By Lance Jenkinson
Kayne Turner is the envy of his Maribyrnong College classmates.
The 18-year-old, who is aligned to the Werribee Tigers, arrived for his year 12 studies on Monday morning with one hell of a tale to tell his friends.
The talented teenager got to live out a boyhood dream, breaking through the banner at the MCG to play in front of a crowd of almost 80,000 in North Melbourne’s stunning come-from-behind AFL elimination final win over Essendon on Saturday night.
“It was unreal,” Turner said moments after the final siren. “You’ve definitely got to pinch yourself to get your feeling back. Out there on the ground was a great feeling.”
Turner was drafted by North Melbourne with its last selection in the 2013 AFL rookie draft. It was your classic left-field selection – a player from the bush weighing 67 kilograms wringing wet.
Turner had already matched it with the senior footballers in the Ovens and Murray league before impressing with the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup.
Now it seems that playing against more experienced and physically stronger players on the hallowed grounds of the AFL is water off a duck’s back for him.
“It’s been well documented that he’s at school, but [playing in front of] 80,000 at the MCG, running around next to Paul Chapman, it doesn’t worry him, it doesn’t faze him one bit,” North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said.
“That’s what you look for as coach – players who will step up in big moments in big games.”
Turner’s aggression on the field belies his slight stature. His run-down tackles are sure to be a source of continued embarrassment to lackadaisical forwards.
He’s not just making up the numbers on the Roos forward line, he’s making a difference – be it presenting on the lead across half-forward, linking up to provide an option for teammates or applying forward pressure.
Turner can sniff out a goal, too, having kicked seven majors in his first four AFL games.
“Brad doesn’t stress about possessions or anything like that; he just wants us to make sure we do what we need to do as forwards, coming up and ensuring they don’t get [the ball] out of our forward line,” Turner said.
He impressed from the day he pulled on the guernsey of the Kangaroos’ VFL affiliate Werribee Tigers, producing an eye-catching performance on a scorching hot day in a VFL practice match against Williamstown.
Tigers coach John Lamont liked what he saw from the rookie that day, handing him a senior debut in round one of the home-and-away season. The youngster hasn’t looked back.
He is being taught the right way by North Melbourne’s development staff and the Werribee coaches in his first season in the
big league.
“I owe a fair bit of my development to Jarred Moore, Ben Dyer and Gavin Brown; they’ve been great all year with all of us younger blokes, they really look after us.
“JL [Lamont] has great football knowledge and is really good to have down at Werribee.”
Turner relishes the chance to learn the trade alongside AFL star Drew Petrie. He was taking note of how Petrie operated in the forward line in the big win over Essendon.
Next up for Turner is a prime time Friday night meeting with Geelong under lights at
the MCG.
