NEW draftees will tell you that making an AFL list is a dream come true.
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It takes a lot of hard work and entails a lot of scrutiny on and off the field.
But to keep a spot on an AFL list and really develop a career in the game is even tougher.
Giants’ power forward Jeremy Cameron will now get a chance to really live that dream.
Cameron’s five-year contract extension with Greater Western Sydney, worth at least $1 million a year, comes in a week when his former club North Ballarat Rebels announced its 48-player TAC Cup squad for 2015.
A further 40 promising players from Ballarat, the Wimmera, Warrnambool, South-West and Corangamite will join the Rebels’ under-16 development ranks.
The Rebels program is strong and has remained so when finding a spot on AFL lists has become an increasingly tighter squeeze, most recently under free agency.
Three Rebels – Oscar McDonald (Melbourne), Dan Butler (Richmond) and Jesse Palmer (Port Adelaide) – were drafted last year.
The Rebels program is about more than getting drafted.
Focus is on development – football and personal – with the aim of players taking back leadership and game skills to grass-roots clubs and, in turn, continuing to strengthen the game throughout the region.
A portion of players will push their games to the next level via state league ranks.
Cameron is a great example of what is possible. He was plucked from Dartmoor in Victoria’s far south-west, deep in Rebels’ territory, and recruited as a 17-year-old access selection to GWS’ inaugural team for 2011 – a year before the Giants joined the AFL.
Now, like former Giants teammate-turned-Western Bulldog Tom Boyd, Cameron is one of the highest-paid forwards in the AFL.
And he is only 21 years old.
Potentially, Cameron could have a few more years in his game when the contract expires should his body hold up.
Rebels talent manager Phil Partington said the new deal was a sign of Cameron’s character.
“He’s continuing with the club that’s given him opportunities and gives back to the faith they’ve shown him. No doubt there were other higher offers from Victorian clubs,” Partington said.
Cameron became the Giants’ first All-Australian selection, aged 20, with a 62-goal season in 2013. He has booted a combined 120 goals from 51 games.
Partington said young, high-quality power forwards were unique fi nds and clubs were prepared to pay for them.
While Cameron has potential for long-term financial security, a young Cat has taken up a secondary job to set himself up personally. Serving ice-cream.
Metropolitan media revealed this week Cameron Guthrie has a weekly shift at a Geelong ice-cream shop.
He avoided the usual club aided channels for work – including former Cats captain Cameron Ling’s extensive
restaurant and bar portfolio – and submitted a resume.
Guthrie wanted a serve of perspective and balance away from the club.
He said he worked hard in school, hard in footy and never had the time for a part-time job as a teenager.
Realising the AFL dream has great rewards, but it is important to determine what really matters.
For Jeremy Cameron, this is about endorsing the club that gave him a chance at the dream.
Meanwhile, new Rebels enter camp this weekend and start the next phase of their football journey, three weeks out from the club’s TAC Cup under-18 season opener.
They each have a chance to forge their own successful football identity, wherever the game might taken them.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au