Geelong forward Jeremy Cameron got away with staggering act

Geelong gun Jeremy Cameron appears to have gotten away with murder and then added insult to injury during the Cats’ win over the Lions.

Jeremy Cameron appears to have gotten away with a professional foul during the Cats’ soggy win over the Lions on Saturday night.

Lions coach Chris Fagan was frustrated after his team’s 26-point loss — which was played out on a Gabba surface that looked like a pond at times.

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The Cats restricted Brisbane to just one goal in the second half and the difficult conditions had more than a few players struggling to control their anger.

Cameron was certainly one of those as he and teammate Tom Hawkins both failed to kick a goal — the first time the pair have played together and both gone goalless.

Cameron was involved in an incident late in the third quarter when he brought Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage to ground in a tackle that was rewarded with a holding-the-ball free kick.

Replays showed Cameron earlier in the play shoved McCluggage out of a marking position as he ran back with the flight of the ball.

Jeremy Cameron stuck the boot out. Photo: Fox Footy.

With less than a minute left in the third quarter and just six points separating the two teams, McCluggage was attempting to mark the ball 30m out from goal, but was muscled out by Cameron.

The former GWS talent dropped the mark which spilled back into the path of McCluggage. The 26-year-old was then tackled by Cameron as he ran through with the Geelong forward sticking his leg out while also appearing to collect McCluggage across the chin.

McCluggage dived on the ball as it dropped from his grasp on the way to the turf and umpires awarded Cameron a free kick because of it.

When McCluggage refused to hand the ball over straight away, Cameron grabbed his opponent’s jumper and lifted him up and down.

When Lions teammates ran in to help McCluggage the umpires then added insult to injury by handing Cameron a 50m free kick.

Had McCluggage been awarded a free kick the scores could easily have been tied up at three-quarter time.

The incident did not totally go unmissed during the TV broadcast with Channel 7’s Jason Bennett asking: “Was he legged?”

Plenty of fans appear to think so with one video of the incident being watched more than 20,000 times on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Trip. Tough to spot live but definitely there. May even be a fine

— Has the umpire made A Bad decision? (@hasumpstuffedup) April 20, 2024

Under AFL match review guidelines, Cameron’s act would likely only receive a fine if Match Review Officer Michael Christian judges the contact to have been significant.

The AFL’s tribunal code for 2024 states: “In determining whether a trip constitutes a Reportable Offence, regard will be had to how fast the opponent was moving, whether the trip was by hand or by foot/leg and whether contact was made with a swinging motion.

“To constitute a Classifiable Offence, Tripping requires more than negligible impact. Where a trip does not have more than negligible impact, it is still open to the MRO to charge a Player with Tripping under the Fixed Financial Offences table where it is satisfied that notwithstanding the result, a Reportable Offence was committed.

“Where no contact or minor contact is made, the MRO can charge a Player with an Attempt to Trip, which is also a Fixed Financial Offence.”

Fagan and McCluggage have much bigger things to worry about as the 2023 runners-up slipped to their fourth loss of the year.

With just two wins from their opening sox matches, Brisbane’s premiership campaign is already on the rocks.

Jeremy Cameron of the Cats celebrates with fans after the win. Photo by Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Fagan said after the match he was most frustrated about his team’s failure to adapt to the conditions.

“We overused the ball and I thought Geelong played way smarter,” said Fagan.

Oscar McInerny suffered a concussion in the second term and was subbed out of the contest.

“Losing Oscar hurt us a lot around the ground but he didn’t look to have any permanent damage to his chin or anything.

“Inaccuracy also cost us a lot in a low-scoring game like tonight.

“I think we exaggerate where teams are on the ladder this time of year, we’re two and four, it’s not ideal but there is a lot of footy to be played.”

Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott said his young midfield brigade was impressive.

“It was more like Geelong conditions than Brisbane,” said Scott.

“They were all over us early, we prepared for the best and they have some real clean ball handlers.

“It’s exciting to see our players are coming through and the new midfielders like Bruhn have stepped up, Parfitt has taken his opportunity the most.

“That combination of Clark, Parfitt and Bowes have all been great.”

Tom Stewart was subbed out after he suffered a concussion late in the second term and will miss next week’s clash Carlton.

“It will be difficult coming up against Carlton without Tom,” he said.

“There’s nobody we can replace that will be equal to Tom, but we’ve been really clear that the best teams will need a deep squad. It is a great opportunity for our younger key backs.”

— with NCA NewsWire

Originally published as Geelong forward Jeremy Cameron got away with staggering act