Matthew Lloyd believes Brisbane’s one-point loss to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night was due in part to their over reliance on star small forward Charlie Cameron.
The club lost Eric Hipwood to an ACL injury earlier in the season and Daniel McStay to concussion during last week’s qualifying final, leaving Joe Daniher as their only big man inside forward fifty.
However, Lions players chose instead to target Cameron, looking for him inside 50 on 16 occasions during the semi final- 10 more than season average- while only choosing Daniher on six occasions.
Despite the All Australian small getting off to a quick start with three first quarter goals, Lloyd believes it gave the Dogs a way to win the game.
“The issue for the Brisbane Lions was how much they went to Charlie Cameron,” Lloyd told AFL Media’s Access All Areas.
“It was Cameron or bust.”
“If (the Bulldogs) stopped Cameron after half time then they could win the game, and that’s what Taylor Duryea did.”
“You get exposed in finals football for every little weakness that you’ve got.”
Daniher had a quite finals series by his lofty standards, having little impact in the Lions’ first final before recording just six disposals and a goal on Saturday night.
“When (Cameron) got shut down, no one else could score,” Lloyd said.
“In a big final, it wasn’t a great return for Joe.”
Cameron was the clubs’ leading goalkicker for 2021 with 55 majors, with Daniher not far behind on 46.