Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron is driven by the fear of losing his dressing room
THERE might be assistant coaches and leaderships groups but at the end of the day, a loss goes next to the coach. BEN HORNE was granted exclusive behind the scenes access to see how Leon Cameron thrives under the ultimate pressure.
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PLAYERS can sometimes afford to lose matches, but a coach can never afford to lose his room.
Amid the all-consuming buzz and intensity of game day, this is the cold-hard truth that keeps GWS Giants boss Leon Cameron on a razor’s edge.
There’s an old adage in politics that when your electorate stops listening, your time is done.
And it’s no different for the coach of a football team.
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Every week for 22 rounds Cameron must deliver subtle variations on the same message and all the while keep 22 different personalities constantly engaged.
As Cameron says; this is “the art of coaching.”
Two weeks ago, Cameron gave The Daily Telegraph unprecedented access to his dressing room and huddles as the Giants defeated the Brisbane Lions at Spotless Stadium.
To the outside observer, this was a regulation home and away fixture against a lowly opponent that few will remember come the end of the season when the Giants hope to be challenging for their first AFL flag.
But to Cameron, every single interaction he shares with players has the potential to shape or doom a premiership campaign.
In the 80 minutes building up to the first bounce, Cameron has just two addresses to hit that right chord.
At quarter-time breaks he’s lucky to get 60 seconds with his team and at halftime he’s face-to-face with them for just three and a half minutes.
For the most part against the Lions he’s calm, but at three-quarter time Cameron unleashes a furious spray.
It’s an emotional rollercoaster but one Cameron never loses control of.
That dreaded phrase “losing the dressing room” sounds as the death knell to any coach.
Even for a man as respected and entrenched as Cameron is, it’s an ever-present danger that defines how he navigates through the organised chaos of game day.
“One thing you can’t be is a raving lunatic because your players will pick up on that and then they’ll lose trust,” said Cameron.
“The whole thing is being able to manage my energy levels so it doesn’t tip over the edge of our players.
“But we’re in a win-loss business. We’re judged every weekend and anyone who sits in elite sport and says that for that four-and-a-half hours I’m really calm — they’re kidding themselves.”
On his three-quarter time blow-up against the Lions, Cameron says in hindsight he could have done the same job with silence.
“Our fundamentals had dropped away and in the end I probably didn’t even need to do it because our players already knew it,” he said.
“(Sprays) are few and far between.”
That psychology needs to be broken down even further when considering which personalities he can challenge in front of the group to make an example, and others who he must treat more delicately and take to the side.
“It’s about building relationships but also not compromising on what you stand for.”
Cameron played 256 AFL matches between 1990 and 2003 and never once warmed up for a match with earphones in, listening to hip hop music.
Head coaches are naturally wired to be control freaks — and Cameron admits he is no different — but thriving in the AFL relies on putting complete trust in those around you.
He paces around his sheds at Spotless in the hour leading up to the match as some of his players relax and clown around while others enter a zone of unbreakable focus and intensity.
Callan Ward, to play his 200th AFL match this Saturday against West Coast, keeps his emotions level and unsurprisingly is a model of consistency on the field.
Rather than try and clone a room full of Wards, Cameron must instead let the leadership of his co-captain speak for itself.
Cameron has never known pressure like coaching an AFL team, but he still swears nothing is harder than actually playing the game.
“You need a good leadership group to stimulate them every now and again,” he said.
“You want your players to really drive your standards.”
At halftime Cameron’s players are spread from ice baths to medical rooms and the coach has no choice but to let his key messages be delivered by offsiders instead.
It’s a universe where a coach must fight against any urge he may have to try and control behaviours, despite the fact it’s he who will ultimately live or die by the result.
“If you fight against that, you can lose your players,” says Cameron.
“All young coaches come to their first job as a control freak because they want to put their stamp on the club. Saying; ‘we’re going to do it this way, check this off with me.’
“I was no different. But there’s got to be total trust in everyone, otherwise it just doesn’t work.”
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Originally published as Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron is driven by the fear of losing his dressing room
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