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’.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Timmuh, The problem is deeper than that - fringe AFL players, in the bottom 20 of an AFL list get paid about the same as Sheffield Shield contracted players. A case in point is Stephen Coniglio, who was a rising star in WA cricket. He chose Australian Rules instead, and the money would have been part of that. I personally believe the next Shane Warne was found, and he's playing Australian Rules. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/nick-smith-keeps-sydney-in-spin/story-e6frexx0-1225905060493
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Hoskin-Elliott, Tyson, Hampton and Giles are also unsigned.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Bob, If thats true, then we've got a dozen players with a huge amount of trade value - and as uncontracted players with 5 years service, they dont have free agent rights. Therefore, GWS would sign the ones it can - especially if they can get a Geelong-style 'Band of Brothers' thing, where they all go 'Lets all re-sign for 700k each and win a premiership' - and trade the rest for much cheaper first round picks. So, yes, this has been thought out.
Bob
Guest
In 3 years GWS are going to have the biggest salary cap nightmare of all time. You wil have a dozen players all expecting to be paid $1mll plus. Are you sure they have thought that one out.
GoGWS
Roar Guru
Most of the fantastic kiddies from Vic, SA and WA have just re-signed for another three seasons. I think Patten is the only unsigned player. Most of cream of the current squad are locked in until they're 21/22 yrs old - by that time they should be on the rise and a good chance to extend contracts because players will stick around in a team on the rise. I also think living life away from the fishbowl is probably a good thing for the players - it's a non-issue. Cogniglio for instance would be constantly recognised in Perth if he played for Eagles or Dockets but right now he wouldn't turn a head in Sydney..
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Glacier, Would they be the kids who just re-signed to 2015 ? And as for "who wil watch", I'd refer you to the lowest crowds recorded here http://stats.rleague.com/afl/crowds/1993.html Your anti-GWS trolling would be way more effective if you bothered to learn a little about the team.
Mike
Guest
Maybe Glacier, but they haven't really got anthing to do with Blacktown any more. The only thing thats left out there are hordes of developement officers and a few admin staff. They're probably getting some recognition around Breakfast Point and Homebush though.
glacier
Guest
But who wil watch GWS next year with only average crowds of 8,000 this year? Won't those fantastic kiddies from Victoria want to go home in two years when no one in Blacktown recognises them? It's a serious question.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
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.
Mike
Guest
They tried working together at Blacktown and that didn't work. I would say cricket would be worried about the deep pockets of AFL more than any immediate threat. AFL seems to have strangled cricket in Victoria and they probably don't want to see it happen in western Sydney.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
To me, it reads more like the authorities in NSW are using the AFL as an excuse to push for more funding. Any real impact by other sports in the region probably comes from Association Football rather than Australian Football. With the A-League in summer and the new Wanderers the impact in a rugby league and "soccer" region would be grester than anything the Giants are ikely to do in the next couple of decades, but blaming the AFL for the world's ills is a Sydney media past-time at present and maybe something they figure Vic, SA, WA and Tas based board members will more readily understand.
Breezy
Guest
This is weird. If anything, I would have thought that cricket should try and work with the AFL. The AFL could use their ovals, and help pay for upgrades to all of their facilities. Like you said, they play in different seasons.
Nostradamus
Guest
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...
Nostradamus
Guest
I put this on the cricket site as well but to show how AFL struggles in the Sydney Morning Herald (the Sydneys Fairfax Age equivalent) see below. Chris Bartlett seems to write sports investigative stories and blames the AFL for everything.... This would have to be the weirdest article on cricket in years (see link below). No mention of baseball or basketball eating into crickets domination in the west when AFL and cricket are played in different seasons.?? http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/nsw-seeking-cash-boost-to-fight-afls-western-push-20121011-27fqk.html
Jake Savage
Guest
The suns did have a lot of key injuries this season and still finished higher than the giants who had a record number of rising star nominations. Their backline with Bock, Campbell Brown and Warrnock will be very strong. And we may see a Caddy - like trade development next year for some home sick giants. Too early to call either team a premiership outfit. 2020 maybe.
Pollock
Guest
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.
Nick Brown
Roar Rookie
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.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
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?
TomC
Roar Guru
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.
Mike
Guest
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.