THREE-TIME Geelong Football Club premiership player Cameron Ling will be elevated to ‘Legend’ status at this year’s club Hall of Fame event.<\/p>\n
A premiership captain with the Cats and 245-gamer, Ling was announced as the next Cats Legend by club chief executive Steve Hocking earlier this month at a Gather Round event.<\/p>\n
Ling will be officially donned the Legend title in June, after playing 12 seasons with the club from 2000 to 2011, also receiving a club best and fairest award in 2004.<\/p>\n
Ling responded to the announcement on his podcast, To The Final Bell, alongside AFLW Cats skipper Meg McDonald, saying he was chuffed to receive the honour.<\/p>\n
“It is unbelievably, kind of embarrassingly, an amazing honour,” Ling said.<\/p>\n
“It’s fair to say I froze up for a little bit and just needed to collect my thoughts.<\/p>\n
“I still can’t believe it. I quickly googled the list of the other 27 legends, and seeing some of the names on that, I rang mum and dad immediately, because I used to go to the footy with them as a kid.<\/p>\n
“Seeing names like Graham “Polly” Farmer, Bob Davis, and Gary Ablett Sr, I told dad I didn’t think I deserved to belong amongst that group of people, but I can’t believe I am going to be.”<\/p>\n
Ling will become just the 28th Cat to receive the prestigious honour.<\/p>\n
He was selected with pick 38 in the 1999 AFL National Draft, and was a key member of Geelong’s 2007, 2009 and 2011 premiership sides.<\/p>\n
A St Joseph’s College alum and junior footballer, Ling has maintained close connections with his former school. Ling was also a member of the Geelong Falcons prior to being drafted.<\/p>\n
Ling, under coach Mark “Bomber” Thompson and current Cats senior coach Chris Scott, was well-known during his playing days for his durable style of play and grit around the contest.<\/p>\n
These traits helped him became one of the AFL’s most recognised midfielders and earned an All-Australian selection alongside eight of his teammates in 2007.<\/p>\n
Upon his retirement following the 2011 Grand Final, Ling was awarded the AFL Players’ Association Madden Medal, awarded to a retiring player recognising their outstanding achievements on and off the field.<\/p>\n
Geelong’s 1-4 Year Player Academy has been named the Cameron Ling Academy in honour of the soon-to-be-named Legend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THREE-TIME Geelong Football Club premiership player Cameron Ling will be elevated to ‘Legend’ status at this year’s club Hall of Fame event. A premiership captain with the Cats and 245-gamer, Ling was announced as the next Cats Legend by club chief executive Steve Hocking earlier this month at a Gather Round event. Ling will be […]<\/p>\n