Jeremy Cameron column: Retro Round and why Chris Scott is a good coach

Ahead of Geelong’s Retro Round, Jeremy Cameron has detailed why he would thrive and why he would struggle playing decades ago. Plus he pays tribute to coach Chris Scott.

Geelong players Tom Stewart, Jeremy Cameron, Esava Ratugolea, Isaac Smith, Tom Atkins and (front row) Brad Close, Jed Bews, Sam Simpson, Tom Stewart, Patrick Dangerfield get into the retro spirit. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos

I love pulling on the collar for our Retro Round jumpers but I’m not sure I would have lasted too long in the game had I played back a few decades ago.

I’m a big fan of the collared jumpers we will be wearing against the Dees at home on Thursday night, as the Cats pay tribute to the 1963 flag winning team.

I didn’t watch much footy growing up as a kid but I do know the game was just so different back when those legends were running around in the 1960s.

Jeremy Cameron takes a breather during training. Picture: Alan Barber

Thinking back on it, I would be keen to give it a go but I would probably get broken in half given the tough way they played back then, you had to be built pretty tough for it.

These days they look after the player a lot, as we have seen lately with the clamp down on dangerous tackles, but back then it was a bit of a free-for-all.

I enjoy chasing and doing my bit defensively on the field these days but it would be one small positive playing in the days where forwards stayed in the forward line – you wouldn’t be spending any tickets chasing and harassing guys all the way out of the forward.

There was a lot of space back then in the forward line, there was no spare man to deal with and these days the defenders get a lot of help from their mates.

Tom Hawkins would have thrived in any era. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

I probably wouldn’t have been a key forward back then unless I put on a bit more size, they were really big strong men back then at full-forward who just focused on winning their one-on-one duels and booting goals.

I reckon I would go OK, I like the contest and I don’t mind copping a hit every now and then, it would be interesting to go back and find out.

Two of my teammates I have no doubt would still be great players if they were dropped into a bygone era are my fowardline mate Tom Hawkins and our hard nut midfielder Tom Atkins.

The big Hawk is a big strong man and if he was always in one-on-one contests, he would be so hard to beat, especially if there were no spare defenders.

I’m still amazed sometimes that the big fella is starting to close in on 800 goals – he would have kicked some huge bags playing back in the day and it speaks to what a player he is that he has been over his career that he has booted so many in the modern era.

And ‘Axe’ sort of lives like he is in the 70s already.

The way he dresses, he is old school and likes to roll with that style, and he loves getting his hands dirty in the midfield.

THE POSITIVE COACH

Outside of Retro Round, we are hoping to get a win for our coach Chris Scott in his 300th game leading the Cats.

One thing people might not know is he is so incredibly positive around the club.

Scotty wants to win and is super competitive, as his record shows, but when you don’t win he is so positive about how we can take our game forward.

Jezza shares a smile with Chris Scott. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

If you walk in on a Monday and you didn’t know the score from the weekend, you shouldn’t know whether we won or lost, we just get on with the work and try to get better and a lot of that has come down from Scotty’s attitude with the group to keep improving.

For me personally, he has given me a licence to run up the field and go through the midfield or at half-back for a few minutes here and there to help the team.

That has helped me develop a lot as a footballer, I believe I have learnt a lot as a football from doing that over the last couple of years.

Scotty is that sort of coach, he allows players to play to their strengths and make use of them on the field, while of course working on things you need to improve.

Originally published as Jeremy Cameron column: Retro Round and why Chris Scott is a good coach