Charlie Cameron smirks when he says AFL might one day become the dominant football code in Brisbane but insists there will only ever be one "king" in town.
The Lions star can now see himself in gigantic proportions when he walks though Fortitude Valley, a mural featuring the small forward freshly painted ahead of Saturday's must-win semi-final against Western Bulldogs.
Raised on Mornington Island in Queensland's remote Gulf of Carpentaria, Cameron moved to Brisbane to attend Marist College.
He played rugby and baseball there, not considering a career with the Sherrin until a move west to Newman.
Cameron got his AFL start with Adelaide and now, 150 games into his career, is a big reason for the Lions' membership eclipsing 40,000 for the first time this year.
"It's pretty special to have something like that in the city, I guess you can't take anything for granted so I'm pretty humbled," he said on Tuesday.
"I do want to set an example for young kids out there, on and off the field."
The mural sees him join Queensland sporting royalty like Brisbane Broncos and Maroons rugby league great Wally Lewis, something not lost on a man who keeps a keen eye on the fortunes of NRL outfit Melbourne Storm.
He said references to him being the "new king of Brisbane" were only pub chat but that the emergence of AFL couldn't be ignored.
"It's a running joke around here, I sometimes say it when I've had a few beers, but (Wally) is the actual king," Cameron laughed.
"AFL is getting bigger and bigger up here ... hopefully it gets bigger than rugby league but we'll see what happens.
"We're chasing a premiership to bring back to Brisbane, that's the big picture."
