Jack Payne had his first taste of AFL in the Brisbane Lions’ JLT Community Series loss to the Sydney Swans and he’s hungry for more.
He’s only 18 years old but at 197 centimetres and 97kg, he has the size and power of an established AFL player.
Payne, the Lions’ 54th pick at the 2017 AFL Draft shared his first time in Lions colours with the number 1 pick Cam Rayner.
“Really good, obviously myself and Cam played on Saturday. [I was] Given the chance to mark Lance Franklin [which] was pretty exciting and pretty daunting as well,” he told lions.com.au.
“But I thought Cam and myself adjusted pretty well.”
Payne did come up against the 2017 Coleman Medal winner Lance Franklin and managed to lay a monster tackle on one of the AFL’s best forwards.
“Glad I tackled him,” Payne said.
“To be given that opportunity to really develop my game…I got a lot out of it.”
The Lions meet the Gold Coast Suns in their second JLT Community Series match on Sunday afternoon at Fankhauser Reserve. Payne hopes he will be named in the team.
“I’d love to. Obviously, I’ve got to train well this week,” he said.
Despite losing to the Sydney Swans in their first JLT Clash, the players and coaching staff took away some positives.
“We were pretty happy with parts of our game. Our clearances were plus 11 and our contested ball went pretty well.”
This week midfield coach Dale Tapping will take the reins as Senior Coach.
“He’s great like Muz [Murray Davis].”
“No doubt Dale will do a great job as well. We’re all really looking forward to it.”
Looking ahead for Payne, an AFL debut
“It’s definitely a goal of mine to get a game this season.”