Brisbane star Charlie Cameron faces a nervous wait after his crunching tackle concussed an opponent during his team’s fighting 13-point win over West Coast at Optus Stadium.
On a day when the Eagles farewelled premiership coach Adam Simpson with an emotional pre-match ceremony, Brisbane star Lachie Neale tallied 34 disposals, 13 clearances and two goals to lift his side to the 16.10 (106) to 14.9 (93) win.
Brisbane’s sixth win on the trot lifted them into fourth spot on the ladder, with the result marking a losing start to the tenure of West Coast interim coach Jarrad Schofield.
All attention will now turn to whether Cameron has a case to answer for his driving tackle that concussed West Coast co-captain Liam Duggan.
Cameron ran in and trapped Duggan before driving the Eagles defender backwards.
The duo fell down, with the back of Duggan’s head hitting the ground with force.
Cameron’s head may have also crashed into Duggan’s as they hit the ground.
Duggan was clearly dazed by the incident and was subbed out of the game.
It marked his second concussion of the season.
Cameron used the “good guy” defence to overturn a one-match ban for a dangerous tackle earlier this season, and it remains to be seen how his latest incident will be graded.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said he didn’t see the tackle, but pointed out that West Coast players didn’t see an issue with it.
“I mean, nobody remonstrated,” Fagan said.
“So I find that probably a positive indicator.
“Sometimes there are accidents and there’s lots of guys who get concussed in this game and the player participating in the incident doesn’t get reported.
“I mean, it’s not a given (that a player gets suspended if the opponent gets concussed).
“It would be sad if it comes to that … accidents happen.”
West Coast subbed Tyler Brockman into the game, but his afternoon was over in the third quarter when he injured his left ankle.
Brisbane led by 28 points early in the final quarter, but their nerves were jangling when the Eagles closed the margin to 12 points midway through the term.
Two goals to Lions excitement machine Kai Lohmann and a major to Neale ensured West Coast’s late charge fell short.
Simpson received a standing ovation from the 41,489-strong crowd before the match, with the 2018 premiership coach thanking the fans for their support during his 11-year stint as coach.
Schofield said he enjoyed his first game as interim coach, and was proud of his team’s fighting efforts.
“I said to the boys before the game that it’s been a while since I’ve had the butterflies run through the stomach,” Schofield said.
“It took me back to the old playing days actually, but I was excited and it was about the opportunity to be able to lead a great bunch of players and the club.”
Brisbane won the clearance battle 15-4 in the opening term, but it wasn’t until the dying minutes of the quarter that they were able to open up an eight-point lead.
The Lions kicked the opening two goals of the third quarter to extend the margin to 22 points, with the centre clearances reading a worrying 13-1 in favour of the visitors at that point.
The margin was still 22 points at the final change, then 28 when Cameron kicked a goal early in the fourth.
West Coast then got on top of the clearance battle, and three goals to Oscar Allen gave the home side hope of pulling off a miracle, before Lohmann and Neale slammed the door shut.