Mt Eliza’s Saige Bayne set to tackle the country’s best in national football championships

YOU won’t see Saige Bayne, 15, taking a backward step on the footy field. She loves the physicality, a trait that has earned her Victorian selection.

Mt Eliza’s Saige Bayne, 15, will represent Victoria at the School Sport Australia 15 Years and Under Australian Rules Football Championship in Mandurah, WA, from July 22-29. Picture: Jason Sammon.

YOU won’t see Saige Bayne taking a backward step on the footy field. It’s just not her.

In fact, the Peninsula Grammar Year 9 student relishes the physical part of the game and will often be found at the bottom of packs or hurling herself at opponents.

“She’s tough, a very good tackler,” her dad Fraser said.

“With two brothers, she’s pretty tough.”

Saige, 15, also has ample skill to go with the tenacity, making her a fine young prospect in the burgeoning world of female footy.

She will take an important step forward in her fledgling career when she represents Victoria at the School Sport Australia 15 Years and Under Australian Rules Football Championship in Mandurah, WA, from July 22-29.

Saige, who plays for the Mt Eliza under-15 girls team, is the only player from the Mornington Peninsula in the Vic side.

Footballer Saige Bayne, 15, will play for Victoria. Picture: Jason Sammon.

Vic pick: Saige Bayne. Picture: Jason Sammon.

She admits the “physicality’’ of footy appeals to her.

“I like being able to tackle because all the girls aren’t really expected to do that,’’ she said.

There’s a funny story behind why Saige, a left-hander, prefers to kick with her right foot. When she started footy at the age of 11, she thought kicking with the right foot was a rule — so she did so for much of the season and became very proficient at it.

Proud Redleg: Saige Bayne plays with Mt Eliza. Picture: Jason Sammon.

Saige comes from a strong footy family. Her “footy crazy’’ brother Finlay plays with the Dandenong Stingrays and represented Victoria last year, while her grandfather, Fred Bayne, was a premiership star with Hastings in the 1970s and, in fact, the Hastings Football Club emblem features his caricature.

Saige is this week’s Leader sports star.