the man to lead them out of their ominous hole.
“Every player is behind Cogs, every day of the week, not just (after last week),” Cameron said.
“We’re always behind Cogs – the way he plays his footy and the way he leads this club is amazing.
“He’s been terrific and he’s the right guy for the job right now.
“I started s***house this year as well, so if I was captain people would have said the same things about me.
“Just because I’m not captain, I don’t cop it.
“That’s just how it works. Guys are always going to have their opinions but we’re right behind Cogs and we’re very proud of what he’s doing right now.”
Had the decimated Sydney Swans youngsters held on against the Gold Coast on Saturday the two Sydney sides would have been locked together with three wins apiece.
The Giants have now lost two straight, are languishing in the bottom cluster of teams and are now bracing for a grand final rematch against Richmond on Friday night.
Cameron denies a meeting against the Tigers will bring up any mental scars despite the nature of their grand final humiliation at the MCG.
“I don’t think so. We want to win, so we’ll be focusing on that,” Cameron said.
“It‘s another game for us and they’re obviously grand finalists from last year so it’s an interesting time.
“We‘ve only got a six-day break so it’s going to be a pretty quick week, which is good. When you lose, I like quick weeks – you can get straight into it again.”
Last year’s Coleman Medallist admits he is feeling the strain of GWS getting destroyed in the inside 50 count every week.
“Definitely, you definitely do feel it. As a forward you rely on entries, and it‘s tough at the moment,” Cameron said.
“We’ve been looking at it week to week and seeing how we can improve and how we can generate more inside 50s and just get the ball going our way because it is such a territory game at the moment.
“Guys that can lock it in their end, teams that can lock it in their end of the ground, the pressure builds back there, you give away a free kick and they get a goal.
“That‘s how it’s played at the moment and I think we had four forward-50 stoppages which is one a quarter, that’s really bad. It just goes to show we’re not getting it up there enough, and we need to keep it up there more.”
OPINION: GWS ISSUES START WITH THE COACH
– Mick McGuane
Leon Cameron has the keys to the Ferrari at GWS. But at the moment, it’s fair to say they’re playing like a beat-up old Holden.
The captain Stephen Coniglio has come under a lot of criticism this week for his role in what’s going on, but for mine, this is a coaching issue not so much a problem with individual players.
I’ve always subscribed to the theory that you tailor a style of play that suits your players. You don’t put a style of play in place and then make your players work to that.
I believe that’s what Leon Cameron and the Giants have out of whack at the moment.
These players, as talented as they are, are talented because of their football prowess.
Their great ability to read the game, to get to contests before others do – and that’s because their minds are quicker.
But when you have this slow build-up game that GWS are playing, you bring the likes of Coniglio, Josh Kelly, Jacob Hopper and Lachie Whitfield back to the field, right where the opposition wants them.
Stephen Coniglio’s best footy is when he rolls his sleeves up and gets to work when there’s contests to be won. And there’s no better opportunity to change his fortunes than to tell him his job against the Brisbane Lions this week is to hunt Lachie Neale and get that scalp.
I don’t think Coniglio’s competitiveness gets applauded enough. He’s a fierce competitor that wins a lot of in-tight footy.
Because he kick starts the offence in congestion, a lot of people don’t see that first possession he gives to his teammates. Let him get back to playing this way.
Get him back to what he’s good at.
We were all excited watching GWS play between 2016-19 because they were tough, they were always ranked in the top four teams for contested ball and clearance.
They are a team of heavy lifters.
Leon – you need to get your players back to where their strengths are.
The good news is, I don’t think it’s necessarily a difficult correction. They’ve just taken this kick-mark game too far.
Maybe they’ve tried to copy Geelong, or West Coast or Collingwood to try and slow the game down. But they’ve gone too far with it and they’re playing far too slow.
The Giants are ranked 17th for inside 50s.
There’s only one team lower than them at the moment and that’s the Adelaide Crows. GWS have not won an inside 50 count this year.
They need to play with more dare, take more risks.
Two of their best players are in front of the ball in Jeremy Cameron and Toby Greene. Why wouldn’t you trust them?
Why wouldn’t you get the ball into them?
Because one thing I do know, is when they do go in, the Giants are ranked No. 1 for scores per inside 50. They’re highly efficient.
Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield have been dried up because they’re getting a lack of opportunity with the ball no longer in motion.
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These fantastic readers of the game, they need the game to be played at a faster speed because then they can bring their craft and their footy reading ability to the fore because they’re more talented than most of the opposition players. At this moment their creativity and instinct is being dried up because of this ridiculously slow kick-mark build-up game they’re providing.
That is not sustainable, Leon.
Change your ball movement. Quicken it up. Don’t slow it down. Because it’s not aligned to your players.
They need fast ball movement, and then watch how they can impact games, which in turn will translate to victories.
Originally published as GWS Giants coach Leon Cameron concedes Brett Deledio’s frank form assessment has some truth