Brisbane asks AFL about treatment of Charlie Cameron as it prepares for Dylan Grimes-led Tigers
Brisbane contacted the AFL over Richmond defender Dylan Grimes’ close-checking tactics on Charlie Cameron. But Chris Fagan says his team isn’t “expecting any favours from the umpires” this weekend.
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Brisbane coach Chris Fagan admits the club sought clarity from the umpires over non-calls from contests between Charlie Cameron and Dylan Grimes but says the onus is on his forward to find new strategies to counteract the Tiger defender.
Cameron was visibly frustrated by the close checking of his All-Australian teammate during the Tigers’ 27-point victory at the MCG in round 23.
Fagan said the club regularly made contact with the umpiring department because they wanted to limit infringements and the best way to achieve that was to understand fully the whistle blowers’ interpretations of contests.
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“We don’t do it to whinge and moan, we do it because we actually try to be a side that doesn’t give away too many free kicks because it doesn’t help,” he said.
“After the game against Richmond we did what we always do and we just asked them about a few of the decisions that were made both for and against us.
“Included in that was a couple of the contests that Charlie was involved with. So yes we have asked the question about that but some other things as well.”
Brisbane believe Cameron is turning into defenders too often to instigate contact and Fagan said he had been working with the All Australian forward to help him find new ways to get off his man ahead of Saturday’s qualifying final at the Gabba.
“He and Dylan Grimes are both two great players all right and we think that probably Charlie needs to come up with a few more strategies to challenge Dylan Grimes and that’s what we’ve been working on over the last two weeks,” he said.
“We’re not expecting any favours from the umpires. They’ll just umpire what they see and we know umpiring is an extremely difficult task so we’re not really on anything in regards to the umpires.
“It’s all about how Charlie goes about his work and how his teammates can help him and all those sorts of things.”
Fagan rejected suggestions the Lions had become too focused on Cameron and pointed proudly to the even spread of goal kickers which had become a hallmark of the side throughout the season.
“If you go and have a look at all the AFL teams and who averages the most guys having a shot on goal per game — it’s us, we’re number one,” he said.
“We have about eight and a half goal kickers per game which is as good as anyone.
“That’s the answer to that question. Charlie’s been on fire lately and so the focus has gone on him but to win finals you need multiple avenues to goal. That’s what we’ll be looking for.”
Captain Dayne Zorko also said there was no need to panic that Cameron’s output was down last time the two sides met.
“We know there’s a lot of talk around Charlie but there’s other guys in that forward line who are just as dangerous and can certainly do damage on the scoreboard,” he said.
“From my point of view there’s a lot of guys who can go through there.”
Originally published as Brisbane asks AFL about treatment of Charlie Cameron as it prepares for Dylan Grimes-led Tigers