Cam Rayner torched for ‘ridiculous’ arrogance in Brisbane Lions win

Number one draft pick Cam Rayner received a furious bake from a footy legend and a talking to from his coach for this rogue act.

Cam Rayner finished with three goals. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Outside of dribble kicks, the lazy across-the-body snap shot for goal might be Jason Dunstall’s biggest pet hate.

For a man who kicked most of his 1254 goals by going back behind the man on the mark and kicking straight through the ball, the invasion of goalkicker’s lining up on a 90 degree angle drives him mad.

Lions youngster Cam Rayner was the latest to feel the Chief’s wrath after he took a contested mark 12m out from goal and went for a snap instead of regulation drop punt.

It left Dunstall’s blood boiling.

“We love Cam Rayner, we love what he’s doing, he’s going to be a really good player, but he hasn’t played in enough games to be this arrogant,” Dunstall told Fox Footy.

“That’s exactly what this is, this is arrogance. You’ve just taken a mark 12m out on a slight angle.

“You can laugh that off, but the coach isn’t laughing because the good teams have to be ruthless.

“You don’t give away goals like that. He’s never kicked four in a game, and he still hasn’t because of that.

“You’ve just got to tick those boxes. He’s not (the only one to do it), but that’s ridiculous and I would be pulling him aside and saying, ‘Get that out of your game, mate’. It frustrates me no end.

“He’s a good young player, but (Fagan) will spray him for that. Do that against a good team and see what happens.

“From that position on the ground, that was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen.”

After Rayner’s boot caught the middle of the ball, Lions coach Chris Fagan was captured reacting furiously on the bench, smacking his hands together and yelling some colourful language.

Lions coach Chris Fagan talks to Cam Rayner. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

He followed up by giving Rayner a dressing down at the three-quarter time break but was in a softer mood after Brisbane’s 13.10 (88) to 6.7 (43) win.

“I was a bit dirty on him when he took that shot, but he was dirty on himself,” Fagan said in his press conference.

“We were down a couple on the bench and I was just fairly happy to take 30 seconds every time we got a set shot because I wasn’t sure how we’d run the game out.

“He’s a good kid, Cam, he came straight over at three-quarter time and was very apologetic.

“I think he’ll learn. He’s been a great learner the whole time that he’s been here, so no concerns about that.

“All those things are good for you, to make those mistakes and learn from them, that’s how you become good.”