AFL number one draft picks have a horrible record when it comes to winning premierships after being recruited by the wooden spooner.
While the hype and expectation that follow number one picks such as West Coast’s Harley Reid this season is huge, the challenge of lifting a team up the ladder has proven almost impossible.
Only West Coast’s Drew Banfield, Brisbane’s Des Headland, Hawthorn’s Luke Hodge and GWS forward Tom Boyd have won a flag as the number one pick.
But West Coast drafted Banfield just months after winning the 1992 premiership, and Hawthorn made the 2001 preliminary final when traded up to recruit Hodge.
Boyd left the Giants to join the Western Bulldogs and was one of the best players on the ground in their 2016 victory.
Headland remains the only player to win a premiership with the wooden spoon club that drafted him.
Rayner is now attempting to do the same.
“I was thinking about it the other day. It’s a pretty cool journey you can go on from getting drafted to, at that stage, the worst club in the AFL to now being one of the best clubs in the competition,” Rayner said.
“We’ve probably got a core group of three or four, including Hughy (McCluggage), Bez (Jarrod Berry), and some of those boys around that age who have stuck together.
“To be able to come to the club at a time where it wasn’t at its highest point and to be able to turn it into one of the best clubs in the competition is super exciting. Hopefully, we can get a win on the weekend and really top it all off.
Rayner has enjoyed his best AFL season this year and was picked in the extended All-Australian squad. But he’s also had quiet seasons and sometimes struggled with the expectation that comes with being a No.1 pick.
His ability to break games open was obvious in the preliminary final though with two goals, including one on the left foot deep in time-on to give Brisbane a 10-point buffer.
Rayner said he’d always been taught to stay confident no matter what was happening during games but handling the day to day pressures of being the top pick had been harder.
“It’s got easier as my career has gone on. Those first couple of years I was reading into it a little bit and trying to psych myself up against people who have gone through similar things,” he said.
“After you get older you just realise that after that draft it doesn’t really mean that much. You get put onto an AFL list and everyone starts at square one and you’ve got to work your way up. Early on it might have been a bit of a challenge but as I’ve got older I haven’t taken much notice.”
