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Cameron Rayner (born 21 October 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Rayner was born to mother Nicole, a primary school teacher,[1] and father John, a boilermaker, and raised in Sydenham in Melbourne.[2] The family were strong Essendon Football Club supporters and Cameron grew up idolising Matthew Lloyd.[1] Rayner played junior football with the Hillside Football Club and Essendon Doutta Stars[3] in the Essendon District Football League winning six club best and fairest awards.[4] He made the under-12s Victorian squad, however was later dropped as he was considered too small a player.[2] However he later went through a growth spurt and played for the Western Jets in the TAC Cup/Talent League.[5]

He attended Taylors Lakes Secondary College[6][dead link] before moving to Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School on a football scholarship.[7]

Rayner was selected in the AFL Academy in 2017 and despite splitting his toe open was dominant with a three goal performance for Team Daniher in the 20th Anniversary match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[4][8] He would back up this performance with a 3 goal game for Vic Metro at the AFL Under-18 Championships, earning him a spot in the Under-18 All-Australian team.[4]

He was drafted by Brisbane with the first overall selection in the 2017 national draft.[9]

AFL career

Rayner made his debut in the twenty-five point loss to St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in the opening round of the 2018 season, recording 8 disposals including his first AFL goal.[10] In round 4, on what was a horror day for the Lions, Rayner was a shining light for the Lions, recording a career-best 22 disposals and kicking his side’s second of 2 goals for the day in a 93-point loss against reigning premiers Richmond at the MCG.[11] In the following round in the QClash against Gold Coast, Rayner had a chance to draw the match right on the full-time siren, but he pulled his kick wide to the left for a behind and the Lions were defeated by 5 points.

Rayner received the AFL Rising Star nomination for round 15 after kicking two goals and recording nineteen disposals in the Lions’ win over Fremantle at Optus Stadium.[12] Rayner had a chance to win the game against North Melbourne in round 20 after being awarded a free kick on a slight angle 30m from goal, but he attempted a kick around the body and his shot went wide to the right for a behind. The Lions lost by 3 points.[13]

On 5 November 2020, Rayner signed a three-year extension with Brisbane, contracting him until the end of 2023.[14]

In a 2021 pre season clash against the Gold Coast Suns, Rayner ruptured his ACL and missed the entire season.[15]

Rayner was part of the Brisbane Lions 2024 premiership winning team, kicking a goal and having 16 disposals in a 60-point victory over the Sydney Swans.[16]

Statistics

Updated to the end of round 5, 2026.[17]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
  #  
 Played in that season’s 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2018 Brisbane Lions 16 22 20 14 149 148 297 76 52 0.9 0.6 6.8 6.7 13.5 3.5 2.4 3
2019 Brisbane Lions 16 24 20 25 139 90 229 59 51 0.8 1.0 5.8 3.8 9.5 2.5 2.1 0
2020[a] Brisbane Lions 16 17 17 7 85 82 167 51 54 1.0 0.4 5.0 4.8 9.8 3.0 3.2 2
2021 Brisbane Lions 16[18] 0 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 0
2022 Brisbane Lions 16 24 24 21 211 142 353 76 56 1.0 0.9 8.8 5.9 14.7 3.2 2.3 4
2023 Brisbane Lions 16 26 23 17 215 153 368 102 58 0.9 0.7 8.3 5.9 14.2 3.9 2.2 2
2024# Brisbane Lions 16 27 31 21 229 185 414 94 84 1.1 0.8 8.5 6.9 15.3 3.5 3.1 6
2025# Brisbane Lions 16 27 36 31 247 173 420 91 81 1.3 1.1 9.1 6.4 15.6 3.4 3.0 6
2026 Brisbane Lions 16 5 5 9 44 34 78 19 10 1.0 1.8 8.8 6.8 15.6 3.8 2.0
Career 172 176 145 1319 1007 2326 568 446 1.0 0.8 7.7 5.9 13.5 3.3 2.6 23

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b Cherny, Daniel (22 November 2017). “2017 AFL draft: Cameron Rayner on Dustin Martin, endurance and go-home factor”. The Age.
  2. ^ a b Landsberger, Sam (24 November 2017). “Cameron Rayner was once nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ and kicked 14 goals in a match”. Herald Sun.
  3. ^ “History Made As Rayner Becomes First Ever EDFL No.1 Pick”. Essendon Doutta Stars Football Club. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b c “Rayner a Rising Star!”. Brisbane Lions. 2 July 2018.
  5. ^ “‘S–t, am I good enough to be out here?’ AFL 2018: Brisbane Lion Cam Rayner on self doubt”. The Mercury. 21 April 2018.
  6. ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/DPIbTyKk2vS//. Retrieved 24 December 2025 – via Instagram. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); {{Cite Instagram}}: Missing or empty |user= (help); {{Cite Instagram}}: Missing or empty |date= (help)
  7. ^ “How Rayner will change the AFL”. Herald Sun.
  8. ^ “Cameron Rayner stars in AFL Academy game”. Brimbank & North West Star Weekly. 12 April 2017.
  9. ^ “AFL Draft: Brisbane Lions take midfielder Cameron Rayner with the number one pick”. ABC Online. Australian Associated Press. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  10. ^ “Rayner a future AFL ‘jet’ for Lions: Hodge”. SBS Online. Australian Associated Press. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  11. ^ Mallinder, Terry (21 April 2018). “Brisbane Lions’ No.1 draft pick starting to find his feet”. Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  12. ^ McGowan, Marc (2 July 2018). “No.1 pick likened to Dusty the latest Rising Star”. Australian Football League. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  13. ^ Rugari, Vince (4 August 2018). “Cameron Rayner misses game-winning goal as Kangaroos hold on against Brisbane Lions”. Nine’s Wide World of Sports. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  14. ^ “Cam Rayner: I am Lion”. Brisbane Lions. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  15. ^ “ACL confirmed: Gun Lion out for season after heartbreaking injury”. AFL. 29 March 2021.
  16. ^ “Lion Kings: Fagan’s heroes thrash Swans in GF shock”. AFL. 28 September 2024.
  17. ^ “Cam Rayner”. AFL Tables. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  18. ^ “AFL”. Brisbane Lions. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2026.