Port Fairy footballer Jayden Ward on Hampden league debut, goals for remainder of 2021 season

It's why the promising utility is eager for the season, in a holding pattern due to a statewide coronarvirus lockdown, to resume as soon as possible.

Ward, 18, was one of four teenage debutants for the Seagulls against Hamilton Kangaroos, just five days before restrictions were re-introduced.

Connor McDonald, Jack Hogan and Luke Hynes also played their first senior games in purple and gold as the bottom-placed side prioritised its long-term future.

"We've lost a lot of the older players this year with injuries so it's given a lot of opportunities for younger lads to come up," Ward said.

"We have had under 16s players play this year in the ones and they have played pretty good, like Ollie Myers and Oscar Pollock.

"They are good footballers and they are going to go far with their footy I reckon."

Ward, who was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia when he was one, was thrown into the ruck against the Kangaroos.

"I enjoyed it. It was a bit of a learning curve for me on the bigger boys," he said.

"I got out there, gave it a go and had a lot of fun.

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"In the under 18s I usually play centre half-back but I do go up forward every now and then. I'd played a bit of ruck in the under 18s but I wasn't the main ruck, I was a chop-out for our ruckman."

Holding down the ruck in the senior side was an eye-opener for Ward, an apprentice plumber who travels from Port Fairy to Warrnambool for work.

"I am trying to better myself at footy. I wasn't the best at it when I was younger," he said.

"I was a bit of a chubby boy but now I am six-foot-five and 75 kilos and skinny as."

Adapting to different scenarios, depending on the style of ruckmen he's playing, will help him progress.

"I have got some good hops so I try and jump over them," Ward said.

"In the seniors they caught onto that and tried to body me in the ruck contests so I had to change the way I played towards the end of the game."

Consolidating his spot in the Winis Imbi-coached side is now Ward's number one goal for the remainder of the 2021 season.

"I am hoping I can train a bit more. I work late hours and struggle to get to training sometimes but I make most trainings and I trained hard to try and make that spot," he said. Ward started his football at Port Fairy as an eager eight-year-old in Auskick.

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He had one season at Warrnambool and District league club Old Collegians, where he played juniors, before returning home.

The seaside town, which allows him to snorkel and spearfish, is the right fit for him. "Life is going pretty good with work, footy and friends," Ward said.

Now to sing the song with the senior team for the first time.

"(We want to give) those top teams a scare for finals, give them a challenge and hopefully come up with a win before the end of the season," he said.

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