WITH marquee names still being pursued, Greater Western Sydney already has a budding superstar and a name to sell to the masses in Jeremy Cameron, who at 20 has taken on an ambassadorial role in the region.
With Lance Franklin and other names constantly linked with the club, Cameron's exploits this season have catapulted him forward and he is clearly the marketing magnet the second-year side craves.
With coach Kevin Sheedy yet to decide his future beyond 2013, Cameron's rise to stardom has come at the opportune time, and on Wednesday he was revealed as an AFL junior football ambassador for NSW and the ACT.
In just his second year in the AFL and in a team with just one win this season, Cameron is tied for the lead in the Coleman Medal race and right in contention for All Australian selection.
Former Geelong premiership-winning captain and current AFL NSW/ACT general manager Tom Harley believes Cameron could soon find himself in the same company as some of the biggest names to have played in Sydney.
"Sydney has been really fortunate with key forwards, big name forwards, over the past couple of decades with Tony Lockett and Barry Hall," Harley said.
"Without putting too much pressure on you 'Jezza', as the current joint leader of the Coleman Medal and hopefully an All Australian this year, we think the future is really bright and we're absolutely rapt to have you involved.
"As far as ambassadors go, there couldn’t be anyone better to have involved than Jeremy Cameron."
Only four times in history has a player won the Coleman Medal from a side that finished bottom of the ladder.
Brendan Fevola was the last to do it with Carlton in 2006, with John Peck with Hawthorn the other most recent, back in 1965.
Cameron, who never thought of stardom growing up and just practised kicking goals between "a couple of big trees in our front yard" back home in Dartmoor, isn't focused on individual awards.
"At the end of the year if I happened to win it, I'd be rapt, definitely," Cameron said.
"But you have to put the team first and we want to play good football and finish off what's been a long year, but a very enjoyable year.
"That's pretty much the focus at this stage."
Tied on 60 goals with West Coast's Josh Kennedy and Hawk Jarryd Roughead, Cameron would be in the outright lead if he didn't give a late handball off to teammate Lachie Whitfield in the goalsquare last week.
But Cameron said he would do exactly the same thing again and Sheedy believes that demonstrates the incredible potential the young key forward possesses.
"That handball is a deadest leadership handball," Sheedy said.
"(It's saying) 'I don't care about my own self, I care about doing the right thing in a game of footy'.
"He has just scratched the surface of his talent and his physicality is going to be enormous and there's an enormous amount of determination in the young man.
"Every club in the AFL would love to have him in their side, we were just fortunate we were able to get him."
