BRISBANE livewire Charlie Cameron has been putting himself first this pre-season, for the good of the team.

While 2025 finished on a high for the now-dual premiership player, it was a frustratingly tough season for the small forward, who struggled for consistency and to impact on games, particularly in the first half of the year.

Cameron kicked 32 goals – his lowest tally since 2018, bar the shortened 2020 season – and they came with a rush, with 11 kicked in the final six matches of the year. 

"I didn’t have the standard I wanted in the season, but obviously the last three games, the finals, I probably showed that I can still have that impact with limited opportunities," Cameron said.

"Throughout the pre-season, I've probably stepped back from the leadership role and just tried to focus on my own role, going forward. That's something I've been working on.

"Coming back and trying to get myself into a position to have an impact in pre-season, and understand that my best is up there with the best, so I think I've just got to try and do that consistently. It doesn't have to be a four-, five-goal game, I've just got to play my role, get my tackles up and if I get a look, to make the most of my opportunities. 

"Last year, I think I kicked [42 per cent goalkicking accuracy], so that's something I've been working on this pre-season."

Cameron said under-fire teammate Lachie Neale has been starring in the club's match simulations, having stood down from the captaincy over summer after a public marriage breakdown.

"Lachie's spoken to the media and he's said what he had to say, and he's had a good pre-season so far," Cameron said.

"We had match sim last week, and he dominated. He's just trying to focus on his footy now and get himself sorted. I can't really comment too much about his personal life, but I see him at training now, working hard to put himself in a good position to have a big year in footy."

Neale held the captaincy alongside Harris Andrews for three seasons, and vice-captains Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley shape as potential replacements.

"Obviously Lachie's stepped down, and there's a huge role there to fill with the captaincy. I think we'll find out in the next few weeks about our captaincy, we're going through the process at the moment with our leadership group," Cameron said.

"I think Harris is an unbelievable captain, he'd be fine doing it by himself. He's a very good role model for our younger players and lives our trademarks. If Harris is by himself, I'm pretty happy with that, but Josh and 'Hughy', have been unbelievable vice-captains, so I think they might put their hand up, but we'll find out in the next few weeks."