From Mr. Hollywood to the AFL’s biggest stage, see how Cam Rayner’s number 1 fan and Mum helped her son turn boundless energy into a career.
Brisbane Lions player Cam Rayner never really had an off button – not as a kid, not as a teenager, and not now. If there was a playground, he was already climbing it. If there was a ball, he was already practising with it. If there was something new to try, he was already halfway there – and usually determined to master it before he went to bed.
For his number 1 fan and Mum, Nicole, raising Cam meant learning how to guide a kid whose energy, curiosity and competitiveness were always running ahead of the room. He was “Mr. Hollywood” – the kid who didn’t just play footy; he performed it. The kid who studied movement, practised kicking with balloons in front of mirrors, and turned everything into a new skill to work on.
From a childhood in Melbourne to the biggest stadiums in the AFL, Cam’s story is about what happens when a family backs a big personality instead of boxing it in – and when a Mum becomes the steady presence behind the speed.
From small-town Balranald
Nicole’s own story has always been stitched into sport and family. She moved from Balranald to Melbourne young, studied nursing, then reshaped her working life around being present for her kids as they grew. “I studied teaching to follow the kids to school,” she says.
She taught in classrooms for around 15 years before turning her teaching skills to physical education (PE) and eventually moving to Brisbane. Movement, effort and teamwork weren’t just lessons she was teaching at school – they were part of daily life at home.
And she’ll tell you, with absolute seriousness, that she has sporting credentials of her own. “I was the champion cow dung thrower,” Nicole says. “You're out in a dried-up lake and you pick up a cow patty... and you frisbee it as far as you can.” Chuckling to herself, she adds, “That's my claim to fame.”
Then there’s the Australian Open story. “When Kia first started sponsoring the Australian Open, we'd just purchased a Kia Carnival, so I got an invite to play,” she says. “That's my other claim to fame.”
And then – as if the list is casually growing – there’s Cam.
Always in fast forward
Nicole noticed Cam’s pace early. “As a child Cam was always full of energy,” she says. “His little brain would be five steps ahead of where his body was.” That kind of wiring could overwhelm a kid, or it could be shaped into something powerful.
For Nicole, raising Cam meant learning how to guide instincts that were always to go harder, go faster and try again. “He was always on his tippy toes and in fast forward,” she says. “He had to be the best at everything he did... trying to make sure that he mastered whatever activity he was doing.”
Cam doesn’t pretend that disappeared with age. “I didn't really have much of an off button,” he says. “I don't really think a lot's changed.” The difference is that it was noticed and supported by his number 1 fan.
Playing footy before he was meant to
Nicole didn’t rush her kids into organised sport. “I tried to hold the kids back,” she says. She wanted them to have space to “just be kids” before weekend routines and sport calendars took over.
But, when Cam was eight, he found his way in anyway – and Nicole found out after. “I kind of got away with a couple of weeks, and then I think [Mum] started to click on to what was happening,” he admits. “Dad was bringing me along [to older brother Lockie’s footy training] and I was warming up with all the boys.”
It’s classic Cam. He didn’t wait for permission – he stepped into the action. And even then, he brought the performance with him. “He was very theatrical,” Nicole says. “He didn't just take a specky, he took a specky.” The is where the nickname comes from. “One of the coaches used to call him Mr. Hollywood when he was little because he wouldn't just kick a goal – he'd kick it and there'd be a show.”
The balloon and the mirror
If the flair was visible, the work underneath it was constant. “My Dad told me that he'd spoken to someone about practising with a balloon first,” Cam says. “I used to think about it all day at school to [then] come home and keep trying to practise it.”
The image says everything. “I'd stand in front of a mirror with a balloon and watch myself kick on my right foot... and then try to emulate that on my opposite side.” Then it escalated – from a balloon to a foam ball and eventually to a proper footy.
Nicole backs it up. “[He] would practise everything... [He’d] just go over and over and over.” Cam wasn’t just high energy – he was high focus. And as well as cheering from the sidelines, his number 1 fan gave him the space to obsess productively.
When belief caught up
There’s a moment Nicole remembers clearly – the season when it stopped being “Cam’s good at this” and started becoming something bigger. It began at a grand final where Cam kicked multiple goals and landed the ‘Best on Ground’ award.
Two weeks later, he filled in for an injured player in an older age group, where he again kicked multiple goals and again landed ‘Best on Ground’. “And the presenter at the end of the season said... ‘I'm sure I presented this kid the same award a fortnight ago’,” laughs Nicole. “That's when I realised it was something special watching him play,” she says. “And again, even in those days... he'd get the crowd involved.”
Cam felt it too. “Yeah, that was a pretty cool moment,” he says. “When I started to realise that I could probably make a career out of this... that I could probably make it to the AFL.” Finally, the belief caught up to the work.
Brother Lockie leading the way
When asked if older brother Lockie – who’s also played AFL professionally – led the way, Cam doesn't hesitate. He talks about growing up knowing they were chasing the same dream of making it in the AFL. In that situation, he’s aware things could easily have gone another way. “He would've had every right to get jealous or crack it a little bit,” he says.
But that never happened. “He’s always been your number one supporter,” Nicole confirms. And Cam agrees. “He's backed me in and always rode the highs and lows with me.” That’s family right there. Not only cheering when things go well but staying close when they don’t.
The whirlwind of draft night
“Draft night was amazing as a family... we were excited for Cam,” Nicole recalls. Then it landed. “He was called out as number one draft pick... everything that he'd worked hard for came to fruition.” And then comes the honest part. “I was devastated that he was being sent so far away to Brisbane.” Even though, in the long run, she admits, “It was the best thing for him.”
Two days after being drafted to the Brisbane Lions, he was on a plane when it truly sunk in. “This isn’t just a cool dream anymore,” Cam remembers. “This is reality and now there's work to do.” Nicole echoes a similar sentiment. “From a teenager looking to be drafted, that is the pinnacle,” she says. “Then you realise, once you’re drafted... you’re back down the bottom.” And that’s the part people don’t always see.
Getting through rehab with Obi
Then there was the time when the game reminded Cam how fragile momentum can be – a preseason knee injury. “I remember the doctor’s face when they saw it, and I just knew straight away... this is terrible,” Cam recalls. Nicole saw the day unfold on TV – seeing Cam in the changerooms, smiling so his teammates wouldn’t worry. “He was trying to let everyone know he was okay,” she says. “But I could just see.”
What made it harder was the timing. “That was probably the first season I really felt comfortable,” Cam says. “I didn’t really feel like a new player anymore. I felt like I’d developed... and was ready to go.” At 21 years old, he had never missed a season of football. Suddenly, it was gone.
He was now watching from the sidelines. “It put a lot of things into perspective,” he says. “It makes you understand how little footy can be in your life and how quickly you can get taken away.” As for Nicole, she saw both heartbreak and growth. “On a positive for that year, Cam purchased a house and he got Obi... an American Staffy cross American Bulldog,” she recalls.
Looking back, Cam sees the difference Obi made to his rehab. “[He] was awesome,” he says. “There can obviously be some lonely times in rehab... I spent a lot of the time with him.” Training Obi as a puppy gave Cam a purpose in a year where football was taken away.
Why Nicole is Cam Rayner’s number 1 fan
When asked about her proudest moment from Cam’s playing career, Nicole relives a special moment at the grand final. “A little Auskick boy said, ‘I want to be just like you.’” Cam’s response stopped her. “And Cam just looked at him and said, ‘and I want to be just like you.’”
“That would have to be one of my proudest moments... even though it was about [the Lions] winning a grand final, he was present right there at that moment for that little boy.” Cam shrugs it off. “It was just a natural reaction.”
But that’s the point. Nicole didn’t just raise a footballer. She raised a kid who was wired for motion – and taught him how to carry that intensity with perspective and humility into manhood. Cam never slowed down, because he never had to. His number 1 fan helped him thrive as the kid in fast-forward. And that’s what helped turn boundless energy into an AFL career.
