Cameron Ling

Cameron Ling

Cameron Ling in October 2011
Personal information
Full nameCameron Neville Ling
Date of birth27 February 1981
Place of birthGeelong, Victoria
Original teamGeelong Falcons
Draft38th overall, 1999
Geelong
Height/Weight189 cm / 94 kg
Position(s)Midfielder/Tagger
Playing career
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2000–2011Geelong246 (139)
Career highlights
  • Madden Medal 2011

Cameron Ling (born 27 February 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A tagger at 1.89 metres (6 ft 2 in) and 94 kilograms (207 lb), Ling was a premiership-winning captain at the club.

He is now a commentator on AFL football for the Seven Network and a special comments commentator on AFL football for radio station 3AW. In 2014, Ling will now work for one day a week during the 2014 season on the development of the North Melbourne leadership group. He is also a member of the selection panel for the AFL All Australian team and the NAB AFL Rising Star Award.[1]

Career

Cameron Ling following the 2007 AFL Grand Final.

Ling played junior football for the Geelong Falcons[2] as a full-forward and was drafted by his hometown club, the Geelong Football Club.

In 2007, his on field performances were rewarded with selection in the All-Australian team on the interchange.

On 20 January 2010, Cameron Ling was announced as the team's new captain, taking over from the recently retired Tom Harley. He captained the Cats in the 2010 AFL season and the 2011 AFL season. In 2011, he captained Geelong to their third premiership in 5 years against Collingwood. He kicked the final goal of the match after a turn-over from Harry O'Brien.

Shortly after guiding the cats to their premiership win, Cameron Ling announced his retirement on 5 October 2011.[3] He was succeeded as captain by Joel Selwood.

Post playing days

Cameron Ling in his new role as an expert commentator for the Seven Network interviews Sydney Swans coach John Longmire.
Ling interviews his former Geelong premiership coach Chris Scott before a match in 2014.

In November 2011, Ling announced he would join Channel 7 in a commentary role on one of their new Saturday games. At the beginning of the 2012 Associated Public Schools of Victoria football season, Ling took up the position of Director of Football at Geelong Grammar School.

On 9 October 2013, Ling was appointed to work one day per week during the 2014 season on the development of the North Melbourne leadership group.[4]

"Mayor" of Geelong

In what started as a joke, following the hype of the Cats drought-breaking premiership, Cameron Ling was touted as the 'mayor of Geelong', a humorous reference to the way he is idolised by Geelong people.

On Wednesday 3 October 2007 though, Geelong's then Mayor, councillor Bruce Harwood, agreed that he'd be happy to step down for Cameron. Ling's interest in politics and his intelligence is widely known, while it's been reported that he took a significant interest in local council and leadership during his days at St. Joseph's College, Geelong.

During the Premiership celebratory parade through Geelong's streets on 3 October, Ling acknowledged his title as mayor, however despite the contention it raised, was never formalised and thus more of a publicity stunt. It was an incident that may well foreshadow his pursuits after football.

Personal life

In December 2012, Ling's partner Nicole Dodds gave birth to their first child, Max Neville.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to end of AFL career [5]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
† Denotes seasons in which Ling won an AFL Premiership
Led the league for the Season only
Led the league after finals only
Led the league after Season and Finals

*10 games required to be eligible.


Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2000 Geelong 45 10 3 1 45 26 71 25 7 0.3 0.1 4.5 2.6 7.1 2.5 0.7
2001 Geelong 45 13 8 3 104 61 165 43 30 0.6 0.2 8.0 4.7 12.7 3.3 2.3
2002 Geelong 45 21 11 8 248 167 415 85 49 0.5 0.4 11.8 8.0 19.8 4.0 2.3
2003 Geelong 45 21 4 5 280 242 522 112 53 0.2 0.2 13.3 11.5 24.9 5.3 2.5
2004 Geelong 45 25 16 5 357 235 592 168 72 0.6 0.2 14.3 9.4 23.7 6.7 2.9
2005 Geelong 45 23 11 9 307 260 567 139 50 0.5 0.4 13.4 11.3 24.6 6.0 2.2
2006 Geelong 45 22 10 3 248 255 503 131 61 0.4 0.1 11.3 11.6 22.9 6.0 2.8
2007† Geelong 45 24 28 6 215 261 476 107 69 1.2 0.2 9.0 10.9 19.8 4.5 2.9
2008 Geelong 45 23 15 5 237 309 546 106 79 0.6 0.2 10.3 13.4 23.7 4.6 3.4
2009† Geelong 45 22 7 7 235 265 500 100 106 0.3 0.3 10.7 12.0 22.7 4.6 4.8
2010 Geelong 45 21 9 12 211 253 464 76 112 0.4 0.6 10.0 12.0 22.1 3.6 5.3
2011† Geelong 45 21 17 9 265 192 457 74 92 0.8 0.4 12.6 9.1 21.8 3.5 4.4
Career 246 139 73 2752 2526 5278 1166 780 0.6 0.3 11.2 10.3 21.5 4.7 3.2

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
2000 —
2001 2
2002 12
2003 12
2004 12
2005 13
2006 6
2007 1
2008 9
2009 2
2010 2
2011 —
Total 71
Key:
Green / Bold = Won
* = joint winner
Red / Italics = Ineligible

References

  1. ↑ "Steven, Riewoldt up for All Australian", AFL website, 3 September 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Cameron Ling Player Profile bio".
  3. ↑ Top Cat bows out as Ling calls time – smh.com.au. Published 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "North plots path to redemption", The Australian, 12 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  5. ↑ http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/C/Cameron_Ling.html

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Tom Harley		 Geelong Football Club captain
2010–2011 		Succeeded by
Joel Selwood
Awards
Preceded by
Matthew Scarlett		 Carji Greeves Medal
2004 		Succeeded by
Joel Corey
Preceded by
Brett Kirk		 Madden Medal
2011 		Succeeded by
Luke Power