By David Nagel
Tim Payne’s greatest strengths – resilience and loyalty – have been the key factors in his remarkable journey at Cora Lynn which on Saturday ticked over 426 games across 23 character-building seasons.
Against arch-rival Kooweerup on the weekend, Payne joined the great Bill Van Diemen as senior games record holder at the club; running out for his 319th game.
Payne was totally oblivious of what was to come when he ran out with the Cora Lynn seniors for the 1991 West Gippsland Football League (WGFL) grand final against Drouin.
Tim was side by side with his dad Ray, who was captain-coach at the time, and his champion uncle Murray, as they prepared to take on the might of the Hawks in the big dance.
Tim had absolutely no impact that day, he was just three-years-old…a Cora Lynn mascot that for the first time – but definitely not the last – would run out in a Cobras jumper on the biggest day of all.
The Cobras were thrashed by Drouin, but the seed had been sewn on one of the most decorated careers in Cora Lynn history.
Fast forward 34 years and Tim Payne is a bonafide Cobras’ legend, a four-time premiership player – three as captain – and one of the most respected figures in the region.
The key defender has played in a mind-boggling 45 senior finals; eight of those grand finals, with a 2008 success followed by a three-peat of premierships from 2014 to ’16.
At the Bass Recreation Reserve this Saturday, Payne will become the sole games record holder at Cora Lynn; and the gravity of the achievement has hit home.
“Over the last week a lot of people have reached out and wished me all the best, people I haven’t spoken to in a while, so the magnitude of it does sink in when you hear from people that all played a part in the journey,” he said.
“The club means a lot me, so to hold the record is a great honour.”
The number 319 will forever be etched in his memory.
“What does the number mean…just so many good memories, so many positive memories, I’ve been lucky that we’re really successful and I’ve played with so many good footballers and good people and built so many good relationships,” he said.
“You think about all the time you spend here, a lot of Tuesday and Thursday nights, a lot of Saturdays, and you wouldn’t keep coming back if you didn’t enjoy it.
“It all comes down to the amount of time you spend with quality people.
“Thinking about all those games, I think about the players I’ve played alongside, the supporters, the volunteers; there are so many people that make places like this a great place to be.”
The soon to be 37-year-old rates the drought-breaking 2008 success and the thrilling victory over Bunyip in 2016, just slightly above his two other premierships.
“The first two (2014-’15) we won comfortably, and it was great to soak it in during the last quarter and enjoy the experience, but the third one against Bunyip we were down by a couple of goals…15 to 20 minutes into the last quarter…and we kicked five goals in a row to win it,” Payne explained.
“That was a really special one for me, to feel like it was slipping away and to make it three in a row, to dig deep and find something, being Mainy’s (David Main) first year of coaching, to get that reward was incredible and something special.
“The five years before we won that 2014 flag, we had two grand final losses and three preliminary final losses in a row.
“There was a decent crew of us that had suffered through that, but we knew we were a good team.
“When Trav Marsham came over to takeover coaching, he brought in a few recruits and everyone had that vision of getting over the hump.
“Trav and some of the recruits had experienced the same thing at Gembrook, so to get across the line and then win three premierships in three years is something you will never forget.
“And to do it with great footballers and great characters, you look back now and think how lucky we are to be able to celebrate those successes 10 years down the track.”
During his years of captaincy, the dour defender had to balance the importance of his role with that of guiding and motivating his team.
Being a defender, and a leader, could sometimes be tricky to deal with.
“When I was captain, I did have to do my homework and lock in during the week and know who my opponent was because you do have a responsibility to help get your team up and set them up as well,” he said.
“You do have the responsibility of being able to take care of your own job; and Jaxon Briggs now would be going through the same thing.
“You’ve got a responsibility to yourself, but also to the team.
“Juggling those things can be tricky, especially when you’re getting older and you’re not playing as good a footy as you used to; that weighs on your mind, how to lead, but also execute your own job.
“It does add pressure, but that’s when you thrive when you put that responsibility on yourself.”
But Payne believes his position in the backline also had its advantages.
“Playing down back you get to understand the importance of the roles that players have within the team,” he explained.
“You get a good view of the ground from down back, you can see how we set up, and the consequences of people not sticking to their job, or simply getting beat, and the impact that can have.
“When the system does break down and the ball gets through, it’s nice to know that your teammates are relying on you to play a role in fixing it.
“But the whole time I’ve played at Cora Lynn, we’ve had Darren Sheen, Ryan Gillis or Nathan Gardiner at full forward, so opposition teams are putting a lot of time into stopping those guys; so, us guys in defence got a breather.
“It hasn’t been the toughest job at times…I’ve been pretty lucky.”
So, why him, why has no other player played more games of senior footy at Cora Lynn?
“It comes down to the great support I’ve had from people, the great coaches that we’ve had, the great teammates, and I’ve been lucky enough to avoid any serious injuries,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ve missed more than one or two consecutive games, I wouldn’t have missed more than a dozen since 2005, and I’ve been lucky enough to play in great teams.
“Every year I’ve been lucky enough to dig my heels in at pre-season and think we’re competing for a premiership this season; and not all players are in a position to experience that.
“That’s always been the motivation, and I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by great teams and great players that have put us in that position.”
Payne has been around the traps for some time and almost had the final question answered before it was asked.
“I have given up predicting when I was going to wind it up,” he said with a smile.
“I had about five years in a row where I said it will probably be my last one, and wife told me to stop saying it because I was saying it every year.
“September comes around, you’re so excited, and you want to run around again; so I’m not putting an end date on it just yet.
“As long as I’m still enjoying it and still helping the team, it’s worthwhile being down here.”
Payne also wanted to thank his parents, siblings and wife Kate for their unwavering support throughout his now record-breaking career.
