Brisbane Lions’ Charlie Cameron might have kicked the goal of the year against the GWS Giants. The Lions star used the edge of his foot to flick the ball towards the goal in a move that looked a lot like what Cristiano Ronaldo does on the soccer pitch. Cameron equalled a Manuka Oval record with the seven goals he scored, as the Brisbane Lions managed to secure a tough 21-point win over the Giants.
AFL Greats Sure He “Meant It”
The goal came late in the first quarter when, even though Cameron was tightly marked by Giants defender Isaac Cumming, he managed to get on the end of a ball Lions teammate Jack Gunston sent towards the goal square. He took everyone by surprise by knocking the ball towards the big sticks without even looking that way.
The goal and Cameron’s move were scrutinized in a lengthy review, but it was clear that Cameron did indeed get his foot to the ball. The fact Cameron seemingly got his foot to the ball on purpose left AFL legends Jordan Lewis and Garry Lyon stunned.
Lyon said that Cameron simply let the ball roll onto his foot, used its momentum to redirect it and then let it roll off his foot. The AFL great thought Cameron “meant it” and the fact his head spun straight away showed he knew where the ball was going, meaning what he did was “football genius.”
Not a Fluke
The AFL media personality praised Cameron for the skill he showed in pulling off the move, claiming it was “a little bit off the charts.” He added that he saw enough of the player in recent years to know that he did that on purpose.
There were no doubts in Lewis’ mind too that the goal wasn’t a fluke. The former Hawthorn and Melbourne star said that if anyone else had done that, he wouldn’t have been sure that the move was deliberate.
Lewis analyzed the play a bit more closely and claimed that if you looked at Cameron’s foot, you would notice that his toes were up at first. Then when he noticed that the ball wasn’t going to bounce to his hand, he lowered his foot down and tried to deflect the ball in the desired direction.
Lewis thought that Cameron initially was hoping for a higher bounce of the ball. However, when he realized that wasn’t going to happen he made a split-second decision to “flatten his foot out” and let it roll over it.
