Cameron says skipper ‘right guy’ to lead Giants out of slump

THE GWS playing group has rallied around besieged captain Stephen Coniglio, angry he has been made a scapegoat for their own “shithouse” form.

Coniglio rallied from a week under the microscope to stand up for the Giants in their latest loss to Brisbane, but star forward Jeremy Cameron said it was unfair the skipper was singled out in the first place.

Talk that Coniglio’s spot in the team might be under threat has prompted Cameron to speak out and declare the Giants’ players are behind their captain 100 per cent as the man to lead them out of their ominous hole.

“Every player is behind

Cogs, every day of the week, not just (after last week),” Cameron said.

“We’re always behind Cogs — the way he plays his footy and the way he leads this club is amazing.

“He’s been terrific and he’s the right guy for the job right now.

“I started shithouse this year as well so if I was captain people would have said the same things about me.

“Just because I’m not captain, I don’t cop it.

“That’s just how it works. Guys are always going to have their opinions but we’re right behind Cogs and we’re very proud of what he’s doing right now.

“People jump on bad form pretty quickly. When you hold yourself to such a high standard like Cogs does … suddenly you’re not going well and (apparently) it’s all because of the captaincy.”

Had the decimated

Sydney Swans youngsters held on against the Gold Coast on Saturday, the two Sydney sides would have been locked together with three wins apiece.

The Giants have lost two in a row, are languishing in the bottom cluster of teams, and are now bracing for a grand final rematch against Richmond on Friday night.

Cameron denies a meeting against the Tigers will bring up any mental scars despite the nature of their grand final humiliation at the MCG.

“I don‘t think so. We want to win, so we’ll be focusing on that,” he said. “It‘s another game for us and they’re obviously grand finalists from last year so it’s an interesting time. “We‘ve only got a six-day break so it’s going to be a pretty quick week, which is good. When you lose, I like quick weeks — you can get straight into it again.”

Last year’s Coleman Medallist admits he is feeling the strain of GWS getting destroyed in the inside-50 count every week.