Cameron (22), a rugged loose forward, was initially deemed surplus to requirements when the Otago side was picked for the ITM Cup.
He was set to spend the season plugging away for Otago B, watching the top Otago team from the stands.
But fortune - or misfortune for someone else - has seen him propelled into the first class arena.
Loose forward Eben Joubert was having a whale of a game for Otago in the Ranfurly Shield challenge against Southland until a scrum collapsed on his right shoulder, causing a dislocation and curtailing his seasonJoubert's misfortune propelled Cameron into the Otago team.
"I was in the wider training group at the start of the season. So it was disappointing to do all that and then come up short and not make the squad," Cameron said.
"But then Eben got injured and I got called up to the side. I suppose I play in a similar sort of way to him [Joubert] - that is what the coaches say, anyway. I'm on the ball, quite direct.
"I'm loving it, being at the higher level, loving the atmosphere, the game. Results haven't been going our way, but we are not far away."
Born in Opotiki in the eastern Bay of Plenty, Cameron attended Opotiki College for three years before he was spotted at an under-16 rugby tournament and won a scholarship to King's College in Auckland.
He enjoyed a couple of years at the school before heading to Dunedin, wanting to combine rugby with campus life at the University of Otago. He is in the fourth year of his accountancy studies at university, hoping to finish his degree next year.
After two years captaining the Otago Colts, Cameron hoped to make the breakthrough to the first class level this year and thanks to Joubert's injury and some impressive performances over the past few weeks he looks at home on the blindside flank for Otago.
"It is fast and sure there are a few players who are quicker than most. But the thing I notice the most is the ball is a lot quicker.
"It is like when you get up from a ruck, in a club game or something you might stand there and wait for something to happen. But here you haven't got that time. You're straight into it and being active on the ball."
Cameron said turnovers were proving costly for Otago.
"We haven't really got the results. We try hard and put some good things together but then something happens and that ruins it for us. We're not all on the same page at times. We do something well and then we'll go and turn it over."
It will be a trip home of sorts this weekend as Otago takes on Cameron's home province, Bay of Plenty, in Rotorua, and he will have family and friends there for support.
"I suppose they are the home province and I've got a soft spot for them but I'd sure like to beat them as well."
