There was a time when the thought of becoming a two-time AFL premiership champion and one of the greatest small forwards the game has seen didn’t interest Charlie Cameron.
Born in the outback Queensland mining town of Mount Isa before moving to the remote Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria for his early schooling, rugby league was his dream.
“I preferred rugby league. I was a Melbourne Storm supporter as a kid, so I wanted to play rugby league as a kid. AFL wasn’t big back then,” Cameron recalled.
Even upon his move to Brisbane as a boarder at Marist College Ashgrove, he blossomed into a rugby union star at the same school that produced at least 25 Wallabies – John Eales and Daniel Herbert among them.
Now, Cameron is daring to dream of his face being etched onto a major hometown monument.
“There’s a billboard when you go into Mount Isa of all the sport star figures – Pat Rafter, Simon Black was born there, Scotty Prince, Greg Norman – so I was like, ‘Why can’t I be on there?’ ” Cameron laughed, referring to the remote region’s “Birthplace of Champions”.
“Hopefully one day I can get on there, but there are some pretty good sport stars who have come out of Mount Isa.”
When his family moved to Western Australia, a then 17-year-old Cameron followed. He had barely played Aussie rules until that point, with his brief foray leading to a six-month stint with the Brisbane Lions’ academy before he quit the code.
Like his father, Cameron joined the mining sector. They were long days, the now 32-year-old lamented, and he needed a new outlet. It was there that he played for a local Aussie rules side in the Pilbara region, the Newman Saints – his first organised club football.
Despite the league being remote, he quickly caught the eye of WAFL outfit the Swan Districts.
Two years after his venture to Perth, he was playing in an Adelaide Crows jumper after being selected in the 2013 rookie draft.
“Moving to WA probably helped me and gave me opportunities, and I took it with both hands. I was working in the mines, working six until six, so working 12-hour days was different,” Cameron said.
“That, and also working at a Ford dealership as an apprentice mechanic. It wasn’t fun sweeping the floors and doing that sort of stuff as a first year apprentice.
“I was actually alright at footy and got good at it.”
That was a moment that triggered the rise of one of the AFL’s elite small forwards, with his five-goal haul in Brisbane’s semi-final triumph of Adelaide making him just the third player to kick 400 majors for the club – a milestone he will reflect on “when I’m retired in a couple of years’ time”.
Cameron comes off contract at the end of 2028. By that stage, Brisbane will be hopeful that Kai Lohmann and Logan Morris will be ready to spearhead the forward line for the next decade.
One piece of that puzzle has already been secured, with Morris announcing a two-year contract extension through to the end of 2029, fresh off clinching his maiden All-Australian blazer in a year he has kicked 67 goals, taking his career tally to 144 from just 69 games.
Lohmann, who lauded Cameron as “a great mentor for me on and off the field”, remains unsigned beyond 2027, and the Victorian is expected to command lucrative interest as he continues to cement his reputation as one of the league’s most energetic small forwards.
The 23-year-old’s two goals on Saturday night each came inside the opening minute of the first and third quarter, while his 18 disposals were the equal-second most of his career.
“I’ll definitely get into his ear over the off season, and hopefully, he can stay,” Morris said of Lohmann, while suggesting he chose “where he was happy mentally” over rival offers when determining his own future.
“Whatever he does is his decision, but we want him to stay because he’s very valued at this club.”
Cameron remains a student of the game
While his time in the AFL has stretched into a 13th season, Cameron remains a student of his craft. Even 21-year-old All-Australian forward Nick Watson, who Cameron will face in Saturday’s preliminary final against Hawthorn, features on the veteran’s hard drive of downloaded footage.
That research now requires a more delicate balancing act after he and his partner welcomed their first child in August.
“Fatherhood is a different challenge now, I’m not sleeping well at night, but trying to get six or seven hours of sleep,” Cameron said with a smile.
“Now it’s probably more like four or five, but I’m loving every moment.”
While the challenge of being a parent continues, Cameron’s eyes are resting on a showdown with the Hawks at the MCG – a stage he has become accustomed to thriving on.
It was in last year’s grand final triumph of Geelong that he rediscovered his mojo, having endured a lacklustre season by his lofty standards – his 32 goals were his fewest since the shortened COVID-19 affected 2020 campaign – before booting four majors on the last Saturday of September.
With the silverware on the line once again, he is bracing to become the point of difference.
“I took a lot of confidence from the grand final. I just followed that form on and understood the belief and confidence I had in myself, that I could still do it at that level,” Cameron said.
“It’s more about the moments in finals, especially as a small forward – you don’t get many looks, so I think I’ve just prided myself on taking my opportunities and moments throughout the game.”
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