JEREMY Cameron is hopeful an intense focus on the mental side of his game will propel him into the elite category of the league's best forwards.
Cameron is undoubtedly one of the game's most brilliant goalkickers, but while the 23-year-old has booted 50+ goals in three of his five seasons in the AFL and his best is breathtaking, the knock on him has always been his ability to produce that quality on a weekly basis.
The 2013 All Australian, who is the only man to win the GWS goalkicking award, kicked 53 goals from 20 games last year, at an average of 2.6 per week, slightly down on his 2.9 per game the previous season.
The Giants star admits his biggest issue is going missing at times throughout games, or even for stretches of the season, and this was best illustrated by his two finals appearances in 2016.
Cameron blitzed All Australian defender Dane Rampe in the Giants' qualifying final win over the Swans, booting 4.4 in an outstanding performance, but two weeks later, went goalless from just two kicks in the club's preliminary final defeat to the Western Bulldogs.
"(GWS coach) Leon (Cameron) always talks to me about my consistency because I'll have a good game, and then a great game maybe, but then I'll have a very poor game," he told AFL.com.au.
"I was happy with my form at times last year but I thought I was a bit inconsistent as well, so I have to make sure I cut out those very poor games and have more good ones.
"I think it comes down to a whole range of things.
"Some days it feels like the ball is getting kicked over your head, but then at times I don't think I'm as switched on or into the game as I need to be.
"I just need to be in the moment a lot more, you're never really out of the play these days and you can always be doing something to help the players around you and help the team.
"There's so many things you can do when you're not having a good day, like tackling and forward pressure, so that’s what it's about for me."
Cameron was forced into a late start to his 2016 season when his high shot in the Giants' last pre-season fixture left Brisbane Lions youngster Rhys Mathieson with a broken cheekbone, and saw the forward rubbed out for four weeks.
Cameron responded well to the ban and kicked 21 goals from his first five games after returning against St Kilda in round five, but managed just four from his next four outings, again highlighting his consistency issues.
At the time, both Cameron and his coach spoke about the need to refine his approach to the contest, but he said his suspension wasn't an issue when he returned to the field.
"I don't think it hindered me and I definitely didn't think about it in games, I just attacked the ball like I normally do, and it didn't change my mindset," he said.
"The delayed start was disappointing and a bit strange I guess, and I got into the season well, but then I was a bit up and down.
"Since I started playing forward I've been the type of player that has attacked the contest pretty hard, but I needed to be a bit smarter and hit the contest with a bit of a plan, and not just charge in to get the ball."
Like many of his teammates and his coach over summer, Cameron dismissed the pre-season hype around the Giants and their tag as 'premiership favourites', and said the Western Bulldogs' stunning premiership run in 2016, from seventh on the ladder, showed just how unpredictable the League could be.
"We saw it with how well the Bulldogs played during the finals series, anyone on their day can beat any other team, it's such a tough competition," he said.
"I don't listen to any of the talk about us being favourites, hopefully we're one of the teams that is going to do really well this year, and we want to finish on top of the ladder.
"But our goals are pretty clear internally and we don't pay any attention to what is said outside the club."
