Senior Charlie Cameron (2017-)

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Lion Cameron a recruit of the year contender

CHARLIE Cameron could be the recruit of the year and should be an early season frontrunner for a small forward position in the All Australian side.

Lions great Alastair Lynch says while Bryce Gibbs may be having a slightly greater impact at the Crows, Cameron is just hitting his straps and has the potential to carry the Lions back to the finals. While Geelong heralded the return of Gary Ablett and the Suns sold the farm to get Lachie Weller from Fremantle neither have had the impact Cameron has.

Lynch has covered every side in the competition in his role as commentator or expert analyst for Fox Footy already this season and says Cameron, who kicked his fourth bag of three goals in the Lions’ loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday, has the physical attributes to be one of the best players in the competition. “He adds class, he is skilful, can play forward or in the midfield and is lightning quick,’’ he said.

However, it is his age and experience and also the relatively cheap cost of pick No.12 in the draft that Lynch believes elevates him as the best recruiting decision of the year.

Cameron turns 24 this year, an age where most players begin to hit their peak. The advantage for the Lions is the development years were done at another club and are now behind him and he is entering his prime as he demonstrated with a five-goal haul in Adelaide’s preliminary final victory over Geelong.

Lynch believes the Lions’ inexperience and the years of development still needed for a quality young list means their best players — captain Dayne Beams, vice-captain Dayne Zorko and ruckman Stefan Martin are no certainties to still be playing by the time the club can push for a premiership.

But by the time the likes of Cameron Raynor, Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry, Alex Witherden and Zac Bailey are in the 50-100 game bracket where players begin to regularly impact the competition, Cameron could be one of the competition’s biggest stars.

“He has the potential to be the player who grows with the team and drags them up with him,’’ he said. “When those other guys are 24 or 25, the age Voss, Lappin and Black were becoming superstars, Charlie will still be at the height of his powers. “He is already a star, the draft is still an educated guess and there is no guarantees pick 12 will become a star. “With Charlie they knew he was a good player already, he kicked five goals in a preliminary final last year, but he is young so they will get a lot of good footy out of him, that is a steal.’’

 

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Great by Berry to lower the eyes after not doing so a couple of times in recent weeks.

 

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Five talking points: Brisbane v Hawthorn

1. Charlie Cameron finally hauls one in
Did Charlie Cameron take Mark of the Year in the first few minutes of the game? It will surely be a contender. Running back deep in the Lions’ defensive 50m, Cameron leaped onto teammate Darcy Gardiner’s back to pluck a great two-handed screamer. It’s been a tough start to the season for the Gabba faithful this year with several narrow home losses, but Cameron has certainly provided Lions fans with plenty of highlights. This afternoon was no exception.

 

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Can you actually get sick of this:

 

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https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/charlie-cameron-finds-his-corner-at-the-gabba-20180525-p4zheg.html

It was just a few minutes into the Brisbane Lions’ game against Hawthorn last Sunday at the Gabba. Hawthorn had the first goal on the board and were dominating possession. Harry Morrison speared the ball into attack, towards a loose Jarryd Roughead, whom Lions defender Darcy Gardiner was cutting across to cover.

Neither Roughead nor Gardiner got near it. Instead Charlie Cameron, far from his usual home in attack, leapt almost clean over his own teammate – other than a shin that collected with the unfortunate Gardiner’s head – to take the mark from the side. It was outrageous. Even as the Hawks briefly skipped away, you knew that the Lions were in the game.

The impact of Cameron on the Lions since crossing last year from Adelaide has been enormous. Internally, he’s already regarded as something of a barometer. Lions coach Chris Fagan has relentlessly urged his young team to attack, to bring fans back to the Gabba. Cameron is one player fans will come to see because he’s such a joy to watch.

 

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Why new Lion ‘won’t shut up’

CHARLIE Cameron has quickly developed a reputation for blowing the minds of Brisbane fans with some of his on-field tricks, but Lions teammates say his off-field work has also come as a major surprise.

At Tuesday’s unveiling of the club’s indigenous jumper, designed by local indigenous artist Elaine Chambers that will be worn in the Sir Doug Nicholls Round against the Kangaroos at the weekend, veteran Allen Christensen revealed something about his new teammate’s personality.

“You can’t get him to shut up,” he said. “In meetings, and it’s something I didn’t expect out of him. He’s quite harsh on himself and he’ll give direction to other boys if they’re going against the game plan. “He’s come from a club with a really strong culture in Adelaide that will pick up on things they don’t like. “If he sees something he’s done wrong or one of the boys have gone against the game plan, he’ll pick that out, but he’s always the first bloke to give some praise. “He’s really good at giving feedback.”

However, Christensen said it was still his on-field deeds that had made the biggest impact at the Lions. “The big thing with him is his speed, he’s blistering,” he said. “He puts so much pressure on. Even if he’s not getting the ball … his pressure and speed is through the roof. “We’ve lifted our intensity in the last month with our pressure, and probably him and ‘Zorks’ (Dayne Zorko) lead that.’’

Cameron has become a crowd favourite in his first season with the Lions, kicking 17 goals, and taking a mark of the year contender in the breakthrough win over the Hawks in Round 9. He said in his early years at Adelaide he was pretty quiet but his voice had grown as he became a more established part of the Crows side.

However, he was always the young gun in an attack that included Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins and Tom Lynch. Now, even though he is just 23-years-old, he is clearly a senior player in a young Lions forward line.

“Coming from Adelaide and trying to take what I’ve learnt from them to this team here, trying to help on field and off-field as well, I’m enjoying the challenge,’’ he said. “I’d like to influence instead of lead, influence other players and help them out. I’m not really a natural leader.”

 

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New Lion's voice, leadership an eye-opener

WHILE Luke Hodge has got a stack of credit for bringing leadership to Brisbane, another Lions recruit has flown under the radar in that area, says midfielder Allen Christensen. Although sometimes "you can't get him to shut up", former Crow Charlie Cameron has been just as influential off-field as he has on it, Christensen said.

"In meetings, and it's something I didn't expect out of him, he's quite harsh on himself and he'll give direction to other boys if they're going against the game plan," Christensen said. "He's come from a club with a really strong culture in Adelaide that will pick up on things they don't like. "If he sees something he's done wrong or one of the boys have gone against the game plan, he'll pick that out, but he's always the first bloke to give some praise. "He's really good at giving feedback."

On-field, Cameron has been a sensation in his first season with the Lions, kicking 17 goals, assisting 10 others and taking a Mark of the Year contender in his first 10 rounds. The 23-year-old said leadership was something that had grown on him after being one of the Crows' youngest in his early years.

Not only was he young, but he played in a forward line alongside established stars Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins and Tom Lynch, and said he was happy to sit back and learn. "They put it on me to talk more as I played more games," Cameron said. "Coming from Adelaide and trying to take what I've learnt from them to this team here, trying to help on field and off-field as well, I'm enjoying the challenge. "I'd like to influence instead of lead, influence other players and help them out. I'm not really a natural leader."

Christensen said Cameron had been a major catalyst for Brisbane's improvement this season. "The big thing with him is his speed, he's blistering," Christensen said. "He puts so much pressure on. Even if he's not getting the ball … his pressure and speed is through the roof. "We've lifted our intensity in the last month with our pressure, and probably him and 'Zorks' (Dayne Zorko) lead that, coming forward and up in the face of opposition defence. "He's awesome. He makes the boys laugh, he's a bubbly personality, so he's been a great get for the club."

 

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Injury Update

Brisbane Lions forward Charlie Cameron will miss the remainder of the 2018 AFL season after scans revealed he has torn the Lisfranc ligament on his right ankle and will require surgery.

“In consultation with our medical team, unfortunately Charlie has ruptured the Lisfranc ligament in his foot,” Lions General Manager of Football David Noble said. “He will require surgery and will be out for the rest of the season.”

Cameron came off to the interchange bench during the second quarter in Sunday’s loss to North Melbourne at Etihad. He did not return to the field for the remainder of the afternoon. The 23-year-old will have surgery next week.

 

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Brisbane forward Charlie Cameron keen to reunite with former Swans teammate Lachie Neale

From Bassendean to Brisbane via two different AFL clubs – could this duo be reunited at the Gabba next year? Charlie Cameron was a raw Swan Districts teenager trying to make an impression on AFL recruiters when he first came across Lachie Neale in 2013. And now that the prospect is out there, he wouldn’t mind being on the receiving end of Neale’s crisp right-foot delivery once more.

Four of Neale’s WAFL appearances in the opening five rounds of the season also featured Cameron, who kicked goals in three of those matches. “I played WAFL with him and he was pretty good,” Cameron told The West Australian. “I got the ball kicked to me a couple of times through him.”

Cameron was surprised when the news of Brisbane’s pursuit of Neale broke last week. “It was a bit of a shock, I didn’t realise that we were keen on him,” Cameron said. “He’s had a good year. I guess I can’t really comment on the trade, I’ll let (the club) discuss that, but he’s a good player.”

 

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End of season injury update

Just like in 2017, the Brisbane Lions finished the 2018 season with one of the lowest injury rates in the AFL.

The Lions' Head of High Performance Damien Austin was pleased with how his performance staff and players worked together to keep injuries to a minimum in 2018.

After an excellent start to the year, Charlie Cameron was missed sorely by the Lions after sustaining a Lisfrance injury in Round 11 that saw him ruled out for the rest of the season.

Cameron is progressing well in his rehab and is on track to take part in all of pre-season training. "He had surgery today to take out the ties in his foot. The next couple of weeks he will start running and that will progress rather quickly," Austin said. "We expect him to have a full pre-season. He's been extremely good around the Club and with his rehab program."

 

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Player Review: Charlie Cameron

Pick 12 for Charlie Cameron? At the time of the trade last year, many fans thought the Lions were giving up too much for Adelaide’s livewire forward. A stunning start to the year by Cameron dispelled those doubts however, as he was easily one of the recruits of the season. He kicked three goals in each of the opening three rounds of the season and impressed with his pressure and evasiveness.

Often playing as a deep forward, Cameron quickly became an x-factor the Lions’ forward line desperately needed. Against the Western Bulldogs in Round 8 he kicked three goals, took a career-high eight marks and tallied 18 disposals and eight tackles. He was awarded Coaches Votes in Round 1 (two votes), Round 2 (five) and Round 8 (two). Cameron quickly endeared himself to the Gabba faithful, with fireworks expected every time he went near the ball.

Unfortunately, Cameron’s season was cut short by a Lisfranc injury sustained in Round 11 against North Melbourne. The 24-year-old underwent surgery and is now back up and running and has been working extremely hard in the gym. He is expected to be fine to complete the full pre-season training program.

While out injured, Cameron took on a coaching role with the Lions’ NEAFL side, which can only be positive for his leadership and footy smarts going forward.

As one of the AFL’s genuine excitement machines, Cameron naturally produced a couple of incredible marks and goals. His enormous leap against Hawthorn in Round 9 and ridiculous goal against Gold Coast in Round 5 both made the final three for Goal and Mark of the Year. The winner of these two awards will be announced at tonight’s Brownlow Medal. 2019 can't come soon enough for Cameron, who will be raring to make an impact again on the field.

Coaches Comment – Jed Adcock, Forwards Coach

“Started the year on fire and was absolutely unbelievable. Would have been in contention for All Australian selection if he didn’t get injured.”

Senior matches: 11

 

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Pre-season in a nutshell

Injury list
Charlie Cameron: Has cut a lonely figure running lap after lap after lap at he recovers from the Lisfranc injury that cost him the second half of 2018. Cameron is moving well at speed now and has started taking part in small team drills. Should be unleashed at full capacity shortly after the players return from their break.

 

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Pre-season in a nutshell

Injury list
Charlie Cameron: Has cut a lonely figure running lap after lap after lap at he recovers from the Lisfranc injury that cost him the second half of 2018. Cameron is moving well at speed now and has started taking part in small team drills. Should be unleashed at full capacity shortly after the players return from their break.

 

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Best trade ever..pick 12 is peanuts

 

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Every club's best internal recruit

Brisbane
Charlie Cameron. Before Charlie Cameron suffered a lisfranc injury in Round 11, 2018, he was on track to be the recruit of the year. Having made the switch across to Brisbane from Adelaide in the 2017 off-season, Cameron exploded onto the scene in Queensland, snagging 17 goals from 10 full games in a team which won just the one match in that period.
In addition, he also secured a "goal of the year" nomination, and was touted by Queensland media as a potential All-Australian just before he was sidelined through injury.
If Cameron can regain his fitness and reproduce his impressive start to his career at Brisbane, then the Lions might be more than a handful in 2019, considering they already boast one of the most impressive and exciting young lists in the AFL.