By Daniel McKenzie
Broadbeach debutant, Brayde Palmer, is the Round 1 Syd Guilford Trophy nominee.
The 21 year old made the pre-season move from Division 3 side, Carrara, and has shown his potential from the get go.
The new Cat, who won the Division 3 league best and fairest last year, said the step up to the QAFL was large and he didn’t expect to have an immediate impact.
“I didn’t know (if I belonged). I thought it would take a few weeks to show the coach how I could go and then have a crack at it,” Palmer said.
“It surprised me how well I played and how well everyone else said I played.
“I was just happy with my marking and around the ground work.”
Palmer didn’t have any specific instructions for his first game and also had no expectations about his performance.
“I was told to go out there and play the way I play, the coach said if anything was wrong he’d let me know and we’d change it,” he said.
Broadbeach Coach Wayne Petterd said the club had specifically targeted the big man over the pre-season.
“Around Christmas we had a squad full of players around 5’ 9-10 and were starting to get a bit desperate,” Petterd said.
“One of the boys at the club told us that they’d played with a kid at Carrara and he’d won the league medal so we contacted him and got him in from there.”
Petterd said he was aware of Palmer’s raw ability but was surprised with his impact in his first game.
“I just let him go as it was his first game. You have to be careful not to confuse them early and he was just there to give us a contest from the centre and throw-ins,” he said.
“I’d seen indications of his ability in training and practice matches, but probably not to the level where he’d be best on ground. He looks a likely prospect going forward.”
While the name Brayde Palmer is relatively unknown at this stage, it won’t be long before Cats fans catch on.
“The coach said that I played really well and did exactly what he wanted me to do,” he said.
“He said I’ll be a crowd favourite at Broadbeach by the end of the year.”
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