Sydney has reached out to former Giants coach Leon Cameron to gauge his interest in overseeing the Swans’ Academy program.
Cameron’s tenure as Greater Western Sydney’s coach ended in May during his ninth season in charge, finishing with 94 wins from 180 games, including leading the Giants to their inaugural grand final in 2019.
The 50-year-old remains highly regarded and is also linked to Essendon’s vacant coaching position, along with Ross Lyon, James Hird and Mark Williams, but the Bombers have not made formal contact with any candidates.
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Essendon’s head of football, Josh Mahoney, and new president David Barham both said experience would be a priority in the club’s next coach.
The SANFL has also appointed Cameron as an industry expert to help conduct a review into the state’s talent pathways, working alongside consultancy group SBP Advisory.
It’s believed Cameron will meet with Sydney officials in the next fortnight to discuss the opportunity.
He indicated at his departure media conference that he would like to remain in Sydney, in part because he and his wife Carolyn’s three children – Amelia, Harry and Jack – are still at school.
“We absolutely love Sydney. We came up just under 10 years ago and we’re embedded in Sydney,” Cameron said.
“We think it’s a fantastic place and it’s a growing market for AFL footy.
“We knew the challenges we had, but we’ve broken down a lot of barriers here, and myself and my wife ‘Caz’ and the three kids, we really love Sydney.”
It is expected that Cameron will resurface at an AFL club in the short-to-medium term, regardless of whether he accepts the Swans’ Academy role.
Sydney’s long-serving Academy chief, Chris Smith, finished in the role mid-year, only six months after the program’s head coach, Jared Crouch, also departed.
Smith nurtured top-end talents Isaac Heeney, Callum Mills, Nick Blakey, Braeden Campbell and Errol Gulden before they graduated to Sydney’s senior list, along with others such as James Bell and Sam Wicks.
The Swans are preparing to move into new state-of-the-art facilities at the Royal Hall of Industries and tipped to revamp their Academy program.
