A nine-year-old Mandurah girl has been given the surprise of her life, named as the Western Bulldogs junior mascot for the AFL Grand Final at Optus Stadium.
Payton will run out with her favourite AFL team on Saturday.
It will be the very first AFL game she has ever been to and it all started from a photo posted to Facebook.
The diehard Bulldogs fan had tickets to see her team take on the Eagles earlier in the season but it was cancelled due to COVID.
Her mother Aleiah Green posted a picture of her devastated daughter on Facebook which caught the eye of the Western Bulldogs' cheer squad.
After learning Ms Green had secured tickets to the Grand Final, the Western Bulldogs contacted her and a meet-and-greet was organised at the club's hotel in Fremantle.
Payton was gobsmacked when star player Jason Johannisen asked her if she wanted to run out with the team on Grand Final day.
She also got to meet Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli.
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