GWS coach Leon Cameron declares Giants not intimated by MCG challenge ahead of Hawks clash
Leon Cameron has declared GWS is not intimated by the MCG as his side prepares to return to the iconic venue to face Hawthorn on Sunday.
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Leon Cameron is too wily a campaigner to be drawn on the ‘Jeremy’s ton’ question but he’s just happy those outside GWS HQ have finally grasped what’s been obvious to the Giants for three or four years.
The Coleman Medal frontrunner will look to add to his tally of 30 when the Giants tackle Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday.
There has been a lot of talk this week whether Cameron can become the first player to since Lance Franklin in 2008 to kick the magic 100.
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“Look I know there’s going to be lots of talk about it and it’s a hard one to answer because if the coach says let’s just worry about this week then it’s a boring old answer if he says yes he can then there’ll be headlines,” Cameron said.
“He’s in good form, he’s on top of his game. He’s the ultimate team player and I’m actually glad that a lot of people are actually starting to see what we’ve been seeing for three or four years and that’s his workrate up the ground. He pushes up hard, he gives us an opportunity to hit him up 50 to 80 out. All the little things that probably go unnoticed he’s been doing for a long time and it’s just complementing his game.”
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Another hot topic has been the Giants’ miserable record at the MCG over the years but again, the coach only sees positives.
The coach said setbacks at the famous old venue in the early years of the Giants’ existence distorted the negative column and it wasn’t as if the club had never tasted a win there.
Far from being intimated by an MCG clash, it was something to relish.
“It doesn’t matter where you play. AFL is all over Australia,” he said. “Is it good to have an opportunity to play at the G? Yes, absolutely. You take those opportunities and you cherish them as well. We feel we’re in a little bit of form but also we like challenges. And the challenge is taking on a really good footy club (Hawthorn) that’s proud and wants to climb back up the ladder.
“We’re looking forward to the clash on Sunday. We know it’s going to be huge.
“We’ve been pretty consistent. There’s clearly some areas of our game we need to get better at because we dropped away a little bit halfway through the second (quarter) and most of the third last week. And we don’t want to be defending 60 inside 50s like last week. We’ve got to make sure we take care of that. But I think it’s just going to be a really good game. It’ll go down to the wire.”
Cameron’s men raced out of the blocks last weekend but in such an even competition he stresses the need for patience.
“I think what our side has learned to do over the last two years is play at a really good temperament and don’t panic if things aren’t happening early,” he said. “We’ve gone the distance in terms of having a lot of close games in the last two years whereas probably three or four years ago we’d be panicking if the game wasn’t over halfway through the third.”
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