ANNETTE Cameron is the mother of GWS Giants coach Leon, who grew up in south-west Victoria.
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The Warrnambool-based mother-of-four spoke to The Standard's TIM AULD ahead of Saturday's AFL grand final against Richmond.
Annette has four children - Graham, Anthony, Leon and Nicole.
She went to Hawkesdale and Minjah primary schools and what was then known as Hawkesdale Secondary College.
Her career sporting highlight was the Giants' preliminary final win over Collingwood last weekend.
Annette, your sporting highlight may change as your son Leon is the coach of GWS and it plays Richmond in the grand final on Saturday. How are your nerves in the lead up to the big game at the MCG on that last Saturday in September?
My nerves are not too bad but I'm expecting they'll get worse later in the week and by Saturday I'll be a nervous wreck. I'm trying to keep myself busy trying not to think about the game but that's a bit difficult because everyone is talking about the grand final.
Let's talk about Leon for a moment. What are your earliest memories of his footy career?
I can remember he was only eight years old and he wanted to play with Caramut's under 15 side. Leon was that skinny he could have hidden behind the goal post. The coach ended up playing Leon up forward in the under 15 side. He transferred from Caramut after a few years to play with his mate Ben Cross at East Warrnambool's under 14 side before going on to play at South Warrnambool.
Annette, were you worried about Leon at any stage in those early years of him playing footy?
There were times I was worried. Leon was just so light and skinny and he was playing against grown up big men. I thought it was bad enough when he played for South Warrnambool's senior side but then he got drafted to the Western Bulldogs when he was just 17 years old. Leon took it all in his stride. Nothing seemed to faze him on the footy field. He just wanted to play footy at the highest level and he achieved that feat.
Annette, Leon did achieve that playing 172 games with the Western Bulldogs and 84 games with Richmond before embarking on his coaching career. Did you go to many of those games 256 games when he played for those clubs?
Yes, I went to a lot of games in Melbourne during his playing career. I can vividly remember going out to Collingwood's old ground at Victoria Park and to Waverley and to the Western Oval. We had great times watching his playing career evolve.
Is there any one game or achievement that stands out in your mind during Leon's playing career?
To be honest there's a lot of different achievements but there's one that will always stay in my mind because it relates to the late Danny Frawley who as we all know passed away a couple of weeks ago.
Leon was playing footy with Richmond at the time and Danny was the coach. It was coming up to Leon's 250th senior game of footy. Our family wanted to do something together to celebrate that achievement but Danny said the club was having a team dinner at his house to acknowledge Leon's 250th game and our entire family was invited.
There were over 100 people including players and their partners and officials from the club. It was a wonderful night. I've still got fond memories of watching Danny cooking the steaks on the barbecue for all the guests. Danny's wife Anita was a wonderful host while his daughters Chelsea, Danielle and Keeley were the waitresses.
It was an amazing night and something I'll never forget.
Did you go to the nail-biting preliminary final to watch Leon coach when GWS defeated Collingwood last Saturday?
No. I babysat my grand daughter Greta, who is Nicole's daughter, in Melbourne. I don't like preliminary finals. Leon has not had much luck in them, firstly as a player and then as a coach. It's wonderful GWS got the preliminary final monkey off our backs.
Annette, you said you never went to watch the preliminary final at the MCG but did you watch the game?
The television was on in the background. There was only Greta, who is 20 months old, and me in the house. I didn't want to watch the game because of my nerves. I was playing games with Greta to take my mind off the game but I must admit I watched the last minute and I thought the preliminary final curse would strike again in that last 60 seconds.
I ended up very emotional at the end. I was shaking and screaming when the final siren sounded. It was just a marvellous result for Leon and the club to win the preliminary final. We can know only hope they win the grand final.
Leon's coaching career saw him involved in assistant roles at a couple of clubs before he replaced Kevin Sheedy as the senior coach at GWS. Did it surprise you that he went down the coaching path?
No. He just loves footy, always has. He's always loved teaching and helping people out so it was pretty obvious that he would get involved in coaching with some club.
Do you love the colour orange which is part of GWS jumper?
Let's say orange is not my favourite colour but it's growing on me. I'll be wearing an orange outfit to the grand final. We're going down for the parade on Friday and I'll be wearing orange to it.
How do you weigh up the achievements of Leon in footy?
It's quite amazing what he's achieved. Leon is a very determined person.
He was just a little country kid when he left Warrnambool and has made a success of life in the biggest sport in Australia.
His family is so proud of him win, lose or draw in the grand final but in saying that I'm proud of what our other children have achieved not only in sport but in life.
Graham played footy at Russells Creek and captained an under 18 side to a flag while Anthony played at Creek and South Warrnambool.
He coached Laharum's under 15 side which his son Sam plays in to the grand final this year. Unfortunately they lost the game. Nicole was a very good netballer.
Leon is the public face of the family but they are all great adults which is all a parent can ask for.
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