Rayner’s take on Lions’ big moment

IT was described as the changing of the guard.

The old vs. the new. The young Lion standing up to the intimidating Tiger.

When 20-year-old Cam Rayner found himself face-toface with two-time premiership winner Trent Cotchin in week one of the finals, the football world couldn’t help but watch.

In those do-or-die moments, Cotchin is usually the man to stand up and assert his dominance. With 249 games and two premierships under his belt at Richmond, he knows a thing or two about what it takes to be a winner.

But in this particular moment, on the hallowed Gabba turf just minutes before halftime, Cotchin found himself on the ground with Rayner looming over him as the aggressor.

For many, it was the Lions’ “coming of age” moment – the moment they could stand up to their more intimidating southern rivals – and it was led by Brisbane’s much-trumpeted No.1 draft pick.

Its significance was magnified tenfold when Rayner, riding high on emotions, kicked the Lions ahead minutes later in a crucial part of the game.

The exciting young Brisbane star has this week opened up about that moment in the lead-up to Saturday’s clash with Geelong, and revealed how he plans to emulate his efforts again this weekend.

“It was just a contest in the air,” Rayner recalled.

“I jumped up and he grabbed my leg. It was just a push and shove and I guess that got the blood flowing a little bit.”

That moment epitomised everything about that game – a tight tussle, the Tigers trying to rattle their opponents and the Lions proving they weren’t backing down from a fight.

Rayner admitted in hindsight the moment was a turning point – not just in the game but announcing to the entire AFL competition the Lions weren’t to be taken lightly.

“It’s times like that two years ago where it would come to a stage like that in the game and Richmond would have got over us,” he said.

“And teams like Geelong would have got over us ... but now we have that maturity in the group to know we can do it with the best.”