The man at the helm of the AFL’s newest clubs at their inception could hardly be a more recognisable character in the sporting landscape of Australia.
When the GIANTS joined the AFL as the League’s newest club ahead of the 2012 season, inaugural coach Kevin Sheedy was one of the figures most synonymous with the fledgling side.
After 251 games with Richmond as a player and a 27-year coaching career at Essendon, Sheedy was the face of the club and worked tirelessly to put the GIANTS on the map.
Now, the man he handed the whiteboard to, is set to notch up his 50th game in charge of the GIANTS, and is forging his own reputation.
When Leon Cameron arrived in Western Sydney at the end of 2012, he knew it wouldn’t be long before he would be leading the youngest club up the AFL ladder.
First, he was to serve a year under the tutelage of one of the most decorated coaches in AFL history as Sheedy’s Senior Assistant Coach. But it wasn’t because he wasn’t ready for the top job.
With a long and successful playing career and more than a decade as an Assistant Coach behind him, Cameron was more than ready.
He was recruited from South Warrnambool Football Club with the seventh selection in the 1988 National Draft for the Western Bulldogs.
Beautifully skilled, creative and all class, Cameron was a natural right-footer, but so proficient on his left foot it was hard to tell which was his preferred side.
He played 172 games and kicked 68 goals for the Bulldogs between 1990 and 1999 and won the Charles Sutton Medal in 1993 and The Age Footballer of the Year award in 1995.
In 2000, Cameron was traded to Richmond where he played a further 84 games and kicked 40 goals over four seasons.
After retirement Cameron returned to the Western Bulldogs as an assistant coach from 2004 to the end of 2010 before accepting an assistant coaching role with Hawthorn.
In 2011, when there was speculation Cameron would be appointed to the vacant Western Bulldogs senior coaching position, The Sunday Age spoke to friend and former Tigers captain Wayne Campbell about him.
“I was in the coaches' box with him at the Bulldogs for a year and he's brilliant. Brilliant,” Campbell told the Age.
“He worked really well with Rodney (Eade), and just had a handle on the whole thing. Rob Murphy would probably tell you about the day he sat up there and was just blown away by the way he could read the game.
“When he became the main assistant, in ’08, he dropped everything and said, ‘Right, footy's going to be my go.’ He was serious about it beforehand but he became ultra-serious then.
“It's really hard to tell whether an assistant coach can be a senior coach, but he's as ready as any assistant coach I've ever seen.”
More than five years later, Campbell has reunited with Cameron after being recently appointed the GIANTS’ General Manager of Football Operations.
Leon with son Harry and daughter Amelia in the rooms after the win over Port Adelaide.
Cameron would miss out on the Bulldogs job that went to Brendan McCartney but it was only 12 months later he was seen to be in the box seat to succeed Matthew Primus at Port Adelaide.
Instead, Cameron accepted the role at the GIANTS to work as Senior Assistant Coach for a season under Sheedy before taking over the reins ahead of the 2014 season.
Two and a half seasons on, Cameron will coach his 50th game against Hawthorn at Spotless Stadium on Saturday.
In his time as head of the club, he has forged a reputation as a family man whose priority is his players.
AFL.com.au’s Nathan Schmook spent a week inside the GIANTS during this pre-season and described the man he met.
“The intense, driven side of Leon Cameron comes out when you might expect it - planning for opposition, watching his players in the fourth quarter of an intraclub match, or speaking about his hopes for Greater Western Sydney,” Schmook wrote.
“An otherwise laidback, approachable, country lad from Warrnambool, that intensity can also emerge from nowhere.
“Cameron's colleagues describe him as complex, diverse and intense. He has a great eye for detail, they say, which is apparent on the training track or when someone's desk is left in a mess.
“It is also evident when he is talking to a player about their study, their home life or their family.”
That is backed up by GIANTS co-captain Callan Ward.
He described Cameron as a coach who “is serious when he needs to be serious, but at the same time likes to have a laugh”.
“As a head coach he's probably the most approachable I've played under,” Ward said.
“He always asks about your life, your girlfriend, your family, your study – anything you're actually doing away from footy he's interested in.
“He has a great connection with all the players and he goes out of his way every day to go and speak to the players.”
Cameron may not have the standing in the game Sheedy did when he arrived at the club but, over time, the 43-year-old is building his own reputation.
The players know it, the media find him easy to speak to and honest, and the fans can see it when they see him out on the ground straight after the game, having a kick with his kids.
In February he signed a new contract extension with the club which will see him remain at the helm until at least the end of 2018 by which time his game tally will be significantly higher than 50 as the story of the GIANTS continues to grow.
The GIANTS take on the three-time reigning premiers Hawthorn in their first game at Spotless Stadium for the year on Saturday April 30 at 4.35pm. Click here to buy your tickets now.
