ZANE Duursma has never had trouble kicking goals. When he was 14, playing against an under-18 side, he kicked eight goals in a preliminary final. In an under-14s game, he booted 10. Last year, playing for Gippsland Power as a bottom-ager, Duursma found his groove with a six-goal haul early in the year.
He finished with 31 goals from 14 games at that level, while also returning to play for local team Foster in Victoria's south-east. In one game, he kicked seven against senior opponents.
This season, Duursma still wants to hit the scoreboard. But the athletic, agile and skilful prospect also has his eyes on a midfield move that would further consolidate his place as a potential top-five pick at this year's draft.
"The plan is to play predominantly midfield and then rest in the forward line in a rotation," Duursma told AFL.com.au's new draft, trade and free agency show Gettable.
The plan got off to a good start last weekend, with Duursma collecting 24 disposals, four clearances, five inside-50s and kicking a goal in Gippsland's win over the Murray Bushrangers in the opening round of the Coates Talent League.
Duursma is an exciting mix: he's 189cm, he flies for his marks, kicks crafty goals and delivers the ball with precision. His appearances for Vic Country last season made him one of the standout prospects for the 2023 crop and a No.1 pick challenger.
"I feel like last year really set the benchmark for what I've got to do this year. It was pretty exciting last year playing Vic Country and Gippsland Power and ending up on top of the ladder with Gippsland was a lot of fun," he said.
Duursma, the younger brother of Port Adelaide's Xavier and whose sister Yasmin plays for the Power's AFLW side, was 13 when Xavier was a first-round pick for the Power in 2018.
He remembers some of the recruiters then who are now judging and assessing his form, as well as the moment Xavier was taken in the draft.
"Xavier's been a pretty big influence on me in these last couple of pre-seasons, especially this one. We've been hitting the track running pretty hard so he's trying to get me fitter and ready for the season, so he's been a pretty big influence. 'Yaz' is there to have a chat with every now and then about what she goes through," he said.
"I can't actually remember much of Xavier's draft year. I remember just putting on the Port Adelaide jersey and pretending I was playing for them. It was lots of fun that draft night."
Duursma has been named vice-captain of Gippsland this year and is likely to be in the leadership group of Vic Country as well, where he will partner with potential top pick Harley Reid. The pair has played together since under-12s level – "He was still the same – hard at it, loved a tackle, loved a fend-off," Duursma said – with Duursma tracking a Fremantle great as the model of his game.
"I love watching Nat Fyfe. He was probably one of my biggest idols growing up, watching him win his two Brownlows was incredible so I tried to model what I do off him," the 17-year-old said. "I also like watching the big centre-half forwards like Jeremy Cameron and those boys go about their business."
