Douglas keen to follow Payne’s footsteps to AFL dream

It took one moment of class in his second TSL game to show why he’s on the AFL draft radar. And Lenny Douglas is keen to prove why he should follow fellow north-wester Geordie Payne into the AFL.

Lenny Douglas playing for the Tassie Devils last season. (Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

North-West livewire Lenny Douglas it hopeful of putting together an eye-catching swan song to his national championships campaign after showing his class in North Launceston’s TSL win over Kingborough on Saturday.

The Devonport product, who turns 18 on Wednesday, has been in superb touch for the Devils, resulting in Allies selection.

He will get his last chance to impress scouts when they take on Victoria Country at Ipswich this Sunday, before he focuses on helping the Devils and Bombers enjoy finals success.

Although he only had nine touches against Kingborough, the small forward booted arguably the goal of the game in the third quarter with a classy checkside finish from the pocket.

His pressure was also on point, finishing with five contested disposals and two ‘one per centers’.

He has booted 21 goals in eight games for the Devils and is hoping to follow fellow northwest product Geordie Payne into the AFL, who was picked up by North Melbourne in this year’s mid-season draft.

“I’ve played with him (Payne) a bit, last year and this year. It motivates me a lot,” Douglas sad.

“Payney last year came out of nowhere, he played well and recruiters took notice. To any kids out there who aren’t getting looked at now, you just keep working hard and hopefully you get an opportunity.

Lenny Douglas in action for the Allies against South Australia (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“I’ve kicked too many points (for Allies) but hopefully I can hit the scoreboard in the last Allies game coming up next week and catch some recruiter’s eyes.”

Douglas’ game against Kingborough was his second appearance in the TSL, and he was keen to impress after failing to kick a goal in the Bombers’ 162-point rout of Launceston in round one.

“I thought my other areas were good (in round one) like pressure, but today I was able to get a goal and compete,” he said.

“Brandon (Leary), Chuggy (Declan Chugg) and Harvey (Griffiths) are good to learn off. It’s a different forward line compared to the Devils, they play and set up differently.”

Douglas is interested to see whether he can add more strings to his bow by playing different positions at the Devils.

“I’ll wouldn’t mind switching the role up a bit at the end of the year, but I’ll have to talk to Jez (Devils coach Jeromey Webberley) about it,” he sad.

“We’ve got a good roll on at the minute and playing some good football. Hopefully we can go into finals confident and get the job done.”