GIANTS coach Leon Cameron has hit out at some of the hysterical commentary surrounding star forward Jeremy Cameron's clash with Brisbane defender Harris Andrews.
Cameron was whacked with a five-game suspension by the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday after his strike on Andrews left the young Lion
The incident attracted enormous media attention, with some outlets comparing Cameron's hit to the infamous elbowing charge handed to St Kilda's Tony Lockett after he floored Sydney's Peter Caven in 1994, and more recently, a crude hit from Port Adelaide's Tom Jonas on Andrew Gaff that earned the Power defender a six-week ban in 2016.
While most commentators agreed Cameron deserved a significant stint on the sidelines, the
"The thing that disappointed me the most was the actual incident itself because we felt for Harris, but the second part was the assassination of Jeremy's character from key people (in the media) that clearly had an agenda," he said.
"I was really disappointed, especially with people with prominent positions in the AFL media.
"Calling someone a thug or a dog, those words don't relate to Jeremy Cameron.
"The people that have said that should be embarrassed and really disappointed."
The GIANTS coach was joined by co-captain Phil Davis in
While Davis conceded the 25-year-old needed to be suspended by the AFL Tribunal, he believed reaction directed at his teammate in the aftermath was "disgusting".
"Some of the reaction has really disappointed me," Davis said on The Footy Phil podcast.
"When you have people who speak with bias, slanderous words.
"The hyperbole surrounding some of the comments was disgusting.
"I get frustrated because people forget Jeremy is a human being as well."
Davis said the incident was nowhere near as bad as it looked on TV, pointing to Lions players who barely remonstrated with Cameron at the time.
He called for media and fans to better understand how quick the game is.
"I think people that don't understand that, in particular, are certain journalists who sit behind the microphone, their pieces of paper and haven't lived it and experienced it," Davis said.
"Your natural instinct, which is human survival, takes over and you have to protect yourself.
"Unfortunately in this situation Jeremy's mechanism to protect himself lent harm to Harris and I hope Harris is going well and we send our support there.
"Football is football and there are unfortunate events because people get caught in bad positions all the time.
“He had no intention to do anything malicious or wrong and it's disrespectful to say 'dog act'."
Cameron is second in the race for the Coleman Medal, five goals behind North Melbourne spearhead Ben Brown (40 goals).
The GIANTS sit in 10th on the ladder, two points behind the eighth-placed Kangaroos.
Cameron won't play again until the Giants' round 20
