Leon Cameron is adamant the spectre of last year’s AFL grand final won’t be a factor as his club prepares to make a big call on Phil Davis’ fitness.
Davis passed a last-minute test to take part in the 2019 grand final, becoming a scapegoat of sorts after the Giants were crushed by Richmond.
The stakes are nowhere near as high and the injury is notably different, but there are some obvious parallels confronting Cameron and Davis as they prepare for Sunday night’s clash with Hawthorn at Giants Stadium.
Davis limped off in the third quarter of GWS’s gutsy win over Collingwood then played no further part in the contest, but he trained well on Thursday and scans revealed there was no serious damage.
Cameron is unsure whether the former co-captain will join hamstrung star Zac Williams in being an enforced omission this weekend.
A shortened season, nine-day turnaround and how Davis pulls up on Friday will influence the decision, but last September will have no bearing.
“It’s a different case. Phil clearly had a calf issue going into the grand final,” Cameron told reporters.
“We made some bold decisions … would you do it again? Do you think twice? Maybe, but it wasn’t just Phil.
“We probably took in about four players who were a little bit underdone and Richmond were too good.
“If Phil, the doctors and we’re all really comfortable that he’s ready to play on the weekend then we’ll pick him.”
There will be plenty of interest in the umpiring of this weekend’s clash, given the recent focus on how Toby Greene is judged plus Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson’s frustrated plea for more holding-the-ball decisions.
Cameron, one of Clarkson’s many former assistants who went on to become a head coach, both disagreed and agreed with his mentor.
“There’s been some cracking games,” Cameron said.
“Hawthorn-Kangaroos, as much as people commented on it, it was an outstanding finish.
“We all get frustrated … there’s been some poor games.
“He (Clarkson) made a good point, the umpires have got a huge challenge … there was some great direction coming out of the AFL this week.
“If they umpire marginally differently and get some good results then happy days.”
Cameron added the Giants were guilty of giving away too many free kicks, but Greene had worked hard to fix the way he attacks the football and learned from various mistakes.
“I’m really proud of that,” he said.
“He’s not sitting there saying ‘give me a free kick’. He just plays the ball.”