Comparisons with Hawthorn great Cyril Rioli may not sit well with Brisbane livewire Charlie Cameron just yet.
But the Lions’ small forward is comfortable talking up his team’s AFL chances with a top four finish on the line in the next fortnight.
Brisbane coach and former Hawks general manager Chris Fagan was quick to draw parallels with four-time premiership winner Rioli, after Cameron’s stunning career-best six-goal haul that inspired the Lions’ 91-point last round win over Gold Coast.
Not that Cameron was buying into it on Monday.
“It’s an honour to be compared to Cyril Rioli,” he said.
“I remember going to the 2015 grand final and they played West Coast, I was doing the grand final sprint and he won the Norm Smith (Medal).
“It’s a huge honour to be named like him, put in that category, but I’ve got a long way to go.”
However, Cameron didn’t play down the Lions’ title hopes after they moved to second on the ladder with their club record win over the hapless Suns.
In a season finish that will determine their top two hopes, the Lions will host ladder leaders Geelong at a sold out Gabba on Saturday night ahead of their regular season finale against Richmond at the MCG.
Saturday’s clash has set the stage for the Lions’ biggest game since their sold out round five game against Collingwood.
Back then, the Lions suffered serious stage fright, going down by 62 points to the Pies.
But Cameron reckons the Lions would be up for the challenge this weekend after racking up eight straight wins.
“It was a big game, (Easter) Thursday night (in round five) and we didn’t perform,” Cameron said.
“We’ve learned a lot as a team. It’s going to set us up in terms of that’s how finals footy is played.
“Our contested ball is going to have to be on top of our game because they (Geelong) have some star players there.”