GREATER Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron has defended his decision to play young defender Aidan Corr on Geelong star Tom Hawkins, who kicked five goals in a match-winning performance against the Giants at StarTrack Oval on Saturday.
Despite having dual Brisbane Lions club champion Joel Patfull in the side for the first time since round 11, Cameron persisted with Corr on the Cats powerhouse for most of the game in Canberra.
The 21-year-old backman was outclassed and regularly outmuscled by Hawkins – who finished with five marks inside 50 that resulted in goals – but Cameron said Corr battled hard, and paid the price for some poor skills and decision-making by his teammates up the ground.
WATCH: Leon Cameron's full post-match media conference
"The ball got turned over a lot and there was a lot of one on ones; it was a great experience for Aidan," Cameron said after the Giants' disappointing 27-point loss.
"I think they had 18 or 19 turnovers from our front half, which then goes down to have Aidan Corr on Hawkins one-on-one, and it's not right.
"He had some really good moments; he's a good, young key defender that’s definitely an integral part of our footy club.
"Hawkins takes the points today but I'm sure this time next year when we play the Cats, he's going to learn from it and I think he'll look forward to that duel again."
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Jeremy Cameron had a quiet day up forward against Geelong, and the use of ruckmen Rory Lobb and Tom Downie in attack while resting didn't work for the Giants.
Big man Adam Tomlinson at least gave the home side a leading target when he was switched from defence, and finished with 16 touches and 10 marks for the day.
GWS sprung a surprise at the selection table this week, dropping Rising Star nominee Cam McCarthy, and their forward line looked barren of marking options without him.
Cameron revealed that the West Australian was struggling after a heavy workload so far in 2015, and needed a spell in the reserves to recharge.
Five talking points: Greater Western Sydney v Geelong
"Cam McCarthy's a second-year player who is trying to hold down key-position players, and his last four weeks he's kicked a couple of goals," Cameron said.
"He'll get back into the team, he's going to be a terrific player for us but what you've got to remember is he's 20 years old.
"There's not too many key-position players that age that can play 22 games straight and kick three goals a game, and if you do know one, you better tell me.
"We always had Adam Tomlinson up our sleeve as the swingman, I thought when he went forward he kicked 1.2 and probably should have kicked a couple.
"That's the challenge for us, we've got three to four young forwards that are trying to play that key position and it's really hard.
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