Josh Dunkley backs his suspension Lion Charlie Cameron calls tackle perfect, three-week suspension, tribunal, Brisbane, final, latest news

Lions star Josh Dunkley fears the charges against his Brisbane teammate Charlie Cameron for a “perfect tackle” will lead to further reticence among players as they face suspension.

Cameron was banned for three matches by the match commissioner for tackling West Coast defender Liam Duggan in Brisbane’s 13-point win over the Eagles in Perth.

A concussed Duggan had to leave the field after hitting the back of his head on the turf during a tackle.

The Lions will struggle to resist Cameron’s attack, which was described as “careless, with heavy force and a lot of physical contact.”

Dunkley, who was close to the incident at the time it occurred, said it was a “very harsh punishment”.

“I obviously didn’t know (at the time) what would have happened to Duggan, but I thought it was the perfect tackle,” said the Brisbane midfielder.

“The referee and everyone said at the time that it was a perfect tackle.

“What are you doing? As a player today, I go into tackles and worry about what the outcome will be.

“You’re very hesitant about what you’re doing and I feel like that’s going to affect everyone in the competition because guys might hold back a little bit and I don’t know if we want that.”

Dunkley said Cameron could not have done “much differently” and Duggan’s bad luck was “part of the game”.

“They go forward to apply pressure and he (Duggan) gets the ball and unfortunately suffers a concussion in a tackle,” he said.

“As players, we go out there every week knowing full well that we can get injured. We expect nothing less.”

“You know it’s going to be a very physical game and that at any moment we could get injured, get a concussion or whatever.”

Dunkley remained hopeful that Cameron’s charges would be dropped so that he would be available for Brisbane’s clash with clear league leaders Sydney at the Gabba on Sunday.

“If not, we will adapt in due course,” he said ahead of the resurgent Lions’ attempt to claim their seventh consecutive victory.

“We all know how well they (the Swans) have played this year… (but) on a good day, anyone can be beaten.”

“It all comes down to who comes with the best attitude and the best mindset. Hopefully that’s us this weekend and we can go one step further.”

“We are looking forward to the challenge. We know that we play really good football and so do they. So it is a great challenge for us to play at home in front of a full house.”