Dane starts at Perth immediately; the fact is it's a promotion. Simon has the job at Brisbane and Perth offered him the job he wants.
Dane has also had some major health problems so he might be in his seize the day era.
Cancer fight drives Bears recruiter
New Perth recruitment boss
Dane Campbell is the man who has to build a Bear from scratch.
He is the unknown official with one of the biggest jobs in rugby league in the next six months. But Campbell has already been through a bigger challenge after battling colorectal cancer.
“I’ve had the all clear,” he said. “I have been through chemo the first six months of this year, and that was more so to hopefully eliminate it coming back, because we were able to have the surgeries whilst it was still very much in the smaller stages of things, thank goodness.”
And when he was offered the job by Bears chief executive
Anthony De Ceglie, his experience in fighting cancer played a role in his decision to leave a prominent recruiting job with the Broncos.
“I think when opportunities present themselves, why live in fear of it ... go attack it,” Campbell said. “And I think that’s something that was very honest from the start about what I’ve been through.
“Anthony had already done his homework, and he was understanding of what I’ve been through the last 12 months or so. It wasn’t a deterrent to them, therefore it wasn’t for me. And who knows what the future holds, whether it comes back in one year, five years, 10 years or never. But right now, I’m OK.”
Campbell has to sit down with Bears coach
Mal Meninga and general manager of football
David Sharpe to work out the recruitment strategy. And he will call on his experience gained with the Storm and Cowboys.
“I tend to think there’s a couple of ways [to approach it],” Campbell said. “One is the star model, where you attract all the big names and throw whatever it is at them in terms of whether it’s money or opportunity or whatever it may be. But the other one is probably the commitment-based model, which is probably more Storm background.
“I guess we’ve got a couple of little blueprints in recent times ... what the Dolphins have done well, or what they missed the mark on. And then we’ve got sort of longitudinal history. How did the Storm put their group together early when they had so much success early in the piece, and how did they sustain that too, over a number of years?
“They came from all different directions, and they’re able to keep that group together for a period of time and build a culture.
“I think there’s ample talent within the game, and there’s guys at potentially really good clubs and strong clubs that maybe need an opportunity, too. So having a bit of foresight around, do we want to walk in on day one with a really gung-ho side, to go out and try and compete for a title from day one? Or are we going to try and, I guess, simultaneously look to how we be sustainable, and how do we build this over a three to five-year period.”
www.qrl.com.au
www.qrl.com.au
