Essendon’s oldest living player, Fred Payne – who once filled in for John Coleman and who was a part of one of the great grand final selection shocks more than 70 years ago – wants the modern-day Bombers to shoot for the stars ahead of the 2024 season.

Payne turned 97 this week and a handful of Bombers players including former skipper Dyson Heppell were on hand at his Tocumwal nursing home to wish him a happy birthday.

It was the first time the club had reconnected with Payne after losing contact with him a number of years ago.

Heppell, Matt Guelfi and Harrison Jones made the visit to Tocumwal from the club’s community camp base at Shepparton and presented Payne with some Dons gear.

Heppell said the trio took as much out of the meeting as Payne did, saying it was great to talk about the past and the present with a person so passionate about the red and black.

“It was great to reconnect, to see his reaction and to see a bit of a tear in his eye,” Heppell said. “You could see the pride he still has in representing the club. He wore No. 35 and Matt Guelfi wears No. 35 now, so he was over the moon about that. He said to me ‘Make sure you look after my boy’ (Guelfi).”

Payne played 42 games for the Bombers across five seasons, making his debut in the same 1949 season as the legendary Coleman. He even filled in for Coleman at full forward on one occasion in 1951.

“I think John Coleman was away on representative duty (at the time),” Payne said. “I kicked a couple of early goals (against Richmond at Windy Hill), but the supply dried up then and I hardly touched the ball for the rest of the game.”

Heppell said it was incredible to think Payne was a living link to some of the greatest names in Essendon’s history.

He played in a team coached by Dick Reynolds and alongside Coleman, who was full forward in the VFL-AFL Team of the Century, and a host of Essendon stars.

“I couldn’t get over how sharp he was, even telling stories of his time there in the ’50s, the ’51 grand final and playing with the calibre of players he did,” Heppell said.

Payne played three games in the Bombers’ 1949 premiership season but was not selected for the finals.

He then played in a semi-final in 1950 but missed out on the back-to-back grand final success.

In one of footy’s most stunning tribunal hearings, Coleman was suspended on the eve of the 1951 finals series for the remainder of the season. Payne missed the semi-final and preliminary final that season with a thigh injury but was named on the bench for the 1951 grand final. On game day, he was elevated into the starting 18 in the forward pocket when John Gill was a late withdrawal.

That led to a game-day sensation with Reynolds, who was retired and hadn’t played a VFL game since the previous year’s grand final, being named to take Payne’s place on the bench.

Payne kicked a goal, Reynolds came on late in the game in his final appearance, but the Bombers lost to Geelong by 11 points.