JEREMY Cameron has a 10cm scar on his right arm to remind him what went wrong on Grand Final day, but the slow healing process is almost complete ahead of his first scheduled game of 2026 in next month's AAMI AFL Origin fixture in Perth.
Cameron, who became a two-time Coleman Medallist in 2025, broke his ulna just before half-time when he collided with Patrick Dangerfield in a game-defining moment. Brisbane led by a goal at that point, before gliding to a 47-point victory in the second half to go back-to-back.
The 32-year-old returned to the field in the third quarter with an arm guard but went back into the rooms after his courageous one-arm chase-down tackle on Jaspa Fletcher and spent the next 17 minutes off the ground heading into the final break.
Cameron returned in the fourth quarter with even more padding on him arm, but cruelly couldn't impact like he did across a 2025 campaign where he was named All-Australian captain.
The now five-time All-Australian key forward underwent surgery on the Tuesday after the Grand Final to insert a plate into his arm and has had to carefully monitor its progress across his 15th pre-season in the AFL. He hasn't missed a session all summer and is almost ready to be fully left off the leash again.
"It was a good one [break], it wasn't just a little one. I've had to be careful with it and monitor it all the way through [since the Grand Final]," Cameron told AFL.com.au on Thursday.
"It wasn't the ideal way to end my season with a broken arm. It was a bit frustrating and you have to deal with that over the off-season when you want to get away. It was lingering there. It has been a bit of a process that I'm still working with, but it's feeling strong.
"The rest of the body is feeling awesome, I've been able to train every session so far. I'm feeling good. I like being out on the track. I'm going 33 this year and it's all about being out there. You see the younger guys out in front of you and the way they train is incredible – I used to be there – I have to accept now that I can't win the 200s when we do them and the 500s."
Cameron hasn't watched a replay of the Grand Final but is aware of the discourse around the time he spent off the ground and the decision to sub Rhys Stanley instead of the key forward. The pain of the result has endured much longer than the pain of the break.
"These things happen all the time, it's just unfortunate it happened in the biggest game that you play. It didn't feel great playing with it as you can imagine – it hurt a bit – but it's one of those things … it's Grand Final day you've got to give it everything for the boys," Cameron said.
"It was heavily discussed but you don't have much time to make these decisions; it moved pretty quick for me; it was down the rooms, back up, 'how's it going?', down the rooms, back up, I felt all over the place. It's frustrating and we didn't get the result, which hurt a lot more."
Cameron and the Cats have moved on from the disappointment of September. They've responded before. After falling short at the Gabba in 2020, Geelong went all the way in 2022 in Cameron's second season at Kardinia Park. Steven King has left for his first gig at Melbourne, but Nathan Buckley has replaced him as midfield coach.
"He comes with a lot of knowledge; he is a very smart man; he was an unbelievable player and coach as well," he said. "Every time I walk past his office he has a new player in there discussing things, looking at training, reviewing, giving his insight and how he thinks we can improve. It is exciting to have him and were lucky to have him."
Before Geelong's campaign starts on the Gold Coast in Opening Round, Cameron will play for Victoria against Western Australia in the first Origin game since 1999. He wore the Big V in the Bushfire Appeal game at the start of 2020, but this selection is more significant for the Dartmoor product, who played only one game for Vic Country at under-18 level before being picked by Greater Western Sydney as a bottom-ager ahead of the Giants' inaugural season.
"It is huge," he said. "Coming into the AFL when I was young, I hadn't seen much of it [State of Origin football]; I didn’t play much [representative] junior football and then as you transition into AFL footy you hear more about it and watch the tapes and see the players that played for Victoria in the past. There haven't been many games in my lifetime, but it's exciting that one isn't far away. I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
No club has more Origin representation than Geelong. Five Cats have been picked – Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Stewart, Max Holmes and Cameron for Victoria, Lawson Humphries for Western Australia – plus Chris Scott will coach the Big V. Cameron expects the two-time premiership coach to get creative structurally.
"He is one of the best, clearly," he said. "He thinks differently, is relaxed with his approach and has a lot of ideas that people probably don't think about. He puts a lot of time into it. It is exciting for the team. He might throw some magnets around. I don't know how we’re going to fit our midfielders into the midfield. He would have thought about all that, he would have thought about it long and hard. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does."
Cameron enters 2026 on the back of a career best 88 goals last year and needs 20 appearances this season to reach 300 games. He is locked in at GMHBA Stadium for the next two seasons and appears to have plenty left in the tank. Not that he lets himself think too far ahead.
"I go through all sorts of different things," he said. "Round three or four last year I remember calling Ryan Griffen and saying 'I might be ready to retire'. He is a close family friend and played a lot of football. I had a chat to him because I had a slow start to the season and it was frustrating; you go through all these emotions all the time. Then the season turned out alright.
"I don't put a timeline on it. I do enjoy myself a lot more than I don't. It's important to keep rolling with the punches. I still love training, love playing, love getting out there and trying to do my thing. If I feel I can keep doing that for two, three, four, five years then I'll keep going, but at the same time I might hang them up overnight, so be ready for it."
If Geelong is to atone for last September this September, the man with the new scar on his right arm will need to deliver another season to remember at Kardinia Park.
