‘Unlike the 23 to play badly in an Adelaide final’.

Charlie Cameron’s Preliminary Final heroics were not lost on Crows fans in the Twittersphere.

Cameron was the spark in Adelaide’s 61-point win over Geelong on Friday night.

The x-factor forward became just the fourth Crow to kick five (or more) goals in a Preliminary Final following in the footsteps of Tony Modra, Matthew Robran and the man who made the No.23 his own, two-time Norm Smith Medallist Andrew McLeod.

It was a stunning return to form for Cameron, who had kicked one goal in his previous five matches.

The 23-year-old gained early confidence with the first goal of the game, and kicked at least one in every quarter to record a new personal best.

He finished with 19 disposals, five inside 50ms, 5.1 and 489 metres gained, ranked behind only lively Cat Steven Motlop (615) and teammate Rory Atkins (566) for the game.

Cameron said he was pleased to reward Don Pyke and his coaching staff for their faith.

“It was just a lot of belief, I had a lot of belief from the coaches,” Cameron said post-game.

“They said, ‘Just go out and have fun. Do what you do and bring your weapon’.

“The ball was coming my way and I ended up getting five goals.

“You’ve got to make the most of those opportunities.”

 

Cameron was also influential in the air against the Cats.

He took six marks, including a spectacular pack grab in the third quarter.

“It (the ball) actually hit me in the head. I thought I was going to be concussed!” Cameron said.

“(After I marked it) I was looking at a few of the boys and I was like, ‘Yeah that’s alright, not bad’”.

Cameron’s exploits prompted the raucous crowd of 53,817 to chant his name – a response usually reserved for three-time All Australian and mentor, Eddie Betts.

The former rookie didn’t hear the chant, or much else out on the ground on Friday night.

“The atmosphere was electric,” he said.

“When I kicked that first goal the noise was unbelievable, the crowd got into it and then we got a few goals after that.

“I got a few goosebumps out there.”

Already in the third finals series of his 72-game career, Cameron couldn’t contain his excitement after Adelaide secured its first Grand Final berth since 1998.

The ex-baseball and rugby player has only played in one Australian Football decider, back in Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia before he was recruited by the Crows.

Cameron said Adelaide’s focus was firmly on winning the ultimate prize at the MCG on Saturday.

“It’s unbelievable. I guess you’ve got to soak this up,” he said.

“It’s going to be a big week, it’s not going to be like a normal week.

“Pykey just said we’ve ticked off another step.

“The next step now is to go to the granny and try and win it.”