‘Pretty big snap’: Cameron played out grand final with a broken arm

Jeremy Cameron played out the grand final with a broken arm after injuring it in a heavy collision with superstar teammate Patrick Dangerfield shortly before half-time in Geelong’s 47-point loss to Brisbane.

Dangerfield said he heard a “pretty big snap” when Cameron’s right arm appeared to get wedged between the pair’s bodies, and the Cats said after the game that Cameron had suffered a fracture.

Jeremy Cameron played out the grand final with a fractured arm.Credit: AFL Photos

The dual Coleman medallist grimaced in pain, before returning to start the second half sporting a protective arm guard.

Cameron aggravated the injury during an inspirational chase-down tackle of Lion Jaspa Fletcher – which set up a Max Holmes goal and was the last time the Cats hit the lead – before spending more time off for treatment, then returning to play out the match virtually one-handed.

“I heard a pretty big snap during the game,” Dangerfield told Seven.

“It’s one of those things – it’s a grand final, so you do whatever you can.”

In a separate interview, Dangerfield played a straighter bat when asked about Cameron’s plight.

“He looked pretty sore,” Geelong’s captain said.

“He’s obviously an important player for us.

“Not sure where that’s at.”

Even before he was impaired, Cameron was held goalless, soundly beaten by Darcy Gardiner.

It was Geelong’s second loss from four grand finals under 15-year coach Chris Scott, and a third in seven deciders this century.

“It’s difficult for us right at the moment, but in the fullness of time, when you sit back and think about the quality of team that beat us in this grand final, it might ease the pain a little bit,” Scott said.

“There were a lot of things known and unknown that were really challenging for us this year.

“To be perfectly frank, there were times where it just seemed unlikely that we would be able to overcome those obstacles to give ourselves a chance today.”

Teammate Tom Atkins wasn’t sure the extent of Cameron’s injury but was quick to defend the superstar forward’s performance.

“I saw he came off with a sore arm, but he was back out pretty quickly,” Atkins said.

“I don’t know what happened to Jez. I don’t think he played poorly at all.

“We probably didn’t give him the best service as mids. That was nothing about Jez.

“I don’t know what the injury is, but it would take a lot for someone to miss playing out a grand final.”

Atkins also threw his support behind Dangerfield, who lowered his colours to Brandon Starcevich a week after piecing together one of the great individual September performances in Geelong’s preliminary final win over Hawthorn.

“I think maybe we didn’t give them as good a look as we could have,” Atkins said.

“We kicked in straight lines for most of the day and their [Brisbane’s] defence is too good to do that to.”

The Lions began getting on top during time-on of the third term before roaring to the finish line. 

Jeremy Cameron applies a tackle with his left arm during the second half.Credit: Channel Seven

Atkins still believed the Cats were a strong shout when they trailed by 19 at the last break.

“At three-quarter-time we were still very confident we could break the game open,” he said.

“It just turned out that that’s what they did.”

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