The AFL’s once-in-a-generation footy family hails from a town of 9,000 people in south Gippsland. On Wednesday night, the locals that call footy-mad Foster home will once again crowd around televisions to watch one of their own be presented to a national audience.
This time, it’s Willem Duursma’s turn.
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Willem has watched on as Xavier, then Yasmin, and finally Zane lived out childhood dreams, drafted to the pinnacle of their sport in the AFL/W. Tonight he becomes the West Coast Eagles’ choice for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 AFL Draft.
Four siblings drafted to the big leagues is rare air. In 1990 all four Daniher brothers made history playing together for the Bombers, their one and only game in the same side. It was a long wait until Scott completed the Selwood quartet alongside Adam, Troy and Joel 17 years after the Danihers.
Now it’s the Duursma clan, with Xavier, Yasmin, Zane, and Willem all making it to the top level. The achievement of a footy-crazed sister and her brothers collectively accomplishing their goal cannot be overstated; a vicennial event tied to only the most accomplished footy families.
How Willem and his siblings have lived out their childhood dream is a story best told by parents Susie and Dean. Speaking to ESPN at Ikon Park, the couple opened up on raising four professional athletes in a household where homework was as important as their backyard Friday night footy.
READ: ESPN’s full, final AFL Phantom Draft for 2025
The Duursma discipline
From 6am alarms and running up the hills of Foster, to the ‘Covid Olympics’ on the family property, the matriarchal Susie Duursma runs a competitive household.
Her own athletic background as a champion middle distance runner shines through in how the siblings remember their childhood, whether it be the discipline instilled at her dance studio from the age of two or the sweat spilled on the inclines around their property in the hills.
Everything is done with purpose, and everything is done to win.
“She got so angry when she lost,” Dean smiles. “The term white line fever was made for her.”
Duursma matriach Susie congratulates Zane on his draft night. Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images
Willem (nicknamed Lemma, or Werm) doubles down on his Dad’s assertion, clearly scarred by a game of three-a-side footy in the backyard that Susie happily recounts.
“‘Lemma’ was only little, so when we used to play I would grab him by the arm and then get the ball,” she says.
“To get the goal, to get the win, I had to put him down. As I put him down I shoved him into the log and he split his head.
“It didn’t matter, I got the goal! That’s the important thing, isn’t it?!”
Between fits of laughter Dean finds the words to let Susie know that Willem was in fact really, really little at the time.
“We won, and then I checked on the child!” comes the retort.
Future investment
Dean jokes that their car knows its own way to the big smoke. Every year they’ve covered tens of thousands of kilometres across the main roads of Victoria to footy matches, basketball tournaments, netball games and Little Athletics meets for the four kids. A trip to Ikon Park for Yaz’s Carlton home games is a touch over two hours with a good run.
Susie and Dean ran the family car up from 90,000 to over 200,000 kilometres from 2021 to 2023 when footy started back up post-Covid. They’ve gone through three family cars across the siblings’ junior careers.
Amongst it all Dean has juggled his roles as the principal of Foster Secondary College and an assistant coach of 15 years with the Gippsland Power, and Susie has introduced the kids to jazz, ballet and theatre via her dance studio.
“We’ve both watched every game they played as kids. I don’t see why we’d stop now,” Dean says.
“It’s fun, especially when they got to the AFL. There’s a lot of great times, but there’s a lot of shit times too. When you’re out of form and you’re injured, when things aren’t going your way.”
“It’s more important to be in the rooms at the end of losses than to be in there for wins,” Susie adds.
Zane still searches out Mum and Dad in the Marvel Stadium crowd to give them a wave in warm-ups.
“He’s the only one, the others are too embarrassed,” they grin.
The time in the car and behind the fence isn’t a sacrifice in the eyes of Dean.
“I’m a bit of an optimist… I think language is really important, especially with kids. So I never said you’re making a sacrifice by doing this, you’re putting an investment into yourself. You’re investing in your success.
“Every week I get an hour going to training and an hour coming home from training where we just talk. Yes, Willem probably plays on his phone too much… But you’ve got a captive audience so I wouldn’t change anything for the Ks and the cars.”
Willem Duursma in action at the 2025 AFL Draft Combine. Asanka Ratnayake/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
Lemma’s leap
The discipline and competitiveness instilled on the siblings at an early age is mixed in with tangible love and adoration for their kids. Their personalities are embraced and passions nurtured. They explore every avenue of ambition with the full support of their parents.
Willem’s headband made its way from the basketball court to the footy oval early in the season, admitting the sight of Marcus Bontempelli brandishing his own in pre-season was the catalyst.
Basketball was something Willem didn’t give up readily, even in his draft year. So too, was dance.
“We take him to Frankston on a Monday night for basketball. On Tuesday night he would teach dance with me, and then he does classes afterwards. On Wednesdays it’s Morwell for Gippy Power [training], Thursdays Foster training, Friday night usually home.”
All that comes before the weekend’s game of footy, wherever it is in Australia. Willem turned out for the Gippsland Power, Vic Country, AFL Academy, and Casey Demons this year. He finished school exams last week and has tertiary ambitions in sports science down the line.
Willem Duursma warms up ahead of the Marsh AFL National Championships. Paul Kane/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
The one day off the Duursma household enjoyed was typically a Sunday. It makes a little more sense, then, that the siblings were all Brisbane Lions fans growing up having watched ample contests in the early Sunday timeslot up at the Gabba with Pearce Hanley, Daniel Rich, and Tom Rockliff running around.
Watch Willem and you see a little bit of each elder sibling. His frame and hunched back mirrors Xavier’s, only supersized. At 193cm he’s equipped with broad shoulders and long arms, helpful for his aerial exploits. His elite verticality resembles that of Zane, who was a Mark of the Year finalist in his debut season. Yasmin’s dancing feet and wicked agility is clear in Willem’s movement through congestion.
Willem came through Little Aths breaking a host of Zane’s records, and North’s pick 4 in 2023 is about to watch his little brother break another.
So while Susie and Dean’s car drives its own way to Marvel Stadium on Wednesday, they head there with the knowledge that the final of four kids is finishing top of his class and flying the nest all the way out West.
