THE BEST nicknames stick. Jay Polkinghorne has been called 'Dragon' since he started playing senior football for Western United at just 14. Back then, he flew for everything in the Western Eyre Football League in outback South Australia. 

The stage has changed, dramatically, but the nickname hasn't. Polkinghorne is still flying for everything, just doing it under the bright lights in the AFL, while wearing the No.2 guernsey for Geelong. 

The 20-year-old is now a long way from home, but he has looked at home since making his debut in round 19. He kicked 2.3 first-up against Cal Wilkie and is up to 13 goals from six games, with three goals against Collingwood and three more against North Melbourne.

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Home is a remote outback town closer to the Western Australia border than Adelaide, which is a nine-hour drive away. His family runs a 20,000-acre wheat and sheep farm in Penong, where the population is 280 people, according to the most recent census. 

The next-door neighbours are 12km down the road in Charra. That's where Melbourne forward Kade Chandler grew up with his three brothers. Their parents are tight, so they spent plenty of time with the three Polkinghorne kids.

Kade is six years older, but Jay played one game with him in the under 13s when he was seven. The impact of the Demon, who has now played 102 games off the rookie list, can't be understated, which is why it was important Kade was in the rooms for Jay's debut back in July.

"He's been a big help because he's the only guy that's ever got drafted from our area. That was a fairly big thing. He said to me, 'One person's a fluke getting drafted, but two creates a pathway for the younger kids to find a way now'," Polkinghorne tells AFL.com.au ahead of his first final, against Carlton on Friday night.

Polkinghorne doesn't think he'd be sitting here, inside GMHBA Stadium, if it wasn't for Chandler.

He moved from Penong to Adelaide to board at Prince Alfred College in Year 10, following the trail Chandler blazed, attending the prestigious private school that includes cricket royalty in the Chappell brothers, former AFL CEO Wayne Jackson and Bernie Vince among its alumni. 

"He was pretty much the reason I went to that school, because I was lucky enough to get a scholarship. He pretty much organised that for me. He was close with one of the footy guys there and they trust Kade because just the nature of Kade he is such a trustworthy person," Polkinghorne says.

"Honestly, I don't reckon I would have been able to get to here if I didn't go to boarding school, because being nine hours from Adelaide, you're not going to be front and centre or play any school footy, you're not going to get any exposure to any AFL recruiters. So I would say I wouldn't have got drafted if I didn't go to boarding school because you're not going to drive to Adelaide or fly to Adelaide every weekend to play footy. And obviously the training standards and stuff at home aren't up to the level."

Polkinghorne spoke with a handful of clubs ahead of the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft, but didn't think he had done enough to get picked. A knee injury stalled his start to his draft year, ultimately leading to him being overlooked for the national championships. "That lit the fire a little bit; I was probably fairly casual at the time and didn't care enough until then," he says.

The mobile forward finished that season playing in the reserves for Norwood, where he kicked goals in every game, but produced his best performance in his final appearance for the Redlegs, kicking two goals from 17 touches in the Grand Final win over Sturt in front of recruiters.  

Brisbane was the first club to reach out mid-year, which fuelled his belief.

"I was staying at a mate's house [in Adelaide] and they came there. I probably thought to myself that I'm actually not that far off it [after that]. It's funny how often that happens," he recalls.

He first met with Geelong at the combine. Then, a few weeks later, the Cats spoke to him again via Zoom. Stephen Wells, Simon Murphy and Shane O'Bree – who has since moved to Collingwood – were all on the call, although the Wi-Fi in Penong was patchy.

"We were glitching out because the Wi-Fi wasn't working. It was a bit awkward actually. They gave nothing away," he laughs now.

Polkinghorne was on his way to Schoolies in Victor Harbor when Geelong changed his plans. He had stopped in at Adelaide for the night with two mates and was watching the draft on his phone. He knew the Cats were interested, but he thought the Rookie Draft was his best chance, certainly not the club's first pick at No.44. Collingwood was also keen. It had picks 47, 50 and 56 and used the middle one on another South Australian key forward, Charlie West.

"I was literally on my way to schoolies the day of the draft," he says.

"We were at a pub the night before in Adelaide, just with two mates and got a feed. I was watching the draft on my phone because it wasn't even on the TV in there. I honestly wasn't thinking that I'd get taken or I wasn't expecting it to be honest. If I was, I probably would have stayed home with my family and stuff. But yeah when I got called out, I spun out."

Geelong's player development manager Shannon Byrnes flew over to Adelaide and met with Polkinghorne the next day to map out his move to the Surf Coast. The club allowed him to spend one night on Schoolies and then get started on his new life at the Cats. "That was unreal [by the club]; that was the only time I had really to celebrate it," he says.

Players don't pick where they are drafted. They pack up and go within days. But life at Geelong – the football club and Geelong the region – has suited Polkinghorne's personality perfectly. 

"You've got to make the sacrifices to be able to play AFL," he says. "I find being in Geelong, it's not much different if I was in Adelaide; I'm still nine hours away from family, so it's not much different; it's only another hour flight. And that's the way I look at it.

"Family still comes over a fair bit and my mates, so I get looked after here and I've got a good bunch of boys at the club and staff around us that support us. I've settled in really well."

Polkinghorne was on track to make his debut earlier this year after an eye-catching second pre-season that culminated in seven shots at goal against Hawthorn in a practice match, but a stress fracture in his foot delayed his start to the season. 

After kicking 31 goals from 17 games in the VFL last year, and adding another 20 across six games in 2026, Polkinghorne has completed a decent apprenticeship at that level, similar to Connor O'Sullivan in his first season at Kardinia Park. Now, he doesn't want this season to end.

"It's probably been a bit of a whirlwind [the past six games]. It kind of probably won't settle down till the end of the season until we're all done and we don't actually have games; I'll be annoyed when it's over," he says.

"But watching Connor last year, it creates a path for us younger boys. The first and second-year boys look up to him so much. The coaches often say look to the people that are closest to you, like Connor and Lawson [Humphries] rather than looking up to 'Blitz' [Mark Blicavs] and 'Danger' [Patrick Dangefield] and stuff. I think that makes it easier for us to chase, rather than the big boys."

Standing 190cm, Polkinghorne is undersized for a key forward in the modern game. But Brisbane two-time premiership player Logan Morris is 191cm, while Port Adelaide star Mitch Georgiades is 192cm. Both are players he models his game on.

"I've been asked this a bit and I never know who to say really," he admits. "I used to say Mitch Georgiades when I was younger, but he's a very good runner and I'm not so good of a runner at the moment. But looking at Logan Morris, I love what he does; he's an absolute superstar, so not saying that I'm anywhere near him, but I watch a lot of his stuff to try and model my game off him."

Polkinghorne signed a contract for 2027 before he made his debut and the club will look to extend him further before the start of next season. His name will be floated externally when it comes to the club's push to secure Zak Butters, but the Cats view him as part of the club's long-term plans and have assured his management of that.

When Polkinghorne isn't at the club he is more often than not on a boat fishing with Jhye Clark down the road. That simple pastime transports him away from the pressures of professional football and back home.

"Me and Jhye go out all the time," he says. "He thinks he's a guru, but we definitely stuff up here and there. It's pretty funny, actually. We make some mistakes and have a laugh over it.

"He's usually ripping into me because it's always my fault; it's never his fault. But we get some good stories out of it and it's just a good way to relax, get out of the house on an off day. We just try and get out as much as we can, we love it."

That's what his off-season will involve. That and plenty of work on the family farm.

"I'll be heading straight home (after the season)," he says. "It'll be harvest when I'm home, so I'll be working a fair bit, which I love doing – 12 hour days usually, which is pretty flat out, but it's cruisy once you're in the header these days with the machinery, you literally sit there and click a few buttons and it does it all for you.

"Sometimes you don't stand up for four or five hours, which probably isn't ideal for footy at least. But I love it."

Before then, Polkinghorne has at least one more drive up the highway to the MCG on Friday. If things go to plan, there will be more games to come before he boards a REX flight to Ceduna when the season is done.