Charlie Cameron’s one-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Melbourne’s Jake Lever has been overturned by the AFL Tribunal, successfully clearing the star Brisbane forward for their blockbuster clash with Geelong.
Cameron’s tackle was graded by Match Review Officer Michael Christian as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact to trigger the one-match ban.
At the Tribunal hearing, the Lions argued for low instead of medium impact, adding that Cameron’s previously clear record should be considered in his favour.
Cameron claimed the weight difference between him and Lever contributed to him taking the Demons defender to ground, saying he ‘[didn’t] think there was enough force for him [Lever] to snap his head like that off the ground’.
Lions counsel Adrian Anderson cited several dangerous tackles that have been cleared by the MRO so far in 2023, including one from Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson on Carlton’s Ollie Hollands two days after Cameron’s tackle.
The club’s defence also provided character witnesses from former great Eddie Betts and Indigenous Elder Gregory Egert.
The AFL argued the force Cameron used in laying the tackle was ‘excessive’, and that he made no attempt to slow Lever’s momentum as he was brought to ground, dismissing the arm Lever had free as being ‘not adequately enough for him to prevent his head from hitting the ground’.
The Tribunal accepted the Lions’ case, downgrading Cameron’s suspension to a fine.