Choco’s exit a Giant gift to Cameron
Roar Rookie By Nick Brown, 11 Oct 2012 Nick Brown is a Roar Rookie
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Kevin Sheedy will hand Leon Cameron the reins to the GWS Giants in 2014, but he has already been handed a ticket to become a premiership coach by Mark Williams.
The moment Choco Williams announced his resignation as assistant coach of the Giants, he was also resigning from the chance to become the first GWS premiership coach.
Williams had to wait just one more season and he would be leading a team that would make many coaches envious.
Yet after the Giants extended Sheedy’s coaching contract, it seemed it didn’t sit well with Williams who almost simultaneously revealed he would be departing the AFL’s newest club.
He put it down to family reasons, and the Giants respected that, but it’s hard to believe it was the sole reason for his exit.
Cameron has well and truly earned his right to become a senior coach after spending the good part of a decade as an assistant at both the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn.
For the last few seasons he has been ‘in the running’ for every senior position that was on offer, and most recently the Port Adelaide job which he seemed a shoo in for.
So when he pulled out of the race to lead the Power, it was a clear there was a better offer sitting in front of him, and it’s kudos to Cameron on his decision, a very educated one.
Come 2015 Cameron will be heading into his second season as coach of the Giants, and leading a team that will most likely be a real premiership contender if the club can retain a majority of its current list.
In three years, most players will be 22, the age of current AFL stars Trent Cotchin and Dayne Beams who took out Richmond and Collingwood’s best and fairest respectively this year.
They will also have at least three years of AFL football under their belts, while the list will be capped off with slightly older players such as Callan Ward, Israel Folau and Rhys Palmer.
And at that stage all the Giants will need is a couple of mature aged players from rival clubs which should be an easier process to recruit than it is now, as the thought of pulling on the orange and grey will be more enticing.
The Giants will have a star studded midfield consisting of Ward, Tom Scully, and ball magnet Toby Greene being fed the football regularly by Jonathan Giles dominating in the ruck.
At one end of the ground an unstoppable forward combination similar to that of Hawthorn’s Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead in the way of Jeremy Cameron and Jonathon Paton.
While at the opposite end a strong backline led by Phil Davis who will be the general of its defense, with Tomas Bugg providing plenty of run of the half backline.
This, mind you, is if things go to plan for the Giants, but if they do, around the 2015 season, Choco may be regretting his decision to leave, while Cameron will most likely be loving his role and his team.
There is a saying that sums this situation up well, and perhaps Cameron was a believer of it and Williams wasn’t, and that is ‘good things come to those who wait’.
October 11th 2012 @ 8:41am
Christo the Daddyo said | October 11th 2012 @ 8:41am | Report comment
Yeah, maybe…
The other side of that argument is that Williams is the best placed person to really know the quality of the Giants team and the likelihood of them being premiership contenders in the foreseeable future.
And he left.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:50am
Strummer Jones said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:50am | Report comment
“Come 2015 Cameron will be heading into his second season as coach of the Giants, and leading a team that will most likely be a real premiership contender if the club can retain a majority of its current list.” Big call here. Personally I think top 8 would be their best chance, if that.
In any case, did anyone else notice Choco’s “I don’t want to be here” body language during the year? The media didnt seem to even have a sniff that there were problems between him and GWS.
October 11th 2012 @ 9:52am
TC said | October 11th 2012 @ 9:52am | Report comment
The Giants will have a dozen Cotchins/Beams turning 22 around the same time in next 2 to 3 years. Keeping them all will be their biggest headache.
It’s impossible to predict success at any time, let alone beyond 12 months, but history does show that clubs get huge dividends by bringing through a talented group of youngsters together over a 5 to 10 year period.
And this group is the biggest bunch of talented youngsters we have seen in the history of the game (closely followed by the Suns).
TC
October 11th 2012 @ 11:37am
Frankencow said | October 11th 2012 @ 11:37am | Report comment
Another great article by Nick Brown. I’d be very surprised though if Giles it here in 2013, let alone 2015. Free agency may be one more factor contributing to the perfect storm for the Giants. It should make it easier than ever to bring in ‘top-up’ mature players, especially if they’re thereabouts in the premiership race. We might see a few more Brian Lakes eyeing off the opportunity for a flag. What is striking though is how much better the Giants seem to have gone about it than the Suns!
October 11th 2012 @ 12:04pm
Ian Whitchurch said | October 11th 2012 @ 12:04pm | Report comment
I think the Suns have done a pretty good job – remember, they beat Port, Brisbane and Richmond in their first year, and Richmond and Carlton in their second.
Comparing the two expansion sides, the Suns are building a fast, high-skill, ball-movement side that can score quickly, while GWS are building an inside-midfielder based side with gorilla forwards – compare Harley Bennell to Toby Greene if you want to see the differences writ large.
Which has done better ? I think the jury is out.
October 11th 2012 @ 12:31pm
TomC said | October 11th 2012 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
Pretty much. I thought the Giants had a scarily good bunch of kids this season, and that’s only going to be accentuated with yet another round of high draft picks.
The other thing to consider is that most of their kids from this season probably won’t really start to emerge until 2013 or 2014.
Very few teams have ever had such an impressive collection of 18/19 year olds as Coniglio, Cameron, Greene, Tyson, Adams, Bugg, Devon Smith, Treloar, Shiel and Hoskin-Elliot. Next year might be the season that Haynes, Tomlinson, Patton and Buntine push their way into that group.
Plus, Davis, Scully and Ward each have at least another seven or eight seasons.
It almost feels like there’s no limit to how good this team could be, if they’re managed correctly.
October 11th 2012 @ 3:58pm
Christo the Daddyo said | October 11th 2012 @ 3:58pm | Report comment
Except that the successful teams have a mixture of ages and experience levels. Look at the Swans roster this year – a few old stagers in Goodes, Bolton and O’Keefe, the bulk in their prime (e.g. Kennedy, Richards and Shaw, and a few young, talented players such as Jetta and Jack.
Balance is critical – the Giants don’t have that yet.
October 11th 2012 @ 11:05pm
TomC said | October 11th 2012 @ 11:05pm | Report comment
True. The Suns and Giants are trying to build premiership teams differently to how every premier has been built before. There are too many variables to crown them champions just yet.
All the same, I think the sheer amount of talent in that list will blow away a lot of the conventional wisdom about how successful teams come together.
October 11th 2012 @ 4:40pm
Nick Brown said | October 11th 2012 @ 4:40pm | Report comment
CHRISTO THE DADDYO – Perhaps so, but that unlikely when you look over the Giants’ impressive and promising list. Plus if Wayne Carey said ‘Jeremy Cameron will be the best player in the AFL at some stage in his career’ and Richo and other have suggested he’ll be the next Wayne Carey and for Sheeds to say Toby Greene is probably the best first year player he has seen, especially his ability to win so much of the footy. It seems odd that Choco would believe the list isn’t up to it.
STRUMMER JONES – Big call yes, but a fair call. “lucky to make top eight if that’ is a bigger call I’d say.
TC – I agree it is a long way off, but I believe 2015-2018 will be the club’s first premiership window. No point making predications about finals or premierships for them in the next 12 months.
FRANKENCOW – Cheers mate. Free agents may play a big part in the Giants’ chance for a crack at a flag I agree. While homesickness and salary cap may be their worst enemies.
IAN – I feel from coaching staff to the overall playing list the Giants are ahead of the Suns, however in regards to location (Gold Coast!) and of course Gazza, the Suns are ahead in those two areas. It’s six of one and half a dozen the other really, but I personally believe the Giants are ahead.
TOM C – GWS need the lesser players to step up absolutely. It’s often the lesser players stepping up that help sides go that extra mile to taste premiership success. And I couldn’t agree more that this side has uncapped potential in how good it could be.
CHRISTO THE DADDYO – Your last point is why I looked at 2015 and mentioned the need of mature age players around that time to make sure the club had the right mix of players.
Of course the Giants won’t have it yet, they have just finished their first season in the AFL!
October 11th 2012 @ 10:27pm
Mike said | October 11th 2012 @ 10:27pm | Report comment
A very optimistic analysis. This mob got flogged in every game bar two. Choco left for a similar position, no doubt worth much less money than he was on at the Giants given their concessions etc….he must know something. They will need a lot of stars aligning to even be competitive in the next decade let alone compete for a flag.
October 12th 2012 @ 1:33pm
Nostradamus said | October 12th 2012 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
Maybe his young family didnt settle or had an issue with the lack of guarantee of succession or he didnt get on with Sheeds, – any number of reasons is possible incl yours…
October 11th 2012 @ 11:18pm
Floyd Calhoun said | October 11th 2012 @ 11:18pm | Report comment
Nick, do you honestly believe that all high draft pick mid-fielders are therefore, going to be of the same quality as Cotchin? TC goes further and reckons that GWS will have a dozen of them in 3-4 years! All successful, and all as good, if not better, than Cotchin or Beams. By what reckoning?
October 12th 2012 @ 10:42am
Nick Brown said | October 12th 2012 @ 10:42am | Report comment
MIKE – When it is a first year side, basically an under-19 team, playing in the AFL the scoreboard isn’t used to gauge how the side is developing and the potential of it. I find it hard to believe that he (Choco) ‘must know something’ if not for family reasons or because he was unhappy that he wasn’t made senior coach, I’d lean more towards the chance there was a falling out between Choco and the Giants, that would make more sense than Choco not rating the side?
Floyd Calhoun – Floyd, not once did I say all high draft pick mid-fielders are going to be of the same quality as Cotchin. But I am definitely not ruling out the chance that the Giants will produce at least one if not more players of his quality, perhaps someone like Toby Greene may go on to become one of the best players of the competition. Who is to say he won’t? Feel free to write a piece about the other side of the argument.
October 12th 2012 @ 7:56pm
Floyd Calhoun said | October 12th 2012 @ 7:56pm | Report comment
Fair enough Nick. I don’t have an issue about talking up GWS’s long term future, but to suggest that Cameron will be the envy of all other coaches is laying it on a bit thick. I wish them all the best, but the draft is perennial, and GWS, like every other club, will have to take their chances. Sometimes the ‘gold’ at the high end of the draft turns out to be semi precious metal, or even worse, just useful gravel. Obviously, sometimes, it is 18 karat. We shall have to wait and see.
October 12th 2012 @ 10:53am
Pollock said | October 12th 2012 @ 10:53am | Report comment
Cannot see GWS being. Finals contender for a number of years yet. Ok to have good players harder to build a winning culture look at Geelong sides of the late 90 s gifted players but no wins from lots of finals.
Surely getting beaten by 10 goals on a regular basis takes its toll.