NEAFL players to watch: Nick Paine

Ainslie will be relying heavily on a big performance from its older stalwarts this weekend, and Nick Paine knows too well the pressure of finals football.

Paine has been playing senior football for the Tri-Colours since 2003 when he was just 15 years old, and will be one of Ainslie’s most experienced players on park against the UWS GIANTS on Saturday, having played in Ainslie’s 2010 and 2011 Premierships.

He left the club in 2008 for a stint in the WAFL with South Fremantle, before returning to Ainslie in 2010.

His side face a tough task though against the class of the UWS, who have not been beaten by a Canberra club all year

“They’ve been in red hot form, I don’t think they’ve lost to a Canberra team all year,” Paine said.

“They have a few ex-AFL guys who are really dangerous.”

The Tri-colours were outplayed by Belconnen last weekend in the first qualifying final, and Paine says the club will need to turn it around if they are to remain in the Premiership race

“It was disappointing last week, we didn’t perform the way we wanted to perform but the best thing about getting the double chance is we get to go out and try to rectify that,” he said.

“One thing that Ainslie does well is we never play two bad games in a row, so we know we will be better this week.”

Paine has been a reliable hard ball getter this season, and Ainslie will nee d his ability to out-body opponents and take the tough grabs if they are chance to progress through to the preliminary finals.