Cameron Ling (born 27 February 1981) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). A tagger at and , Ling is a premiership-winning

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

at the club. He is now a commentator on AFL football for the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

and a special comments commentator on AFL football for

ABC Grandstand ABC Sport, formerly ABC Radio Grandstand, is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) local radio network across Australia and on one digital-only station. History Fr ...

. He is also a member of the selection panel for the AFL

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

and the

AFL Rising Star Award The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan ...

Career

Ling played junior football for the Geelong Falcons as a full-forward and was drafted by his hometown club, the

. In 2007, his onfield 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 Thomas Harley (born 18 July 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender at and , Harley is a two ...

. 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

Héritier Lumumba Héritier Lumumba (formerly known as Heritier 'Harry' O'Brien; born 15 November 1986) is a Brazilian-Congolese, former professional footballer, and the current High Performance and Strategic Partnerships director of the Congolese National Rugby ...

. Shortly after guiding the Cats to their premiership win, Cameron Ling announced his retirement on 5 October 2011. Being able to nullify the opposition's best midfielder whilst managing to influence matches has made Cameron Ling regarded as one of the best ever taggers to play AFL. He was succeeded as captain by

Joel Selwood Joel Anthony Selwood (born 26 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was a quadruple premiership player, a six-time All-Australian, and a three-ti ...

Post playing days

In November 2011, Ling announced he would join Channel 7 in a commentary role on one of their Saturday night games, he also has commentated on Friday night matches. At the beginning of the 2012

Associated Public Schools of Victoria The Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) are a group of eleven independent schools in Victoria, Australia, similar to the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales in New South Wales and the Public Schools Assoc ...

football season, Ling took up the position of Director of Football at

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ...

. On 9 October 2013, Ling was appointed to work one day per week during the 2014 season on the development of the

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

leadership group. Ling is an Australian Apprenticeships Ambassador for the Australian Government.

"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 Ling. 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.

Personal life

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

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 10 , , 3 , , 1 , , 45 , , 26 , , 71 , , 25 , , 7 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 4.5 , , 2.6 , , 7.1 , , 2.5 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2001 , style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 13 , , 8 , , 3 , , 104 , , 61 , , 165 , , 43 , , 30 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 8.0 , , 4.7 , , 12.7 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 21 , , 11 , , 8 , , 248 , , 167 , , 415 , , 85 , , 49 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 11.8 , , 8.0 , , 19.8 , , 4.0 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2003 , style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 21 , , 4 , , 5 , , 280 , , 242 , , 522 , , 112 , , 53 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 13.3 , , 11.5 , , 24.9 , , 5.3 , , 2.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 25 , , 16 , , 5 , , 357 , , 235 , , 592 , , 168 , , 72 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 14.3 , , 9.4 , , 23.7 , , 6.7 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 23 , , 11 , , 9 , , 307 , , 260 , , 567 , , 139 , , 50 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 13.4 , , 11.3 , , 24.6 , , 6.0 , , 2.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 22 , , 10 , , 3 , , 248 , , 255 , , 503 , , 131 , , 61 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 11.3 , , 11.6 , , 22.9 , , 6.0 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2007 , style="text-align:center;",

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, 45 , , 24 , , 28 , , 6 , , 215 , , 261 , , 476 , , 107 , , 69 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 9.0 , , 10.9 , , 19.8 , , 4.5 , , 2.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2008 , style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 23 , , 15 , , 5 , , 237 , , 309 , , 546 , , 106 , , 79 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 10.3 , , 13.4 , , 23.7 , , 4.6 , , 3.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2009 , style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 22 , , 7 , , 7 , , 235 , , 265 , , 500 , , 100 , , 106 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 10.7 , , 12.0 , , 22.7 , , 4.6 , , 4.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 21 , , 9 , , 12 , , 211 , , 253 , , 464 , , 76 , , 112 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 10.0 , , 12.0 , , 22.1 , , 3.6 , , 5.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 21 , , 17 , , 9 , , 265 , , 192 , , 457 , , 74 , , 92 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 12.6 , , 9.1 , , 21.8 , , 3.5 , , 4.4 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, 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

*Team **

AFL Premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1990, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

(

): 2007, 2009,

( C) **

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

(

): 2007, 2008 **

NAB Cup In the Australian Football League (AFL), previously the Victorian Football League (VFL), the pre-season competition, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names and most recently as the NAB Cup, was an annual Australian rules foot ...

(

, 2009 *Individual **

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

: 2007 **

Carji Greeves Medal The Carji Greeves Medal is a name given in recent decades to an Australian rules football award given to the player(s) adjudged best and fairest for the Geelong Football Club for the season. The voting system has changed a number of times. ...

: 2004 ** Australian representative honours in

International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

: 2002 ** Geelong F.C. Best First Year Reserves Player Award: 2000 ** Geelong F.C. Most Improved Player Award: 2001 ** Geelong F.C. Most club votes in Brownlow Medal: 2002, 2003, 2005 ** Geelong F.C. Community Champion Award: 2003 ** Geelong F.C. Most Determined and Most Dedicated Player Award: 2005 ** Geelong F.C Coach's Award: 2008 ** Captain of Geelong F.C.: 2010—2011 **Vice-captain of Geelong F.C.: 2006—2009 **Deputy vice-captain of Geelong F.C.: 2005 **

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

nomination: 2001 **Vic Country representative honours at the

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

: 1998, 1999 **Captain of

Geelong Falcons The Geelong Falcons is a youth Australian rules football representative club in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition, Victoria, Australia. The club takes in talented junior players from the Geelong, Colac and Warrnambo ...

(TAC Cup): 1998 **

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

Team of the Year: 1998 **

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

(Under-17) representative honours in

: 1998

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Cameron Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club Premiership players All-Australians (AFL) Carji Greeves Medal winners 1981 births Living people Geelong Football Club captains Australian rules footballers from Geelong Geelong Falcons players St Joseph's Football Club players Australia international rules football team players Three-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Australian rules football commentators