Cam McCarthy

McCarthy came from a cricket background and focused on becoming a footballer after being the last player chosen in the Western Australia under-18 team in 2013; this was due to his talents in both cricket and football. He chose the AFL pathway after some inspiration from a South Fremantle colts coach. He had previously played junior football for South Coogee.{{Cite web |last=WAFC |title=VALE CAM McCARTHY |url=https://sffc.com.au/news/25076/vale-cam-mccarthy |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=South Fremantle Football Club |language=en-US}} He came to prominence with an impressive AFL Under-18 Championships, with the highlight being when he kicked the winning after-the-siren goal for Western Australia against Vic Country in Round 4 of the Championships before suffering a broken leg in the final round against South Australia.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-draft-hopeful-cameron-mccarthy-is-unfazed-by-the-attention-20131111-2xcag.html/|title=AFL draft hopeful Cameron McCarthy is unfazed by the attention|date=12 November 2013|last=Quayle|first=Emma|author-link=Emma Quayle|work=The Age|publisher=Fairfax Media|access-date=7 February 2014}}

McCarthy was drafted by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with pick 14 in the 2013 AFL draft. He made his debut in Round 23, 2014, against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium; McCarthy started the game as the substitute but kicked a long goal from the boundary line with his first kick in AFL football.{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/gws-giants-kick-goal-with-30-seconds-remaining-to-seal-thrilling-win-over-western-bulldogs/story-fndv7pj3-1227042791746|title=GWS Giants kick goal with 30 seconds remaining to seal thrilling win over Western Bulldogs|date=31 August 2014|last=Landsberger|first=Sam|work=News.com.au|publisher=News Corp Australia|access-date=31 August 2014}}

On 10 September 2015, news broke that McCarthy was requesting a trade to his home state of Western Australia;{{cite news|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-10/giant-wants-out-cam-mccarthy-requests-trade-to-wa-club|title=Giant wants out: Cam McCarthy requests trade to WA club|last=Barrett|first=Damien|date=10 September 2015|work=AFL.com.au|publisher=Bigpond|access-date=4 November 2015}} the next day, Greater Western Sydney "categorically rejected" his trade request due to him being contracted until the end of the 2017 season.{{cite news|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-11/giants-categorically-reject-mccarthys-trade-request|title=Giants 'categorically reject' McCarthy's trade request|last1=Curley|first1=Adam|last2=Sutton|first2=Ben|date=11 September 2015|work=AFL.com.au|publisher=Bigpond|access-date=4 November 2015}} Despite persistent efforts by {{AFL Fre}} during the trade period,{{cite news|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-10-20/fremantle-refuse-to-give-up-on-securing-cam-mccarthy|title=Fremantle refuse to give up on securing Cam McCarthy|last=Ryan|first=Peter|date=20 October 2015|work=AFL.com.au|publisher=Bigpond|access-date=4 November 2015}} he remained at Greater Western Sydney.{{cite news|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/afl/a/29887914/cameron-mccarthy-misses-out-on-move-to-wa/|title=We can cope without McCarthy: Dockers|last=Hope|first=Shayne|date=23 October 2015|work=The West Australian|publisher=Seven West Media|access-date=4 November 2015}} After the failed bid to move to Fremantle during the home period, McCarthy decided to return to Western Australia due to homesickness and did not play for the entirety of the 2016 AFL season.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} He was officially traded to Fremantle during the 2016 trade period.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

In 2017, McCarthy kicked 25 goals from 19 games. He finished first in Fremantle's leading goalkicking. He was suspended for two weeks in round 15 for careless contact with St Kilda's Sam Gilbert. He was also surprisingly omitted from the Round 23 team who took on Essendon. His most notable performance came in Round 4, where he kicked a late goal with a toe-poke deep in the goal square, with two minutes remaining, to lead Fremantle to a two-point victory over Melbourne, in Melbourne. Another impressive performance was a four-goal haul, with 18 disposals, against Gold Coast in Round 20 at Domain Stadium.{{cite news|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-10-11/megatrade-sees-giant-cam-mccarthy-go-to-fremantle|title=Mega-trade sees Giant McCarthy join Freo|date=11 October 2016|work=AFL.com.au|publisher=Bigpond|access-date=11 October 2016}}

In 2019, ahead of the Round 1 clash with North Melbourne, McCarthy was called up to the senior team, seemingly as a replacement for new recruit Jesse Hogan, despite not playing in either pre-season match. He was arguably Fremantle's best player in the demolition of North Melbourne in a career-best performance, kicking five goals and collecting 20 disposals.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

In August 2020, McCarthy was notified by the Fremantle Football Club that he would not be receiving a contract for the 2021 AFL season; McCarthy and Fremantle mutually parted ways.{{cite web |last1=Cleary |first1=Mitch |title=UPDATE: Goalkicker sensationally quits Freo, 2020 WAFL hopes also dashed |url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/488267/goalkicker-sensationally-quits-freo-after-no-contract-offer-for-2021 |website=AFL.com.au |date=21 August 2020}}

McCarthy returned to South Fremantle Football Club in the WAFL for two seasons, but he walked away from the sport after managing just 10 games in that time.{{cite web |last1=Mundy |first1=Garrett |title=Former Fremantle Dockers and Greater Western Sydney AFL player Cam McCarthy dies |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-10/former-afl-fremantle-dockers-gws-player-cam-mccarthy-dies/103830162 |website=abc.net.au |date=10 May 2024 |access-date=10 May 2024}}

McCarthy was educated at [https://www.emmanuel.wa.edu.au/ Emmanuel Catholic College] in Success.{{Cite web |date=2018-03-30 |title=How Cam McCarthy climbed out of the hole |url=https://thewest.com.au/sport/fremantle-dockers/how-fremantle-dockers-forward-cam-mccarthy-climbed-out-of-the-hole-ng-b88791055z |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=The West Australian |language=en}} He left school at 16 to take up a plumbing apprenticeship prior to being drafted.{{Cite web |last=McKenzie-Murray |first=Martin |date=2024-05-18 |title=Cam McCarthy: The man who tried to say ‘yes’ |url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/sport/afl/2024/05/18/cam-mccarthy-the-man-who-tried-say-yes |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=The Saturday Paper |language=en}}

After collapsing during a training session in 2020, McCarthy was diagnosed with epilepsy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-cam-mccarthy-diagnosed-with-epilepsy-fremantle-what-is-epilepsy-training-collapse-dockers-latest-news/news-story/9d082a9ba839fd1086d0e17078947054|title=Fremantle forward Cam McCarthy diagnosed with epilepsy following training collapse|first=Max|last=Laughton|publisher=Fox Sports|date=11 June 2020|access-date=10 May 2024}}

On 9 May 2024, McCarthy was found dead at a property in Lake Coogee, a suburb of Perth. He was 29.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/40116422/former-afl-player-cam-mccarthy-passes-away-aged-29|title=Ex-AFL player Cam McCarthy dead, aged 29|publisher=ESPN|date=10 May 2024|access-date=2 June 2024|via=Australian Associated Press}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theroar.com.au/2024/05/10/former-dockers-giants-forward-cam-mccarthy-passes-away-aged-29/|title=Former Dockers, Giants forward Cam McCarthy passes away aged 29|work=The Roar|date=10 May 2024|access-date=10 May 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/may/10/cam-mccarthy-death-afl-fremantle-gws-lake-coogee|title=Former Fremantle and GWS AFL player Cam McCarthy dies aged 29|work=The Guardian|date=10 May 2024|access-date=10 May 2024|first=Jack|last=Snape}}

: Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season{{cite web|url=http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/C/Cam_McCarthy.html|title=Cam McCarthy|publisher=AFL Tables|access-date=1 February 2023}}

{{AFL player statistics legend}}

{{AFL player statistics start}}

|-

| 2014

|{{AFL GWS}}

| 25 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 2 || 2 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 3.0 || 2.0 || 5.0 || 2.0 || 2.0

|-

| 2015

|{{AFL GWS}}

| 25 || 20 || 35 || 14 || 132 || 48 || 180 || 73 || 24 || 1.8 || 0.7 || 6.6 || 2.4 || 9.0 || 3.6 || 1.2

|-

| 2016

|{{AFL GWS}}

| 25 || 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

|-

| 2017

|{{AFL Fre}}

|23 || 19 || 25 || 19 || 150 || 65 || 215 || 65 || 45 || 1.3 || 1 || 7.9 || 3.4 || 11.3 || 3.4 || 2.4

|-

| 2018

|{{AFL Fre}}

|23 || 17 || 19 || 17 || 107 || 62 || 169 || 65 || 30 || 1.1 || 1 || 6.3 || 3.6 || 9.9 || 3.8 || 1.8

|-

| 2019

|{{AFL Fre}}

|23 || 12 || 19 || 7 || 94 || 42 || 136 || 49 || 15 || 1.6 || 0.6 || 7.8 || 3.5 || 11.3 || 4.1 || 1.3

|-

| 2020

|{{AFL Fre}}

|23 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 8 || 3 || 11 || 3 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 8 || 3 || 11 || 3 || 1

|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 70

! 99

! 58

! 494

! 222

! 716

! 257

! 117

! 1.4

! 0.8

! 7.1

! 3.2

! 10.2

! 3.7

! 1.7

|}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Fremplayer}}
• {{AFL Tables}}
• {{AustralianFootball}}
• {{WAFL FootyFacts}}

{{Fremantle leading goalkickers}}

{{2015 AFL Rising Star nominees}}

{{2013 AFL national draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Cameron}}

Category:1995 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:South Fremantle Football Club players

Category:Australian rules footballers from Western Australia

Category:Greater Western Sydney Giants players

Category:Fremantle Football Club players

Category:Peel Thunder Football Club players

Category:People with epilepsy