GWS coach Leon Cameron hails Shane Mumford’s revival

GWS coach Leon Cameron admits bringing Shane Mumford back into the fold was a major leap of faith but says the ruckman has been an unsung hero in the early rounds.

SHANE Mumford has turned back time with his AFL comeback to the point GWS may now be thinking contract extension.

Giants coach Leon Cameron admits bringing “Mummy” back from the dead after 18 months of injury-forced retirement was a major leap of faith, and the club is still mindful they will need to delicately manage the imposing ruckman as the season wears on.

However, a hit-and-hope that had the potential to be a one-year cameo – or at worst a bust – is now looking like it could be a second coming for the 32-year-old.

Mumford wound back the clock to dominate his old side Sydney in the ruck in Saturday night’s orange avalanche at the SCG and was hailed by Cameron as the club’s unsung hero in the opening rounds where midfield stars Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly, Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper have led the plaudits.

DYNASTY OVER: LONGMIRE CONCEDES SWANS IN REBUILD

FREE AGENT: CONIGLIO TIPPED TO STAY AT GIANTS

Doctors declared Mumford’s ankle had degenerated so badly at the end of 2017 he could not play again, but Cameron says the ruck Lazarus is in as good a nick as he’s been in for four years.

It’s clear that professional boxing has kept the fire burning inside one of the AFL’s most uncompromising aggressors, and playing on in 2020 now appears realistic, although Cameron’s first priority is managing Mumford’s workload into the finals.

“He’s always going to be banged up most weeks because of the aggressive style he plays. When I ask Shane Mumford, ‘how did you pull up?’ it’s probably no different to 2015, 2016 …. when he played before he went out and had a spell,” said Cameron.

“His knee is always going to be his knee. His ankle is in good shape considering that was a big issue when he did retire. The good thing about him is he just has an appetite to work hard and whether it’s a one-on-one contest or someone gets on top of him for five minutes, he winds them back in and halves the contest.

Shane Mumford dominated Sydney’s Callum Sinclair in the ruck on Saturday night. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“He’s the ultimate professional because he cross trains hard when we can’t train him on ground. When we can train him on ground we’ve got to pull him back.

“So when you’ve got that appetite to work hard, midfielders really respond to that. He’s played four in a row. We’ve got to be mindful that we want him there when the whips are cracking at the end as well. We’ve got to be mindful of how far we push him but right now he’s pulling up OK.”

Rather than resting Mumford at selected moments, GWS may look to ease his load by strategically introducing a second ruckman to their side as the season continues.

Cameron says he is still flirting with the idea of recalling 2.1m Giant Dawson Simpson and playing him as a second ruck in tandem with Mumford.

The coach concedes he truly had no idea how Mumford would respond until he actually took the field.

But the intuition of Cameron, football boss Wayne Campbell, list manager Jason McCartney and stoppage coach Amon Buchanan that their then assistant coach Mumford might have more to give on the field – is proving a stroke of genius.

“As I said over the pre-season it’s a calculated risk. We did a fair bit of due diligence on his body leading up to that for a couple of months to see whether or not we think he can withstand another AFL season,” said Cameron.

“But in the end you can probably only test it out 85-90 per cent. You don’t know the last 10 per cent and that’s actually playing.

“But he’s proven that he can still play at the top level and no doubt he’s got some great connections with our mids.

“I still think we’re still going to get down the track and we could explore the two ruckmen in Dawson Simpson and Shane Mumford at times.”