They say good things come to those who wait.
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For Redan’s Jordan Baker, those words couldn’t ring any truer.
On Saturday, Baker finally made his senior debut for the Ballarat Football League club at the age of 28 and after playing 234 games for the Lions.
Baker started in excess of 130 junior matches for the club and his first senior game was also his 100th for the maroon and gold in the open-age ranks.
Those games have included five reserves grand final wins.
Thankfully for Baker, his senior debut ended with a victory as Redan ran over the top of third-placed Darley by 39 points.
Baker said his promotion to the senior side caught him off guard.
“It was a bit of a shock to be honest. After so many years playing in the reserves, I thought I’d never get there to be honest,” Baker said.
“I actually had no idea that I would be playing. I didn’t find out until the teams were read out on Thursday night after training. On Saturday morning, the coach (Brendan Peace) came up to me and told me that I would be doing a job on Kyle Docherty.”
Baker was modest in his self-appraisal, saying that he “didn’t play too bad”. Perhaps he was selling himself short as he helped keep the dangerous Docherty goalless – no easy feat considering the Darley forward has kicked 22 majors from eight games this year.
Baker’s first senior appearance was even more special considering his family’s connection to the club.
“My grandpa played in two flags for the club and my old man also played for the club, so it was a pretty special day,” he said.
With the Lions suffering a few injury concerns in recent weeks, Baker is hopeful that he can keep his spot, but for now he is content with just making a senior debut.
“Just to have got one game was a bit of a monkey off my back. Any game from here on in would be a bit of a bonus,” he said.