Brisbane Lions AFL: Cam Rayner declares Lions, Charlie Cameron have plenty more to give

Cam Rayner says criticism used to get to him early in his career but now it’s all white noise as the former No.1 pick hits his goalkicking straps - and he’s ready for a teammate to do the same.

Brisbane forward Cam Rayner believes the Lions still have plenty more gears to move through in the back half of the season and one of those is unleashing a fit and firing Charlie Cameron.

Cameron had an almost outing against the Crows on Sunday night, cashing in for two crucial fourth-quarter goals to clinch the 11-point victory having struggled to make a scoreboard impact with some wayward kicking earlier in the match.

With his wobbly left-foot snap to extend Brisbane’s lead early in the fourth quarter Cameron sent a thank you to the heavens, before turning up later in the quarter to put the match to bed with a brilliant snap from distance.

Cam Rayner says clarity of role has helped him ignore the outside noise. (Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

It was a rollercoaster of emotions for Cameron and Brisbane fans who saw his best and worst on display in a four-quarter block that included an injury scare when he hobbled from the ground clutching at his hamstring before returning to kick his two goals.

But Rayner believes it is only a matter of time before his partner in crime is back to his All-Australian form, in an ominous warning for rivals that Cameron’s – and Brisbane’s – best is yet to come.

“This year he has probably been a little bit down on his goal kicking but you can see how much we celebrate when he kicks them because we know how much work he has been putting in,” Rayner told this masthead.

“The role for him is forward 50 pressure, be at the drop of the ball, turn up and help us. He does that every week.

“He’s been getting plenty of looks at goal this year so we know we’ll be such a more potent forward line when that starts to turn and I reckon it’s only a matter of weeks until it does.

“We’ve been able to win in different ways this year, but we’re winning when we’re not playing our best footy, which is important. That’s no discredit to Adelaide but it shows we have so much improvement left in us.

“If we can turn a couple of those cogs and figure out our form in the back of the year I feel like we can be a real threat.”

Few in the AFL can better appreciate such week-to-week scrutiny like Rayner, whose role has become one of the most polarising for footy fans and pundits in recent years.

The former No.1 draft pick has shown glimpses of his potential as a permanent midfielder with dominant purple patches of form like his 25-disposal game against Melbourne in round 5.

But it is in the hybrid small-tall forward role that he and the club harbour long-term aspirations for the 24 year old.

Rayner had his best scoreboard output of the season on Sunday night, booting Brisbane’s first two goals of the game and finishing with three in one of the better aerial performances of his career.

Rayner believes it is only a matter of weeks before Charlie Cameron is back to his All-Australian best. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

Close watchers of the Lions believe Rayner’s role is among the most difficult to play in the AFL, having to change his game on the fly between small or tall dependant on which teammates he has around him at any given time.

“It can be a bit of a weird one with our forward line because you have to pick the dynamic,” Rayner explained.

“There will be times I look at we have Logan, Joey and Eric on (the field) and I probably have to change my game to suit that, but then I’ll look again and Joey is on the bench so I’ll have to play as that third tall.

“It can be hard sometimes playing as a half-forward and getting stuck in that in-between mode.

“That’s where the club looks after me because it’s not about possessions when playing that role. Impact per-possession and my efforts off the ball is what we value and if I can do that every week for the team and become really reliable and consistent that’s what is important.”

That clarity of role is why Rayner says he no longer lets the outside noise phase him.

“I probably did let it get to me a little earlier in my career but at the end of the day it’s the people in here and my teammates who I’m trying to impress,” he said.

“If my teammates have clarity on my role and my coach has clarity on my role and I’m going out every week and getting that done I couldn’t really give a s--t what people on the outside think.”