A perk of being the dux of your AFL Draft class is the sponsorship and endorsement opportunities provided both ahead of, and immediately after, being AFL-listed.
Favoured 2025 Pick 1 talent Willem Duursma has secured a Nike sponsorship this season, so the days of footy boots expenditure are over.
It hasn't just been Willem who has reaped the benefits of the teenager being spoiled for boot choice.
Across the last six months, 2025 Foster senior coach Sam Davies estimates he would have given away about a dozen pairs of his worn boots to locals.
“It's something small like that that these kids will remember forever and keep them supporting him and everything he does,” Davies said.
“He'll give the boots to people at the footy club and sometimes they'll be kids from low socio-economic backgrounds who just want boots to play let alone him giving it to them, so those things stay with you, but it's just part of who 'Lemma' is.”
A cattle farmer from Foster, Davies has known Duursma virtually all his life, and will be one of the 20 people on the Duursma table the AFL National Draft on Wednesday.
That anecdote provides an accurate snapshot of Duursma's down-to-earth country roots.
When Duursma is at Foster, he's just another piece of one of the 2025 premiership-winning Mid Gippsland League club.
Duursma has been a regular at Thursday night training sessions, with Gippsland Power training together only once per week due to geographic difficulties, and he's often on the barbecue or running errands at training or on match day.
Excluding times where Duursma's matches clashed with Foster's, not a weekend has passed in the last two years where the family is not down lending support.
Willem was at Yinnar when Foster upset raging favourite and fierce rival Fish Creek on grand final day in 2025, rushing from his morning preliminary final loss for Gippsland more than 150 kilometres away to enjoy the afternoon.
“My role was to be as loud as I possibly could,” Duursma recalled.
“It was just good being there and supporting the boys on the fence.
“The environment at local footy is just such a different environment, especially on grand final day.
“It was probably one of the best days ever, knowing that we were going in as heavy underdogs to win the grand final.
“The footy club's one of the most important parts of the town, and we've just grown up there from such a young age.
“Everyone supports the club and us and it's an advantage of being part of a tight knit community that I never take for granted.
“I was really disappointed that I didn't play a game for them this year but it just means I'll have to come back and play for them once footy's done”
South Gippsland's Foster Showgrounds spring to life on the fourth Saturday of February each year for the annual Foster Show.
Agricultural and farming enthusiasts from across the vast region converge, engaging in traditions and watching the shows.
Outside of that weekend, which puts the tiny speck 173kms south east of Melbourne on the map, footy is the beating heart which binds the townsfolk together, and Duursma is usually the one kicking the dew off the grass.
Duursma lives 10 minutes north of town, and whenever he finds himself with a few hours up his sleeve, he'll round up some mates and find his way down to the oval.
“I see his car there all the time when I'm driving past,” Davies said.
“He spends a lot of time kicking and probably puts it on TikTok but it's good that he always has a footy in his hands.
“(His Mum) Susie used to make them run 10kms from their house into town a few times which we all remember.”
With fewer than 3000 people, Foster is a town where you have to allow an extra 15 minutes when you walk down the main street because everyone knows everyone.
What everyone knows about Willem is his pure love for footy which has exposed itself in the form of diligent off-field preparation as his talent pathway career has progressed.
Since 2018, the Duursma family has given the Mid Gippsland club an identity in the AFL landscape, helping shape each of Xavier, Yasmin and Zane's journey.
The club has been especially influential for Willem, providing him with a launchpad to grow into a player ready to start the next chapter of his journey.
“Zane's always had the most natural talent; he's just always made everything look easy, and Xavier has had to grind to get to where he is and ‘Lemma' has that good blend of both - he works really hard and has got great natural talent.”
In 2023 as a not-yet-16-year-old, Willem got his first taste of senior footy, playing seven games and kicking 23 goals, including two bags of six, in the Mid Gippsland League.
So influential was he that he was named in the team of the year.
| 1 RANK |  | Willem Duursma Gippsland Power Utility HEIGHT: 191cm | ▶+ |
“He got tagged a couple of times that year by 25-30-year-old grown men,” Davies recalled.
“We'd just let him go and he'd jump on people's heads; it was crazy to watch.
“Our comp's not fast, free-flowing footy, you've got to win your own ball.
“The grounds are hard, muddy, the footy is often heavy but everything slows down for him when he has played for us because he's been a level above.
“His ability to read the ball and the time he always has is crazy.”
Those around Gippsland saw a big uptick in Duursma's preparation and leadership in 2025, reaping the benefits of maintaining full-time connection to the Coates Talent League program.
Duursma was approached widely to finish his studies and represent an APS football school, but in the interests of his footy and given his strong connection to Foster, decided to stay local.
After an inconsistent start to 2025, a shift towards a more team first mindset was the foundation of a pre-eminent finish to the season.
“I think that the leadership part was something I always wanted to strive to be,” the teenager noted.
“I think that throughout the year, my leadership was probably one thing that stayed consistent, even when I wasn't playing as well earlier in the year.
“That helped me keep my confidence up and knowing that I didn't have to play the best game ever, but if I can help some of the younger boys be more confident or that one or two per cent better, then that made me feel 10 times better.
“Part of that was being more accepting of my role.
“I started the season just wanting to play midfield but doing things that were better for the team helped my performance.”
Marcus Bontempelli has been extensively referenced in media interviews as a player Duursma looks up to, and while he'll likely play midfield long term, versatility is a strength.
For the AFL Academy, Duursma was often playing as a makeshift key defender, while he was a half-back for much of the U18s National Championships, and he was also utilised forward where he proved a tough matchup.
A midfield masterclass against Vic Metro where he accumulated 27 disposals, five tackles and a goal capped off a terrific, MVP-winning carnival and rubber-stamped his Pick 1 credentials.
It was also one of many games where he showed off his improved contested game, which had been questioned coming into 2025.
By the end of the year, he averaged 12 contested possessions, top 10 in the Coates Taent League, and five tackles for the Power.
“I think half-back or half-forward to try and use my aerial skills to have an impact on transition but I'm happy to start wherever,” Duursma said of his potential first position at the next level.
“I think the beauty of being able to play pretty much any position, is that you can just listen to whatever the coach says and play your role as hard and in the best way you can.
"The direction that my game's going, so I think I've still got a lot more improvement to go, but I think this year's been a really good stepping stone with my contest game."
Duursma has repeatedly affirmed his openness to a move interstate, having seen siblings Yasmin and Xavier start their careers at Port Adelaide, and with friendships at West Coast with Harley Reid, Ryan Maric and Archer Reid, there is a confidence that he will adapt well to life at Lathlain Park.
In a compromised and shallow draft class with great uncertainty and an expectation of abundant trading, Willem being his cohort's number one is a rare near certainty.
That he entered the year in a group of about five viewed in Pick 1 contention is remarkable given that until 2025, he didn't have a footy-focused pre-season as he juggled footy and basketball.
"As recently as last year, I'd play VJBL (basketball) on a Friday night, and then I'd be rocking up to a Power game on the Saturday sometimes after getting home at 1.30am or 2am if you're away somewhere,” Duursma recalled.
“It wasn't easy, but you'd front up and it was all part of the fun.”
On average, players taken in the top 20 of last year's draft played 11 games in 2025, with only four failing to break through for an AFL debut, two of those due to injury.
The Gippslander has, however, liberated himself of the expectation despite widespread belief that he will slot straight into West Coast's lineup.
“Originally, yes, I thought, I thought that would be the best thing for me to play Round 1," Duursma said.
"But I think that it was brought up in an interview that if you don't play Round 1, it's not the end of the world.
"It can be really good for your development - some players that are stars of the league didn't play Round 1 (in their first year), they spent a year in the VFL.
"Obviously it'd be a really nice thing to play Round 1.
"However, if I don't, then I'm not too fussed, because you put the process over outcome."
Willem remembers the warm embrace with Zane at Marvel Stadium when he was drafted to North Melbourne two years ago.
Further back in his childhood, he fondly recalls being at home to enjoy Yasmin realising her dream and sitting with Xavier and in front of Connor Rozee as they were taken with first-round picks in 2018.
Next Wednesday is set to be Willem's time to shine the brightest at the top, and he can't wait for the next chapter to start.
“I'm pretty cruisy about it (the Pick 1 tag),” Duursma said.
“Obviously it'd be a nice thing to be to pick one, but I'm laid back about it.
“I'm not too stressed about really anything, I'm more excited than anything.
“I'm excited to be there, enjoy the night and embrace it with all the other boys and watch them get picked up by the clubs.
“Seeing my mates get drafted and stuff will be pretty awesome so that'll be something that I look forward to.
“I'm feeling pretty ready for pre-season, I've still been running and doing heaps of gym so I'm keen for it.”
