Shane Mumford’s ‘go hard or go home’ attitude worth its weight in gold, says Leon Cameron

“Warrior” Shane Mumford’s “go hard or go home” attitude will be worth its weight in gold for the GWS Giants this season, insists head coach Leon Cameron.

Shane Mumford back training with the GWS Giants. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“Warrior” Shane Mumford’s “go hard or go home” attitude will be worth its weight in gold for the GWS Giants this season, insists head coach Leon Cameron.

The 32-year-old has put both retirement and a controversial ‘snorting’ video firmly behind him and both Cameron and the Giants’ leadership group are delighted with Mumford’s impact and influence on those around him.

Injury woes saw the ruckman call it a day at the end of 2017 and he moved into a coaching role at the Giants but both parties came to realise there may be more left in the tank and on came the boots again.

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The Giants were hugely disappointed last October when a 2015 video surfaced, showing Mumford snorting a powder but after imposing a fine and a two-match ban they stuck by him and are confident they will reap the rewards for doing so.

“Firstly, we don’t condone the position Shane found himself in and we were really disappointed as a footy club,” Cameron told The Saturday Telegraph.

“But Shane himself was at the forefront of making the wrongs right, which I’m really proud of.

Shane Mumford battles Max Gawn before his retirement.

“He’s been a really good warrior for our footy club. He retired because of the nasty injuries that he sustained.

“He became our ruck coach but then it became apparent that maybe we could get another a year or two out of Shane. Since we got to that November period where we made that decision, he has put himself physically in a really good position.

“He had a 10-day setback with a hammy before Christmas but other than that he’s doing as much, if not more, than what he was before he retired.”

Cameron is not expecting miracles however and certainly won’t be putting all his ruck eggs into one basket. And even when Mumford isn’t on the field, his contribution off it will be just as crucial.

“The challenge is though, we understand that he is coming off retirement and so the expectation is we want Shane to play some really good footy but we’re also confident in our rucks stocks in Dawson Simpson, Shane and Matthew Flynn that they can really hold up throughout the year.

“Mummy’s value off the field is his cheekiness, his hard training philosophy. He only knows one way. It’s either go hard or go home and he brings a really good set of values and set of habits that I really love.”

Shane Mumford was GWS ruck coach before coming out of retirement. Picture: David Swift

Co-captain Phil Davis has also hailed Mumford’s pre-season impact, describing him earlier this week as “hungry” for success.

As the new season draws ever closer the club are working hard to try and lock down several players to new contracts.

They hit the jackpot on two fronts on Friday with defender Nick Haynes agreeing to a new five-year deal and forward Brent Daniels extending his stay until 2021.

“It’s obviously the first Giants free agency year,” Cameron said.

“So we’ve got probably three or four players in that boat. In saying that I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time the season starts that a number of players put pen to paper that sit in that bracket.

“Discussions with (Stephen) Coniglio, (Josh) Kelly and (Nick) Haynes have all been really positive, which is fantastic. But like anything, there’s two parties. Us and the players. But in terms of the ‘want’ and the culture I’m really proud that that’s in really good nick because you wouldn’t even get to first base on contracts if you didn’t have that.”

Originally published as Shane Mumford’s ‘go hard or go home’ attitude worth its weight in gold, says Leon Cameron