Just two months into his new role as General Manager – List & Strategy, Craig Cameron has already begun his plan to build an exciting future for the club.
Charged with overseeing the development of a new-look SUNS recruiting department, the former GWS list manager has recognised the need to quickly familiarise himself with Gold Coast’s culture and direction.
“It’s really important in the off-season to spend a lot of time to build relationships and get to know the club,” Cameron told SUNS TV.
“What I’ve found is there’s obviously a lot of players on the track which for various reasons hasn’t been the case in the last few seasons.
“That’s terrific because obviously they’re learning a new game plan with Stuey, but the other really good thing is that the whole club is really keen and eager to improve.”
Cameron’s new team includes Mark Micallef and Kall Burns, who was named national recruiting manager after seven years with the club, as well as Neville Stibbard who is also a new addition.
Stibbard brings a wealth of experience to the team through his time as recruiting manager at North Melbourne and part-time recruiter at GWS and Western Bulldogs.
Cameron himself is no stranger to football management either, with stints at Melbourne, Fremantle, Richmond and GWS stretching back to 1997.
The nature of his work has Cameron based in Melbourne, but his new role will see him split his time between the Gold Coast and the rest of Australia.
“It’ll be somewhere around fifty-fifty,” Cameron said of his time at the club and interstate.
“This time of the year (there is) a lot of time up on the Gold Coast to build relationships.
“Once the season starts and you get into the swing of watching games you get taken around the country so not quite as much time up here but in the off-season, quite a bit.”
Cameron has his eye on different goals for 2018, but there is one task at the top of the agenda.
“The important thing is to get to know the list really well so I want to know the strengths and weaknesses of our list and work with Stuey on how we can improve… to make sure that we’ve got a plan for the future in terms of improving the list.”
