Will Leon Cameron be coaching GWS in 2023?
With Cameron’s contract up at season’s end and discussions over a new deal parked until the end of the year, 2022 shapes as a mark-or-break campaign for the 49-year-old.
It’s Cameron’s 10th season at the helm of the Giants and while he’s achieved finals wins in five of the last six years – including guiding the club to a maiden Grand Final appearance in 2019 – premiership glory has ultimately eluded him.
Port Adelaide champion Kane Cornes empathises with out-of-contract Cameron.
“It’s a horrible position for him to be in,” Cornes told SEN’s Whateley.
“He has spoken pointing to the fact it’s a mutual decision (to park contract talks), I don’t necessarily believe that, I think if there was a two-year contract on offer in front of him, he would sign it, but what else is he going to say?
“I don’t think there’s an easy way to do it, if you believe he’s not your guy, then what other options do you have?
“You could extend him for two more years and because the Giants are a recipient AFL club, worst case at the end of the year, you move on, and you pay him out in six months.
“That’s going to cost you say $300,000, not ideal clearly with the amount of money GWS have wasted, but it’ll give you some stability and it will keep the wolves away from the door for at least this season.
“I have empathy for him, but I’m not going to be overly critical of the Giants for doing it because if he’s not your guy, you’re not going to extend him.
“I just don’t know what the right way is.”
What is a pass mark for Cameron to earn a new deal?
SEN host Gerard Whateley believes the Giants have given themselves an “exit strategy” from Cameron.
“There’s a risk that it leaves him as a lame duck coach,” Whateley told SEN’s Whateley.
“He’s going to run the full exam and his results are going to determine whether he continues on, except I don’t think the Giants are set up this year to meet those markers.
“I think they’re in rediscover mode, they’re trying to change the way they play, they’re not fully stocked for a top four tilt.
“If he’s not your guy, then this is a wasted year.
“If you run it through as if they’re 6-10, will they handshake and move him for the last six weeks? Then we’ll sit there and go, ‘What was the plan coming in?’
“A coach in the final year of a contract is an incredibly awkward place to be and especially if you’ve decided to put it on trial in a year where I don’t think the Giants are expecting to make the top four. I just don’t think that’s their internal projection.
“Where’s the marker?”
Cornes believes a Grand Final target puts Cameron in a “horrific spot”.
“He’s similar to (Ken) Hinkley - I think it’s a Grand Final appearance or they probably move on,” he said.
“That’s almost an impossible situation for any coach to be in, particularly what he did last year. I thought behind Simon Goodwin he was in the conversation as coach of the year, and we’re really hard on him for whatever reason.
“I’m not sure what the marker is, but it’s probably a Grand Final, which is a horrific spot to be in.”
The Giants go in search of back-to-back wins against Fremantle at Perth’s Optus Stadium.