Former GWS coach Leon Cameron has opened up on an infamous pre-match move that he admits backfired badly.
In Round 3 of 2020, the Giants sent Nick Haynes to the coin toss for a clash against the Western Bulldogs in place of Stephen Coniglio. The year prior, Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli fractured Haynes’ larynx in an incident that left the Giants fuming after the skipper wasn’t suspended.
Haynes would go on to miss two weeks with the injury, and the Giants exacted some sort of revenge when targeting Bontempelli in the 2019 Elimination Final and restricting him to 13 disposals in GWS’ 58-point win.
Speaking on the decision to send Haynes instead of Coniglio in 2020, Cameron admitted it was the wrong call.
“I think we went a little bit too far,” Cameron told SEN’s Crunch Time two years later.
“It was actually just decided right at the end, it was Stephen Coniglio’s first year as captain.
“We went out there and said, ‘okay, let’s send Haynes to the coin toss because of last year and all that sort of stuff’.
“So we got that wrong, I think we all put our hands up at the time.
“It can bite you in the bum and I think the Bulldogs came out and smashed us in that game, they won every indicator, and we were pushed to the side, it was the opposite to the year before.
“We got it wrong, and you’ve got to put your hand up.”
The move back in 2020 left Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge confused at the time.
"The Haynes thing … it was peculiar," Beveridge said after the match.
"I wasn't sure if he had a milestone. If he didn't, it was strange."
Meanwhile, Cameron had claimed the decision was based around sharing opportunity, telling reporters in his post-match press conference: “we give a lot of opportunities to our leadership group.”
Cameron and the Giants parted ways earlier this year. The 49-year-old coached 94 wins from his 180 games in charge.