Adelaide’s former head of football and list manager, David Noble, has revealed how the club went after Jeremy Cameron back in 2015.
The Crows came forward with a “massive” offer to lure the gun forward away from GWS just four years into his AFL career.
“We put a massive five-year deal to him and (Cameron’s manager) Alex McDonald said, ‘Thanks, we’re really surprised, but no’,” Noble said on AFL Trade Radio.
Noble confirmed further details to SEN.com.au regarding Adelaide’s proposal to Cameron.
It involved getting him together with former Crows star Patrick Dangerfield due to their shared love for fishing and the outdoors, much like Geelong have successfully been able to do since.
The offer was significant for the forward who grew up in Dartmoor, south-western Victoria, not too far from the South Australian border.
“We knew a bit of background and we’d interviewed him,” Noble said.
“Through the (early draft) selections with GWS, we’d always kept an eye on any SA boys and those nearby.
“We knew he liked his shooting and loved his fishing so for us it was about bringing him in and getting him attached and integrated with Patrick Dangerfield.
“The Cats have since done that - that’s what we were trying to do.”
Noble said it was all ticked off by both Adelaide’s board and the leadership group.
The Crows were looking to build a star-studded attack which eventually would consist of Taylor Walker, Josh Jenkins, Eddie Betts and Tom Lynch.
“I went to the board and we constructed a pretty healthy contract. We’d never been in that space,” he added.
“We went and sat with Alex (McDonald) and had it all planned as to when we were able to pay him a bit more, we bell-curved it all out. Alex was a bit taken aback because we were pretty serious and had put an unbelievable offer on the table.
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“It was a five-year deal, back then that was significant.
“It wasn’t to grab attention, it was serious. We felt that he was going to be a bit of a missing piece for us in the forward end to work with ‘Tex’ (Walker). We were thinking Tex and Jeremy but it didn’t come off.
“After that we got Josh and went with Tex and ‘JJ’, then we went and got Eddie.
“We had a big crack (at Cameron).
“We spoke to the leadership group about wanting to pitch this, and they were all for it - ‘Absolutely, let’s have a crack’.
“We got the sign-off from them and the board and we had a crack.
“It took them a while. They had a serious think about it. It certainly gave them something to think about.”
Cameron denied the overtures from Adelaide to sign a lengthy contract with the Giants where he remained until joining Geelong in late 2020.
Dangerfield would leave the Crows at the end of 2015 to join Geelong where he has since teamed up with Cameron to win the 2022 premiership.