Manawatū No 10 Brett Cameron is happy and confident again.
The former Canterbury and Crusaders playmaker has been one of the storylines of the NPC, taking charge of the Turbos attack after shifting north from Christchurch.
The 25-year is arguably the form No 10 in the competition, although Otago’s Josh Ioane and Hawke’s Bay’s Lincoln McClutchie, whom Cameron will face on Saturday night in Palmerston North, also have strong claims.
However, it’s indisputable that Cameron looks like a different player at Manawatū, and he confirms to Stuff that his rugby – as it should be – is simply fun again.
“I’m just I’m just really enjoying my footy at the moment,” he said. “There’s an awesome bunch of lads here, it’s a pretty enjoyable environment.
“I think it’s a bit of both feeling pretty relaxed out there and also, and with the boys off the field as well contributing to just having a good time.”
Cameron probably needed the change of scenery. Despite looking sharp in the preseason for the Crusaders this year, from the outside looking in there was a sense that the Crusaders didn’t fully back him.
Yet, it is also true that in some players’ careers, good things simply take time. It’s not enough for No 10s to be talented, they have to be comfortable in their own skin.
Cameron says that has been something of a work in progress, admitting that assertiveness of the rugby field doesn’t come naturally.
“At No 10 I’ve really enjoyed sort of taking on a bit more leadership this year in terms of leading our attack, and just driving the messages throughout the week on what we need to do with our game, and bringing in new attacks things each week for whoever we’re playing against,” he said.
“I definitely think it comes with experience. I was never a player that was comfortable doing that but right now I’m really comfortable one standing up and being quite demanding of what I need from the boys.”
Those strides forward have been obvious to anyone who has watched the Turbos this year. In recent years they’ve had talented individuals, but perhaps lacked someone to pull it all together.
With Cameron in charge, the structure of their attack has improved enough for Crusaders fans to wonder if they’ve let a good one slip through the net.
However, they aren’t alone. Cameron won’t be playing Super Rugby next year because New Zealand’s teams quite simply left it too late to land the man Steve Hansen selected for the All Blacks in 2018.
“I did have talks with a couple of teams, but it ended up not working out,” said Cameron, who had already signed a one-year deal with Kamaishi Seawaves in Japan.
”Unfortunately, it was just a bit late in the piece to change my mind and pull out of commitments that I’ve got in Japan.
”I’m looking forward to a new experience and going over there, and I’ve just re-signed with Manawatū [for 2022], so it’s my full intention to come back and play some more good footy, and hopefully next year push for a spot in Super Rugby again.”
Cameron would not divulge the names of the teams, but it is no secret that the Hurricanes have been a bit light in the position since Beauden Barrett left, while the Chiefs and Highlanders have both signed new No 10s (Josh Ioane and Marty Banks, respectively) in the offseason.
“It’s a tough position for them and for me,” Cameron said of a Super Rugby contracting landscape that depends so much on timing.
“So, I’ve just got to come back [in 2022] and do the same. All I can do is keep in touch, and come back and play some good rugby, and hope there might be an opening somewhere that I can push for.”
If he reproduces his Turbos’ form next year that Super Rugby contract will be a formality. Cameron is now consistently showing what Hansen saw in him in 2018, when he won his test cap against Japan.
That test appearance could be viewed in two ways – in one sense a dream come true, but in another too much too soon, placing massive expectations on his shoulders.
But Cameron makes it clear that he took nothing but positives from the experience.
“I’d never take it back,” he said. “I’ve learnt a lot of lessons along the way after that, and it all contributed to where I am now.”
