Charlie Cameron’s incredible journey to AFL stardom worthy of a movie script

As remarkable as his 2019 season has been, Charlie ‘Chuckie’ Cameron’s unique route to the AFL is a story movies are made of.

Charlie Cameron of the Lions celebrates kicking a goal.

For all of his obvious skill-set, Charlie Cameron’s route to AFL glory has defied every Australian rules recruiting rule book, a story so unique that a documentary surely beckons.

It runs like this, and never forget we are talking about a 25-year-old Brisbane Lion about to earn All-Australian honours who watches very little AFL. A footballer who prefers his childhood passions of rugby league and rugby union.

Charlie Mark Cameron was born in Mount Isa on July 5, 1994, to indigenous parents from the Lardil and Waanyi people, his birthplace being shared by fellow Australian sporting notables in Simon Black, Greg Norman and Pat Rafter.

Cameron, or “Chuckie” as he’s widely known, left the north western Queensland mining town with his family at age two and headed around 200km north to Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria where an idyllic childhood unfolded.

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“We used to go fishing all the time, sometimes in a boat, sometimes off the reefs, and catch a whole lot of different fish — Red Emperor, Sweetlip. Coral Trout, Parrot Fish and Cod. Barracuda, Mackerel, Tuna, Queenfish, Salmon, Giant Herring, Cobia and Giant Trevally. It was a great place to grow up, camping all the time with my family,” Cameron, 25, said this week.

“I stayed on Mornington Island until around Grade 7 and then went to board at Marist College in Ashgrove, Brisbane. I loved my time in Brisbane and played a lot of rugby union and league as a fullback or winger, sometimes in the centres. I probably only played about four games of AFL and spent a few months in the Brisbane Lions Talent Academy, but I didn’t know much about the game at all.”

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Charlie Cameron celebrates a goal against Geelong.

Then came the chance to work with his father in the mines in Newman, Western Australia, at an iron ore outlet called Mount Whaleback. It was hard work, 6am-6pm, but a decent work ethic is something Cameron has been blessed with.

“I went to the mines straight from school, but I really enjoyed it. I have always known I would need to work hard to get to where I want to be. Working in the mines was something I had wanted to do growing up. I was there for about eight months and started playing Aussie rules with a team called the Newman Saints.

“I still didn’t know much about Aussie rules and wasn’t a very good kick, but I had the speed and would tackle and run. I still do it now because being able to run is one of my strengths. I try to use it whenever I can.”

Irrespective of his extreme running abilities, in mid 2012 18-year-old Cameron wasn’t on any AFL club’s radar even though he was beginning to quickly build a reputation with the Newman Saints. But the Saints from the Pilbara were a long way removed from the National Under-18 championships where the likes of Lachie Whitfield, Brodie Grundy, Jake Stringer, Ollie Wines and Nick Vlastuin were earning rave reviews.

Seven years on and Cameron rivals 2012 No.1 draft pick Whitfield as one of the game’s premier running players, even if their journeys couldn’t have been starker in contrast, Whitfield went to Peninsula Grammar School in Mt Eliza on his way to a glittering junior career with various under age Victorian representative teams.

Whitfield’s AFL date with destiny was written at an early age while Cameron edged closer when his sparkling play with Newman enticed Swan Districts to invite him to Perth in November, 2012. Typically, he threw himself into his work on arrival and began an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic while he cut his teeth at Colts level in the WAFL.

The whispers soon started that something very special had emerged and Swan Districts acted accordingly by selecting him for their Round 1 senior team of 2013. In a game against Peel Thunder, “Chuckie” laid eight tackles including a couple of trademark “come from nowhere” match-changers, while a few weeks later he booted five goals against East Fremantle.

Charlie Cameron in action for Swan Districts. Picture: Theo Fakos

The ever-vigilant recruiting team at the Adelaide Crows, led by Hamish Ogilvie, then swooped with pick No.7 in the 2014 rookie draft. Had Cameron not possessed such a desire to work in the mines, who knows how it would have turned out?

“I would have played rugby league with my mates in Brisbane and maybe never played Aussie rules again, you don’t know,” Cameron said in his ever-polite manner.

As it is he’s the only player from the Wellesley Island Group in the Gulf of Carpentaria to play at AFL level, meaning as of this week after Tom Jok’s debut for Essendon on Friday night, South Sudan has provided four more senior players than Mornington Island.

Cameron is acutely proud of his Mornington Island origins, his departure from Adelaide at the end of 2017 being in part due to his desire to give something back to the 200-strong community. He embraces being seen as a role model to his people, just as he embraces playing big games for the Brisbane Lions.

“Playing in those huge games like Geelong and Collingwood this year at home have been pretty electric, just really good to be in even if we didn’t play well against Collingwood,” he said. “Most of my family are still based in northern Queensland, with an uncle, aunty and few cousins in Brisbane. My family come down from Mornington and Mount Isa for a few games to watch me, which is good.

“I love living in Brisbane and Adelaide was pretty good. Melbourne is OK for a couple of days but then it gets too busy for me. Things are good, a lot of belief at the club right now and we are pretty confident. It’s just a vibrant place to be. I actually try to improve a bit in every game and not become complacent, to make the most of my opportunities.”

Originally published as Charlie Cameron’s incredible journey to AFL stardom worthy of a movie script