Greater Western Sydney has announced Leon Cameron will be Kevin Sheedy's successor as Giants head coach.
Cameron has signed a four-year deal, which will involve him working as Sheedy's senior assistant next season before taking on the head coaching role in 2014.
The 40-year will move to the Giants from Hawthorn, where he has served as an assistant to Alastair Clarkson for the past two years.
Mark Williams had been seen as the Giants' head coach of the future but the club's decision to extend the contract of Sheedy to the end of the 2013 season forced his hand.
Williams announced last month he will join Richmond next year as a development coach.
Cameron says the opportunity to work under Sheedy, who won four flags as coach of Essendon, was an offer too good to refuse.
"Where do you go to get an opportunity to work with a four-time premiership coach in your first year and the experience you can gather from that, the advice you get along the journey," he said.
Cameron had been the favourite to take the vacant Port Adelaide head coaching role.
But he acknowledged that working with the young player roster at the Giants was too enticing.
"You don't have to be Einstein with the exciting list the club is building and the work that has already be done by Kevin," Cameron said.
Cameron says his stint at the Hawks will be a bonus for the Giants, who finished their inaugural season in bottom place on the ladder.
"The last two years in the Hawthorn system under Alastair Clarkson has just been so advantageous for me and seeing how an elite club works at the top end," he said.
Sheedy admits Cameron's time at the Hawks helped push him over the line in getting the assistant coaching role.
"I think the experience he has gained (at Hawthorn) with be advantageous to our players and it is all about our player development," he said.
"How quickly can we make this team and this club a great team in the AFL."
Clarkson says Cameron leaves the Hawks with the full blessing of the club.
"Having served nine years as an assistant coach, Leon's breadth of experience and great understanding of the modern game have him well-placed for the transition into senior coaching," he said in a statement.
"His coaching credentials are impressive, and I have no doubt he will make a first-rate senior coach when he succeeds Kevin Sheedy at the end of 2013," he said.
Cameron was also an assistant coach at Western Bulldogs, with whom he also played 172 matches, winning the club's best-and-fairest award in 1993.
He also had a playing stint at the Tigers, making 84 senior appearances.
Tags: australian-football-league, sport, blacktown-2148 First posted October 04, 2012 10:59:09