Jack Payne is an Australian Rules footballer who currently plays in the Australian Football League (AFL) for Brisbane Lions. Payne made his AFL debut in the 2020 season and previously represented Australia as a discus thrower at the Oceanic Games and dabbled in rugby union before committing to AFL.

Payne spent most of his childhood in Australia chasing dreams of track and field as a talented discus thrower, but at the age of 13 he was spotted by a talent scout in a game at St Andrew’s Anglican College on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. He signed to the Lions Academy but continued with discus until he was 17, representing Australia at the Oceanic Games. Eventually Payne had to decide between the two sports he loved, and chose Australian Rules football as he wanted to be around the team environment rather than the more lonely life of a track and field athlete.

Although he realised his future lay in the AFL, Payne ‘s training in discus has proved useful , with his footwork and balance skills crossing over into his football. In 2017 he played as an Academy player in the 2017 NEAFL Premiership team before being drafted later the same year.

Payne’s first two seasons were disrupted by injury but the key defender has since found more consistency in his body and time on the field at the start of the new century, and his sporting career continues to go from strength to strength.