To onlookers at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night, defender Jack Leslie seemed to stand taller than his physical 197cm.

The 21-year old tasted victory for the first time in the red and gold in round four, but faced a lofty task returning home to Metricon Stadium for his third game of the season.

With injuries to key defenders Steven May and Rory Thompson, Leslie was tasked with anchoring the backline and taking on Adelaide captain Tex Walker in just his ninth career game.

“I think he had it a little bit over me probably at the start of the game just leading up, I was probably just ducking off a little bit,” Leslie told SUNS TV post-match.

“Then I just thought I’d try to fix it up. Try to be a bit closer to him and as soon as he got the ball I could really just put pressure on him and try stop his influence.”

For some, the reality of standing at full-back amid one of the AFL’s most ruthless forward lines could cause some sleepless nights, but Leslie took it all in his stride.

“He’s really a driver for them in the forward line, they probably go to him a fair bit as well,” Leslie said.

“I prepared pretty heavily for it, spoke to Maysie and Chops [Andy Lovell] and went through a fair few of edits.

“ [I] watched a lot of their game last week against Essendon - just picked out what worked for them and what didn’t, what his [Walker] strengths and weaknesses are, just tried to take that into the game tonight.

May and Thompson will remain sidelined with their respective injuries for the SUNS’ round six match again North Melbourne, providing Leslie another opportunity against one of North Melbourne’s key forwards.