CHRIS Fagan has lavished praise on dynamic Brisbane small forward Charlie Cameron, likening his influence on games to that of former Hawthorn great Cyril Rioli.
Cameron lit up the Gabba on Saturday night, kicking six exhilarating goals to lead the Lions to a 91-point rout of Gold Coast.
The haul takes the dynamic goalsneak to 47 majors for the season, equal with Jack Darling and trailing only Jeremy Cameron, Ben Brown, Tom Hawkins and Tom Lynch in the Coleman Medal race.
Charlie Cameron never wore a Lions jumper against Cyril, but showed the Hawks champ the back of a Crows guernsey.
It wasn't just the six goals, but the jaw-dropping nature of them that drew praise from the Brisbane coach.
LIONS THRASH SUNS Full match details and stats
"It's just good to sit back and watch him," Fagan said.
"I had the great pleasure of watching Cyril Rioli for a number of years at Hawthorn and Charlie's up there in the sorts of things he can do, he doesn't need many touches to influence a game.
Four goals to half-time!
— AFL (@AFL) August 10, 2019
Charlie Cameron is en fuego! #AFLLionsSuns pic.twitter.com/SKHrbtc1vj
"He's a popular team member and brings pressure. Good on him."
Fagan worked at Hawthorn for nine seasons in a number of roles, including footy manager and director of coaching, watching Rioli for much of his decorated 189-game, four-premiership career.
SHOWREEL The Charlie show proves a big hit
Cameron kicked one goal in the first quarter but took a tight contest completely out of Gold Coast's reach with a dazzling three-goal second term that netted him the Marcus Ashcroft Medal.
They were all half-chances at best, with his blinding speed too much to handle in a crumbing situation or at stoppages.
With matches to come against Geelong and Richmond – as well as finals - Cameron now has the chance to kick 50 goals for the season.
"They are big numbers," Fagan said.
"Fifty goals is hard to get these days for any forward, the way the game's played, the way teams defend. For him to do that, that's exceptional."
Brisbane's coach said the percentage-boosting victory was arguably his team's most complete of the season.
And the drive to complete a four-quarter performance came from the players, he said.
WATCH Chris Fagan's full post-match media conference
"There was a bit of chit-chat on the bench just before three quarter-time amongst them, we hadn't actually won four quarters in a game this year.
"I had a conversation with them at three quarter-time and said "what do you want to do in the last quarter" and that was clearly what they wanted to do, so they set themselves that goal to finish the game off and they were able to do that.
"The important part was not so much how much we won by, but the manner in which we played.
"You couldn't ask much more from the players than what they gave."