AFL draft: Zane Duursma remains hopeful of joining brother

Hot AFL draft prospect Zane Duursma says it’s still “the dream” to play with his brother Xavier but agrees joining Essendon is unlikely as he looks set to go in the top five picks.

The Gippsland Power forward, who draft expert Kevin Sheehan labelled “mercurial”, is expected to be taken by North Melbourne with pick two or three on Monday’s opening night of the national draft.

Duursma said he still harboured ambitions of playing with his elder brother, with the 23-year-old wingman moving from Port Adelaide home to Victoria to join Essendon on the final day of the trade period.

Essendon holds pick nine in the draft, but Duursma is almost certain to be taken earlier.

The Bombers would have a difficult time trading up the draft order, with only picks 31 and 35 behind their opening selection in this year’s draft.

“(There’s) nothing certain, but I think that’s the dream, to play with Xavier,” the younger Duursma told reporters on Thursday.

“I’ll see what happens down the track. I’m pretty excited now, seeing the draft’s only four days away … a bit of nerves setting in, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Duursma won Gippsland Power’s best and fairest this season after booting 33 goals in 12 games, while he starred for Vic Country at the national championships, averaging 15 disposals, four tackles and two goals per game over his four outings.

He said lessons from watching Xavier and his sister, 19-year-old Port Adelaide midfielder Yasmin, make their way into the top flight would hold him in good stead heading into his first pre-season.

“They’ve given me pretty good advice the last two or three years, they’ve been really good mentors to me,” he said.

“I think seeing what they’ve done has helped me a lot – I get to see what I need to do to move into the system.”

Duursma said he was “grateful” to be a likely top five selection, with plenty of family and friends on their way to the first night of the draft with him after the AFL revamped the event with 20 tickets for each player invited on Monday.

Sheehan said Duursma and Eastern Ranges wingman Caleb Windsor were two of his favourite players in the draft.

“(Duursma) is an exciting, mercurial player … he does the unpredictable things very well, and I mean that in a positive sense,” Sheehan said.

“You’ll see the pack forming – he will be the one who comes across the front out of the blue to take the mark, and that’s exciting.

“Caleb (Windsor), he’s your dazzling stallion, he’ll get out on the wing and run and take them on, and he’ll kick very well, he uses the ball very well.”

The first round of the AFL draft will be held on Monday night with the remaining picks to follow on Tuesday.

The rookie draft will be held on Wednesday, with clubs to fill any remaining list spots through supplementary selection period signings in the lead-up to the 2024 season.

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