GWS Giants CEO David Matthews and Sportsday’s Sam McClure have gone head-to-head over the media’s treatment of Leon Cameron.
Cameron, flanked by Matthews at a Thursday press conference, announced he was standing down as senior coach of the Giants and would lead the club into his final game this weekend.
The decision comes with the Giants holding a 2-6 record heading into Round 9 and Cameron admitting he had lost some of the drive required to coach.
The embattled mentor has often faced criticism for not extracting the best out of a talented GWS list, despite reaching a Grand Final, and on Sportsday, Matthews wasn’t copping criticism of his outgoing coach.
Read the transcript below of a part of the exchange between Matthews and McClure
Matthews: “He’s been a very successful coach at this club and he’s been at the club for a long time, I’ve got a lot of admiration for what he’s been able to achieve.
“He’s always needed to be in a position where he had the energy and the drive to want to continue to push on and we did too.
“I know it’s not exciting for you guys, but it’s an amicable decision.”
McClure: “It’s not that it’s not exciting Dave, but I think it’s unfair to say it’s not dramatic when it’s happened before the halfway point of the season.”
Matthews: “(Leon Cameron) is a very, very decent person. His values are values that are embedded in our club and when we interviewed him that was the thing that shone through over nine or ten years, I think the resilience and culture of our club is a reflection of Leon Cameron.
“I think he deserves more respect than you sometimes give him or give the club.”
McClure: “Dave, I think you’ve completely misheard my introduction. I’ve just spent the best part of 90 seconds saying how successful GWS has been and how they don’t get the credit they deserve.
“I said the difference between you and Richmond at the moment in the last six years is only premierships, other than that you’ve both been extremely similar in the way you’ve performed in finals.
“So I’m not sure if you misheard or misrepresented what I said.”
Matthews: “I’m just taking a line through your recent narrative in recent weeks and months, you’ve said yourself that we’ve been an easy target and it’s an easy target for people like yourself.
“I think this is a club that is a genuine football club in the competition. That’s what we are and it’s more than one person and one person today is the focus of the attention, and he’s a very good person, he’s done a very good job, and there are others who have as well.
“I just feel at times that you have 50 cents each way.”
McClure: “Right, well if you want to have that conversation more in-depth off-air Dave I’m happy to…”
Matthews: “No, I don’t need to, mate. I don’t need to have a conversation with you off-air, I’m just answering the question. I listened to your introduction and I’m saying that today I think was a very good moment for our club and the game in fact.
“The Giants have been charged with a difficult task, to actually build a fanbase in a territory that is not AFL in terms of history.
“I think we’ve made some good decisions, (starting with) Kevin Sheedy who handed over to Leon, Leon today reached a conclusion and there’s nothing too dramatic about what’s behind it.
“He’s been here for a long time, he’s done a great job, it’s an amicable discussion that was held and we’re looking forward now.”
Later in the interview, Matthews proceeded to double down in his criticism of the media in Cameron’s exit, insinuating some had it in for the outgoing coach.
“I’ve been a great defender of his and the club and you can hear this in what I’m talking about tonight because I think what happens is this is an industry that death-rides coaches,” he said.
“That’s what they do the industry, and I don’t like it, I think it’s unsavoury, I don’t actually like what I’ve had to say to people about Leon and defending Leon over a period of time.
“He’s probably fatigued with that sort of commentary… he’s done an outstanding job, he's a terrific person in football.”
Current assistant coach Mark McVeigh is set to take over as caretaker of the Giants as the club undergoes a process to find its next senior coach.