Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney has revealed just how close he came to sealing a sensational move to GWS at the end of 2014.
Before Cooney eventually joined Essendon after leaving the Western Bulldogs, he was courted by the Giants to the point where he was about to head interstate to tour the club’s facilities.
But after teammate Ryan Griffen became available in the same trade period, the offer was suddenly withdrawn.
“I had a conversation with Leon Cameron (about a move to GWS),” he said on AFL Trade Radio’s Trade Afternoons.
“He was my midfield coach for many years at the Dogs so I had a pretty good relationship with him and he called again when he heard that I was looking for a new club.
“He was very complimentary of myself and told me he was very keen for me to come on board. I was feeling very excited at the prospect of going to a premiership contender.
“We were in the process of booking flights for the whole family to go up to Sydney to see the facilities and all of a sudden, Leon didn’t return any of my calls and didn’t respond to my text message.
“He suddenly found out that Ryan Griffen was on the way out and completely turfed me to the side and didn’t return any of my text messages.
“I texted him to say ‘any chance you could get back to me’ and he eventually did and said he was really sorry and the offer for Ryan Griffen was too good to refuse.
“I was put on the backburner pretty quickly.”
Cooney played 31 games at Essendon in his last two seasons at AFL level, after 11 years at the Dogs.