EMERGING Sydney big man Darcy Cameron has extended his contract with the club until the end of the 2019 season.
Cameron, who is yet to debut with the Swans, was already tied to the club until the end of next year, but had no hesitation in committing for another season.
The 21-year-old was taken with pick No.48 at last year's NAB AFL Draft, after the Swans were impressed by his WAFL season for Claremont. Sydney was keen to add to its ruck stocks after the departure of Toby Nankervis, who was traded to Richmond, and Tom Derickx, who retired.
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An infected finger and a shoulder injury have hindered Cameron's chances of playing senior footy over the first five rounds, despite some promising form during the JLT Community Series, with coach John Longmire preferring to use Callum Sinclair ahead of the West Australian when Kurt Tippett (ankle) and Sam Naismith (knee) went down.
Cameron told AFL.com.au that he's continuing to work hard on his game in a bid to impress the Swans' coaching staff.
"They've been happy with my marking and ruck work, and that sort of thing, but I just need to lift my intensity around the contest, and work on my tackling and aggression," he said.
"Kind of like the way Sam Naismith goes about his footy.
"The rucks here all compete really hard for that position but at the same time they're always there to help me as well.
"That's what I've been working on over the last few weeks and what I'll continue to focus on."
Plenty of draft experts were surprised when West Coast overlooked Cameron last year, especially with their star ruckman Nic Naitanui and his back-up Scott Lycett having serious knee surgery at the end of the season.
But like most draftees, Cameron had no issue with the Eagles' decision, and said all he cared about was being given a chance to build an AFL career.
"I caught up with them (West Coast) once or twice throughout last year but I wasn't disappointed at all to end up here," he said.
"Even if I had been drafted by them they've got Nic Naitanui and (Scott) Lycett there who are coming back.
"Sydney is a great change and was the best thing to happen for me because it's forced me out of my comfort zone."
