Instead of learning the news after the club’s final training session as is the regular process for most debutants, Membrey received an unexpected phone call from coach John Longmire on Friday morning informing him that Lance Franklin was out, and as a result, he had been selected to play his first senior match.
While Membrey’s selection was good news in itself, the news came at an even more opportune time for the young forward, with his parents and friends already in town to attend the match.
“I woke up in the morning and I was lucky enough to go and pick my parents up from the airport and drop them off where they were staying,” Membrey told SwansTV on Friday night.
“Then I came back home and I was just sitting on my bed watching TV when my phone rang and it was ‘Horse’ and I had a bit of a weird feeling when I answered it.
“He just said ‘You’re in, congratulations’ and I just didn’t believe it.
“I was just stunned and then I was just pacing around the house thinking ‘Is this really happening?’ and I was just stoked.”
While some players would be daunted by being given such short notice, Membrey admitted he was glad he wasn’t given too much time to dwell on the task ahead.
The 20-year-old said while the news came as a shock, he was at least rested ahead of the biggest match of his short career.
“I actually probably think it was a good thing,” he said.
“If I had been told maybe two days before, I think I would have had trouble sleeping.
“I was pretty happy to be told in the morning because it meant I had a good night’s sleep the night before.”
Reflecting on his first game, which saw him play three quarters on the half-forward line before being subbed out of the match, Membrey said he felt positive about his first senior experience.
“It was just about getting out there and getting used to it,” he said.
“I thought I did a couple of good things just sort of leading up to the ball and I took a couple of marks.
“It was definitely a lot harder running and the intensity went up massively, but I was pretty stoked to be out there.”
Membrey, who booted 47 goals for the Swans reserves 2013, has been a consistent performer in the NEAFL and has spent time up forward as well as in the midfield.
Membrey said his time in the midfield, combined with extra fitness sessions he had completed with club fitness coach Rob Spurrs, had helped prepare him for his senior opportunity.
“I’ve been doing heaps of stuff off-field as well with ‘Spurrsy’ at training and just working on my quick feet and I’ve been doing a lot of extras on my days off,” he said.
“I’m just so happy that it’s eventually paid off.”
Speaking to media after the match, John Longmire said Membrey, who was the Swans fourth debutant this season following Jake Lloyd, Zak Jones and Dean Towers, had impressed in his first senior game.
"He started pretty well. His first quarter was really good," Longmire said.
"I spoke to him this morning and said 'what are you doing?' and he said he just picked up his mum and dad from the airport.
"I said 'that's good, because you're playing your first game'.
"He's been doing a lot right in our reserves."
