Moneyball: Where will Jeremy Cameron play in 2021?
Geelong says it is a serious player in the race for Jeremy Cameron’s signature, with the Coleman medallist “struggling” to decide whether he wants to stay at GWS beyond 2020.
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Geelong Cats believe they have a genuine chance to land superstar Giants’ forward Jeremy Cameron in a move that would keep open their premiership window.
Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said the club was in the market “big time” for the Coleman Medallist who was torn over a decision to leave GWS to come home to Victoria.
Geelong has been eyeing Cameron for two years and are understood to have made a long-term offer to the goal kicker to join Tom Hawkins in attack from 2021.
Cameron, 27, received a five-year deal from the Giants worth about $750,000 a season but has spent the past few weeks exploring his options at rival clubs after copping a $500,000 COVID-19 cut on his pay this year.
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Cook said the Cats’ culture, lifestyle offerings down the Surf Coast and continued strong performance put it in a strong position to land free agents such as Cameron.
“We’re trying to be a destination club and we’re getting a lot of managers knocking on our door and we have discussions with those managers and players,” Cook told Sportsday WA.
“We’re in the market big time at the moment for Jeremy Cameron. He’s struggling with making a decision. He’s a loyal bloke.
“You know the rules when you’ve been around for a long time — do you finish your career in one place or do you get tempted to go elsewhere.
“I think that’s a good character trait being demonstrated by him.
“We’re trying big time for that one. Outside of that there’s a few others we’re talking to, but we’ll just wait and see.”
Cameron’s signature would be a massive coup for the Cats as they continue to plan for life after their current batch of premiership heroes including Joel Selwood and Harry Taylor.
Geelong has been tight-lipped on its interest in Cameron but Cook’s comments and Cameron’s delay make clear the club has a genuine shot at poaching the All-Australian.
Collingwood could also make a move on Cameron if Jordan De Goey indicates to the Pies he wants to move elsewhere for more money next season.
De Goey wants a blockbuster deal to stay at Collingwood for at least two more years but the Pies believe they have made a strong offer in-line with his performance over the past two years.
ANALYSIS: WHERE DOES CAMERON’S FUTURE LIE?
Jeremy Cameron must wonder whether the Giants’ best shot at a flag has passed.
When the Coleman medallist last signed a bumper deal back in 2015 there were two jackpot components.
Not only were the Giants then considered a bit of a sure-thing to win a flag in that time, he was also set to earn a monster $1.5 million in the final year of his deal.
But there has been no premiership and the 28 per cent COVID-19 pay cut has taken a whopping $500,000 bite out of the deal, after accepting less in previous years to keep some other stars on similar long-term deals.
Now, Cameron is weighing up whether to accept a five-year extension at the Giants on about $750,000 a year, or head to Geelong on roughly similar money to partner Tom Hawkins in attack.
The Cats have spoken to Cameron and his manager Alex McDonald and remain in the dark about what the gun goal kicker wants to do. McDonald has the best poker face in the business.
If anything, there is a widely held view from all parties that the Giants remain in the box seat. Certainly, GWS thinks he will stay.
Cameron has made absolutely clear he likes the lifestyle where he lives and can go fishing in a beautiful part of Sydney.
But with the Giants on a decline, a reduced GWS deal on offer, and no premiership bond to speak of, is there a hole in Cameron’s heart as he weighs up his future?
Certainly, the 27-year-old free agent played this season like something was up. Like the Giants had missed their chance.
The two-time All-Australian’s output dropped sharply from an average of three goals a game in 2019 to one-and-a-half goals a game in 2020.
Highly-respected former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon believes the club humiliated Stephen Coniglio when it dropped him this year and overall has a much less talented list than when they made preliminary finals in 2016-17.
“I don’t think they are anywhere near as talented across every line as what they were, and that is taking its toll,” Lyon said.
The Giants have two clever men driving their list management bus. Jason McCartney, the footy boss, delivered a Bulldogs premiership from nowhere and fast-rising recruiting manager, Adrian Caruso, hit the nail on the head with Tim Taranto (pick 2), Brent Daniels (27) and Sam Taylor (28) among others.
Cameron’s decision can’t be just about money, and what is absolutely clear is the monster offers which players have rattled off recently have been put on the backburner amid the COVID-19 cuts.
Essendon is also interested, but the Bombers are a mess at the moment.
Geelong looks a certainty to get Shaun Higgins and can fit in Cameron into their disciplined premiership pay model as well, but don’t be surprised if they drop off Adelaide’s Brad Crouch. If Crouch comes to the Cats, he will have to accept something in the vicinity of about $450,000 a year, rather than the $800,000-a-year figure that has been bandied around.
Geelong is yet to officially decide whether they want Crouch, but certainly won’t pay big money for him. The Cats don’t pay overs.
Higgins is clearly a better player, but has maybe only two or three years left of his career. They already agree, they definitely want Higgins.
Geelong has been on to Cameron for the past two years, and would plan to pair him with Tom Hawkins out of the goalsquare for the next two seasons.
It means the Cats could have the best two key forwards in the competition for 2021, something that, in conjunction with Higgins, would most certainly jam open their premiership window.
With Higgins, 32, adding big dollop of class and craft in the forward half as well, it would be one of the most potent forward setups in the competition.
And while the Giants figure out their preferred game style, and how they jump back up into the eight with a new ruckman, history would show Cameron can count on the Cats to be in the mix again next year.
Certainly, he would deliver a big shot in the arm, at a club that offers more of the laid-back country lifestyle that he likes.
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