Cameron Rayner

Cam Rayner
A black-haired man in a white shirt and maroon shorts stands on a football field.
Rayner in August 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-10-21) 21 October 1999 (age 25)
Original team(s) Western Jets (TAC Cup)/Hillside (EDFL)
Draft No. 1, 2017 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2018, Brisbane Lions vs. St Kilda, at Etihad Stadium
Height 187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 93 kg (205 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club Brisbane Lions
Number 16
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2018– Brisbane Lions 140 (135)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Cameron Rayner (born 21 October 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Rayner was born to mother Nicole, a primary school teacher,[1] and father John, a boilermaker, and raised in Sydenham in Melbourne.[2] The family were strong Essendon Football Club supporters and Cameron grew up idolising Matthew Lloyd.[1] Rayner played junior football with the Hillside Football Club and Essendon Doutta Stars[3] in the Essendon District Football League winning six club best and fairest awards.[4] He made the under-12s Victorian squad, however was later dropped as he was considered too small a player.[2] However he later went through a growth spurt and played for the Western Jets in the TAC Cup/Talent League.[5]

Rayner was selected in the AFL Academy in 2017 and despite splitting his toe open was dominant with a three goal performance for Team Daniher in the 20th Anniversary match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[4][6] He would back up this performance with a 3 goal game for Vic Metro at the AFL Under-18 Championships, earning him a spot in the Under-18 All-Australian team.[4]

He was drafted by Brisbane with the first overall selection in the 2017 national draft.[7]

AFL career

Rayner made his debut in the twenty-five point loss to St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in the opening round of the 2018 season, recording 8 disposals including his first AFL goal.[8] In round 4, on what was a horror day for the Lions, Rayner was a shining light for the Lions, recording a career-best 22 disposals and kicking his side's second of 2 goals for the day in a 93-point loss against reigning premiers Richmond at the MCG.[9] In the following round in the QClash against Gold Coast, Rayner had a chance to draw the match right on the full-time siren, but he pulled his kick wide to the left for a behind and the Lions were defeated by 5 points.

Rayner received the AFL Rising Star nomination for round 15 after kicking two goals and recording nineteen disposals in the Lions' win over Fremantle at Optus Stadium.[10] Rayner had a chance to win the game against North Melbourne in round 20 after being awarded a free kick on a slight angle 30m from goal, but he attempted a kick around the body and his shot went wide to the right for a behind. The Lions lost by 3 points.[11]

On November 5, 2020, Rayner signed a three-year extension with Brisbane, contracting him until the end of 2023.[12]

Rayner was part of the Brisbane Lions 2024 premiership winning team, kicking a goal and having 16 disposals in a 60 point victory over the Sydney Swans.[13]

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2024 season.[14]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
  #  
 Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2018 Brisbane Lions 16 22 20 14 149 148 297 76 52 0.9 0.6 6.8 6.7 13.5 3.5 2.4 3
2019 Brisbane Lions 16 24 20 25 139 90 229 59 52 0.8 1.0 5.8 3.8 9.5 2.5 2.2 0
2020[a] Brisbane Lions 16 17 17 7 85 82 167 51 54 1.0 0.4 5.0 4.8 9.8 3.0 3.2 2
2021 Brisbane Lions 16 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
2022 Brisbane Lions 16 24 24 21 211 142 353 76 56 1.0 0.9 8.8 5.9 14.7 3.2 2.3 4
2023 Brisbane Lions 16 26 23 17 215 153 368 102 58 0.9 0.7 8.3 5.9 14.2 3.9 2.2 2
2024# Brisbane Lions 16 27 31 21 229 185 414 94 84 1.2 0.8 8.5 6.9 15.3 3.5 3.1 6
Career 140 135 105 1028 800 1828 458 355 1.0 0.8 7.3 5.7 13.1 3.3 2.5 17

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b 2017 AFL draft: Cameron Rayner on Dustin Martin, endurance and go-home factor by Daniel Cherny 22 November 2017
  2. ^ a b Cameron Rayner was once nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ and kicked 14 goals in a match SAM LANDSBERGER 24 November 2017
  3. ^ "EDFL". Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Rayner a Rising Star! 2 July 2018
  5. ^ ‘S–t, am I good enough to be out here?’ AFL 2018: Brisbane Lion Cam Rayner on self doubt from The Mercury 21 April 2018
  6. ^ Cameron Rayner stars in AFL Academy game from Brimbank North West 12 April 2017
  7. ^ Australian Associated Press (24 November 2017). "AFL Draft: Brisbane Lions take midfielder Cameron Rayner with the number one pick". ABC Online. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  8. ^ Australian Associated Press (26 March 2018). "Rayner a future AFL 'jet' for Lions: Hodge". SBS Online. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  9. ^ Mallinder, Terry (21 April 2018). "Brisbane Lions' No.1 draft pick starting to find his feet". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  10. ^ McGowan, Marc (2 July 2018). "No.1 pick likened to Dusty the latest Rising Star". BigPond. Australian Football League. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  11. ^ Rugari, Vince (4 August 2018). "Cameron Rayner misses game-winning goal as Kangaroos hold on against Brisbane Lions". Nine's Wide World of Sports. wwos.com.au. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Cam Rayner: I am Lion". lions.com.au. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Lion Kings: Fagan's heroes thrash Swans in GF shock". AFL. 28 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Cam Rayner". AFL Tables. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
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