My five-year plan for a Giants leap

GWS assistant coach Leon Cameron succeeds Kevin Sheedy as senior coach in 2014. Picture: Michael Klein. Source: Herald Sun

LEON Cameron may be a year away from succeeding Kevin Sheedy as head coach, but he has already outlined his plan to propel the Greater Western Sydney Giants into the AFL's top four within five years.

The Giants finished their inaugural season in top-flight footy in last place with just two wins.

But with a collection of the country's best young talent at their disposal after successive drafts weighted heavily in their favour, Cameron is bullish about his club's future.

"We've got an outstanding list of what could be 17 or 18 A-graders in two years," Cameron told The Daily Telegraph.

"I'm confident in four or five years' time we will be competing at the pointy end, which in my mind is the top four.

"There's pressure at any club in the AFL whether you are 18th, fifth or first. There is expectation everywhere. They're an exciting group."

Cameron will inherit one of the plum jobs in the AFL at the end of next season when he replaces Sheedy at the helm of the Giants.

It is a measure of how highly Cameron is is rated that he was awarded the post ahead of Mark Williams, who led Port Adelaide to a premiership and boasted an impressive 55 per cent win-loss ratio over his 12 seasons at the Power.

Cameron turned down the Port job to be part of the Giants' succession plan and to nurture some of the best young talent in the land.

The 40-year-old has an impressive football resume, but Giants chairman Tony Shepherd told The Daily Telegraph it was his character that won him the job at the Giants.

"When Leon made his presentation to us he didn't start talking about football - he told us what sort of a person he was and what he valued," Shepherd said.

"He spoke about teamwork and how everyone at the club was all in it together."

We've got a lot of talent but they're also a bunch of competitors

After 256 games as a player for the Western Bulldogs and Richmond, Cameron spent seven years working with Rodney Eade at the Western Bulldogs and the last two under Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn.

Cameron will serve as an assistant for another season under Kevin Sheedy before ascending to the top job.

That's when the pressure will come, given the expectation that after two full seasons and a couple of favourable drafts the Giants should be ready to climb off the bottom of the ladder.

"I don't shy away from the fact we've got an exciting group," Cameron said. "We've got a lot of talent but they're also a bunch of competitors.

"You wrap talent, excitement and competitiveness all in one then it allows the team to do well.

"The challenge is to mix that all into a strong culture - like the Sydney Swans."

The Swans are officially the competition benchmark after a stunning 2012 campaign, and Cameron is unapologetic about his intention to replicate Sydney's strong footy culture at his fledgling club.

"The talent they have is fantastic but the culture they have created is absolutely outstanding," Cameron said. "Everyone knows what their role is at that footy club.

"If we can take a bit of what Sydney have done then we're heading in the right direction."

A year under Sheedy will complete an impressive coaching apprenticeship for Cameron.

"He's been in the game for 40 years as a coach and player," Cameron said of Sheedy. "The next 12 months are a great opportunity to run my ideas past Kevin. That's the attractiveness of coming to the Giants.

"I'm influenced by everyone I've been coached by.

"Terry Wheeler was my first coach at the Western Bulldogs.

"He was very honest and had great empathy for his players.

"As a 17 year-old, that had a big influence.

"Terry Wallace had a lot of new ideas. He was the one who started warm ups on the ground before we played. He was also a great teacher.

"Allan Joyce showed me the Hawthorn way and Danny Frawley had genuine passion and cared for his group of players."

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