Shepherd glad Peel took a leap of faith

CAM Shepherd has waited patiently for his belated chance as a WAFL senior coach, but now all he is focused on is helping to develop a strong, healthy and winning culture at Peel Thunder.

Shepherd played 153 WAFL games between Claremont and Peel and since then has developed in various roles as a coach with a variety of clubs most recently alongside Scott Watters at Subiaco, Tony Micale at East Perth and Greg Harding at Swan Districts the last two seasons.

While he has put his hand up for senior coaching jobs before and been overlooked, he has never let it get him down and he continued to work hard in whatever role he was doing at whichever club he was working at.

Shepherd was quick to apply for the Peel Thunder job once Trevor Williams departed midway through last season and was subsequently appointed for the next two years.

He was glad that Peel showed faith in him with the appointment and he’s glad that he now has the chance to show what he can do as a senior coach.

“Going down to Peel is really exciting and everyone down there has embraced the changes that we have put in place so we are really looking forward to the season ahead of us,” Shepherd said.

“I have been around for a fair bit of time and have enjoyed every moment at all the clubs, which has given me I think a really good understanding of the competition and what’s required to hopefully be successful as a coach.”

Shepherd has not let the disappointment of missing out on previous jobs he played for get him down and he thinks that’s what has kept his passion high for the time he got the chance, which has now eventuated.

He is enjoying the work at Peel so far now leading into the Round 1 clash with Perth on Saturday at Lathlain’s Brownes Stadium.