It was always going to be a difficult initiation to league football, but for a brief period in the third quarter, debutant Peter Wright showed a glimpse of what the future holds.

The Gold Coast SUNS prized draftee intercepted an opposition switch to register his first goal. Minutes later, Wright missed an opportunity to kick a second when he hit the post from a set shot.

It was only a brief look into the future, but it was more than promising. Not that we didn’t already know that. But, given the state of affairs inside Metricon Stadium at the minute, and the quality opposition, it was an impressive start by Wright.

After being touted as a high draft pick for a number of years, Saturday night was a long time coming for the 18-year-old spearhead. Wright was pleased to get his first game out of the way and admitted the step up in intensity and level from the NEAFL was substantial.

“It’s a different level all together as I knew it would be. It’s really good to get the first one out of the way and get exposed to that level,” Wright told SUNS RAW following the SUNS’ 52-point loss to the Swans on Saturday night.

“(It was a) good team effort, I thought everyone really cracked in for four quarters. Obviously disappointed with the result but the boys were happy with the effort which we pride ourselves on.

“It was a different level. The running is something I’ve got to get used to. I was cramping pretty heavily in the last quarter, but I just tried to do everything I could possibly to get up for the game and I was pretty happy.”

With Charlie Dixon missing the game due to a club imposed suspension, and Tom Lynch spending large chunks of the game deep in defence, Wright’s first taste of AFL football was a difficult assignment. It was always going to be. But he fought gallantly for the duration of the game and was rewarded with a goal to enhance the memory of his first game.

“It was good to get the first goal. It was a bit of a cheapy, but I’ll take them anyway I can. It was just good to find a little bit of the footy, but obviously a long way to go yet,” Wright said.