| Cameron Mooney | ||
 Cam Mooney
|
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cameron Mooney | |
| Date of Birth | 26 September 1979 | |
| Place of Birth | Wagga Wagga, NSW | |
| Recruited from | Turvey Park / NSW-ACT Rams U18 | |
| Draft | 56th overall, 1996 North Melbourne |
|
| Height/Weight | 194cm / 99kg | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Geelong | |
| Number | 21 | |
| Playing career1 | ||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) |
| 1999 2000 – |
Kangaroos Geelong |
11 (2) 152 (192) |
| ¹ Playing statistics to end of Round 20, 2008 season. | ||
| Career highlights | ||
AFL
Geelong Football Club
|
||
Cameron "Moondog" Mooney (born 26 September 1979) is an Australian Rules Football player for the Geelong Football Club.
Contents |
Mooney grew up in suburban Wagga Wagga with his brother Jason Mooney, attending Mount Austin High School in his teens. He began playing football with Turvey Park Football Club, later representing the NSW/ACT Rams in the TAC Cup before being taken by the Kangaroos with the 56th pick in the 1996 AFL Draft.
Mooney made his AFL debut with the Kangaroos during round 7 of his first AFL season against the Adelaide Crows. That year, he was a member of the Kangaroos premiership team which defeated Carlton. However, he did not receive a single touch in this game and spent a large portion of the game on the bench.
At the end of 1999, Mooney was part of the trade which saw former Geelong captain, Leigh Colbert head to the Kangaroos, allowing Mooney to end up at Geelong. He was traded along with the 53rd and 67th selection in 1999 AFL Draft. This season also saw a Kangaroos assistant coach, Mark Thompson, take up the head coaching job at Geelong.
Following four unproductive years off the field, Mooney blossomed in 2004, subsequently catapulting Geelong to premiership contention. In 2005, Mooney's year was interrupted by injury. However, he destroyed Melbourne in the elimination final. The defining snapshot of Mooney's career was after the siren in the semi final against the Sydney Swans where Geelong lost by 3 points after Nick Davis goaled for Sydney with 2 seconds remaining giving the Swans their first and only lead of the entire game. Mooney was gutted by the result and was openly distressed and weeping. The Swans went on to win the 2005 Premiership.
Mooney in 2006, after the heartache of 2005, experienced the relative joy of a pre-season premiership. However, his premiership season was not as fruitful. He was suspended, as well as his 100th game resulting in a loss. Geelong lost this game despite leading the West Coast Eagles by 54 points in the third quarter. Mooney was suspended on four separate occasions in 2006, leading to the club fining him week's wages. This lack of discipline was seen as detrimental to the team despite Mooney's good form. At the end of 2006 season Mooney also requested to be traded to another club, though he was convinced to stay at Geelong another year.
Playing permanently in the forward line for the first time, Mooney had an instrumental role as Geelong finished on top of the ladder at the end of the home and away season. Mooney topped the club goalkicking with 55 goals and was awarded with All-Australian selection for the first time. He is seen by some as the heart of the club due to his heart-on-sleeve attitude. Mooney capped off a remarkable season in 2007 kicking 5 goals in the premiership victory over Port Adelaide.
Cameron Mooney’s 08 season was not as good as his 07, he kicked 15 fewer goals (compared to 07) even though Geelong won 3 more games and kicked an extra 130 points. As a result Mooney was not selected for the All Australian team which 7 of his team mates achieved. Mooney’s season turned from memorable to forgettable during 1 half of football – the grand final.
Mooney started the match well taking a few early marks and end the first quarter with a great goal from the boundary line. All this early good work fell to pieces at half time, when Mooney who seconds before the siren marked the ball about 5 meters out on a slight angle. He too comfortably walked in to kick the goal and sprayed the ball to the left registering a behind, had he kicked a goal Geelong would have gone into half time with a 2 point lead instead of 3 points behind which they ultimately did.
The second half started just as it ended for Mooney another missed opportunity. This time he was 30 meters out directly in front and missed another vital goal. This miss along with a couple of other missed opportunities from team mates really hurt the team and ultimately cost them the game and chance to be called the greatest team ever. Mooney finished the day with 2 goals 3 behinds from a total of 14 disposals, it was a disappointing day for himself and Geelong.
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Goals | Behinds | Kicks | Marks | Handballs | Disposals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Kangaroos | 19 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 14 | 13 | 38 |
| 2000 | Geelong | 21 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 24 |
| 2001 | Geelong | 21 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 25 | 39 | 82 |
| 2002 | Geelong | 21 | 19 | 28 | 16 | 126 | 88 | 75 | 201 |
| 2003 | Geelong | 21 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 83 | 55 | 34 | 117 |
| 2004 | Geelong | 21 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 228 | 116 | 147 | 375 |
| 2005 | Geelong | 21 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 184 | 101 | 118 | 302 |
| 2006 | Geelong | 21 | 17 | 22 | 8 | 177 | 124 | 82 | 259 |
| 2007 | Geelong | 21 | 25 | 67 | 37 | 242 | 191 | 88 | 330 |
| 2008 | Geelong | 21 | 24 | 52 | 36 | 229 | 201 | 116 | 345 |
| Totals | 168 | 206 | 127 | 1352 | 926 | 721 | 2073 | ||
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||