Jeremy Cameron is facing a long spell on the sidelines after a sickening hit on Brisbane defender Harris Andrews that blighted Greater Western Sydney’s 27-point AFL victory at the Gabba.
The star Giants forward caught the Lions vice-captain – his direct opponent – flush in the jaw with a raised elbow as he attempted to spoil 11 minutes into the first quarter on Saturday.
Andrews appeared to be out cold before he hit the ground and was taken off on a medicab with a bleeding chin following a lengthy stoppage.
Cameron, who came in from behind and appeared to be no chance of winning the ball, stressed after the match that he did not mean to hurt Andrews.
“It was unfortunate, the way it panned out. I just played the ball on its merits, I like hitting it nice and hard,” he said.
Andrews, 21, was fortunate to escape serious injury, needing only four stitches to repair the damage and was apparently cracking jokes in the Brisbane rooms after returning to consciousness.
But his absence did mean the Lions were robbed of one of their most important players for almost the entire match.
They made a bright start to the contest and were actually ahead on the scoreboard when Andrews was felled but were outscored four goals to one by the Giants for the rest of the quarter.
Two of them came from Cameron, who went on to kick his third goal after the half-time siren to give GWS a comfortable 24-point lead.
They were never truly in doubt beyond that point despite a brave attempt at a comeback by a Luke Hodge-led Brisbane, who closed to within 15 points in the last quarter.
But the Lions eventually fell 16.13 (109) to 12.10 (82) as the Giants recorded their seventh win of the season and third in a row.
The match itself, however, was largely overshadowed by Cameron’s actions, which will surely see him sent straight to the AFL tribunal and slapped with a lengthy ban.
Cameron was roundly condemned on social media by AFL identities, including ex-Lions captain Tom Rockliff and former umpires boss Peter Schwab.
He was also vigorously booed by the 11,267-strong crowd every time he touched the ball.
Cameron’s poor disciplinary record won’t help his cause with the tribunal. He has already been charged 10 times in his seven-year AFL career and suspended twice for a total of five weeks.