GEELONG'S decision to pay a record price to trade for Jeremy Cameron was vindicated on Saturday, and the star forward says his own call to leave Greater Western Sydney and head to the Cats was justified after becoming a premiership player.
Cameron capped his amazing second season at Geelong with a flag with the Cats' smashing 81-point win over Sydney in the Toyota AFL Grand Final.
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The 29-year-old kicked two goals from 18 disposals to finish his season with 65 goals, three years after he was on the other side of a similar result when the Giants lost to Richmond by 89 points in the flag decider.
The Cats traded three first-round picks for Cameron after the Giants matched the free agency offer and forced a trade, and the star said his form this season was credit to a number of factors.
"It was a big call at the time for sure [to join Geelong]. It's always in the back of your mind. I wanted to come back for a number of reasons, I've always said that and one of them was the family. I spent 10 years up in Sydney, a place that I'd never thought I'd spend two years," Cameron told AFL.com.au in the Cats' victorious rooms.
"And to come back and feel so settled now, this year especially, was incredible for me. Last year was up and down with injury, a few things were going on, my partner was in Sydney the whole year. But to be so settled and have everything in place was awesome."
The Cats extended their streak to 16 consecutive wins in the Grand Final walloping, but Cameron said a round 15 win over Richmond – when Geelong triumphed by three points – was the moment he thought they would be premiers.
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"'DK' (Sam De Koning) came up to me and said, 'Remember when you said after that game 'We're gonna win it' after that close Richmond game?' It brought back a good memory because we've always had a good belief all year and to actually wake up this morning and just feel like we were going to go and get it done was a pretty special thing," he said.
"Obviously a lot of water has to go under the bridge before it is done but to have it completed now is incredible."
The Cats delivered a knockout blow to the Swans in the first term when they kicked six goals to one and led by 35 points at the opening change. Cameron said the Cats had focused on matching the Swans' high pressure rating that had been critical in their two finals wins.
"We wanted to start really hot. We know they bring a lot of pressure but we wanted to bring our own. We knew what they bring and let's fight fire with fire and bring it ourselves. I thought the midfielders especially but everyone across the field did that really well," he said.
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Cameron's second goal – delivered at the 26-minute mark of the last quarter – came with a celebration of him cracking open a can, with the party underway in the Geelong rooms.
"It was nice. It was a good little celebration out there on the field and nice to be able to do that and celebrate everyone's success," he said.