Pressure continues to build on GWS senior coach Leon Cameron after the Giants were again taken apart, this time by reigning premier Melbourne on Saturday night.
The Giants, who were dismantled to the tune of 67 points at the MCG, have lost four out of their first five games this season, including other blowout losses to Richmond and Fremantle.
GWS, finalists last season and just two years removed from a grand final berth, have a mountain to climb in order to turn their current form around.
Speaking to the media after his side's most recent collapse, Cameron knows there is a demand for better performance but remains confident in himself and his coaching staff.
"If I sat here and said there's not pressure on the senior coach I'd be lying to you, wouldn't I? There's pressure everywhere. Is there going to be more scrutiny on us next week? Absolutely," he said.
"But if I'm asking my players not to shy away from it and hit it head-on then it would be pretty ordinary if the coach doesn't. I've been there a number of years where we've been in similar positions and a bit off our tucker and down on form and I back myself in and back our coaching staff in to do that."
Cameron, 49, appeared on Fox Footy's AFL 360 on Monday night and was asked explicitly about his desire to continue coaching GWS, to which he gave a coy response.
"It's a really good question. I've been at the club for 10 years and been involved [in football] for 34 years, which is a long time. I think the sensible decision at the end of the year is to make that," he said.
Leon Cameron is asked directly if he wants to coach GWS next year and he doesn't say yes 👀
📺 Watch #AFL360 on @Foxtel CH 504 or stream on @kayosports pic.twitter.com/t7kcFhArNO
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 18, 2022
"The club has got to be happy with the next coach, whether that's me or whoever that may be. It's an appointment for the next three of our four years.
"But equally I love coaching at the moment, but I'm not silly either, I know where it sits. I'm 1-4, I'm a realist. I need to coach really well over the 17 games. If I can do that, which I'm really confident I can, then we have a really good decision to make at the end of the year."
Cameron's seat is heating up - something he claims he is now used to - but he remains laser-focused on GWS' upcoming opponents, notably the red-hot Saints.
"My job is to deal with what's right in front of me, that's St Kilda and the next three or four weeks. We understand we're going to be under a lot of scrutiny, and the coach, because of where the situation sits," he said.
"If we don't acknowledge it, we're kidding ourselves. But I'm lucky that I have some really good assistants that refocus me in on the job and make sure that we're looking forward, not backwards, or worrying about external noise.
"I've had it in when we've been in finals, I've had it when we've been sitting outside the top eight expected to win. And now we're in a different stage at our footy stage where we're evolving ... it is what it is and you deal with it and you move on.
"You acknowledge that Melbourne were too good for us on Saturday night and you work on where you think you can make some gains this Friday night against St Kilda."
GWS are 12-8 in its last 20 contests at Canberra's Manuka Oval, where it will host the Saints on Friday.
The Giants are also set to receive a massive boost in the form of returning star Toby Greene, who has served out his six-game suspension for umpire contact in 2021.
