The Uwland family home was built from sturdy stuff.

It had to be, to survive the absolute chaos of four footy-mad boys whose idea of a good time often ended with a ball flying through the bathroom window.

Michelle Uwland jokes if not for the exorbitant food bill that came with raising Bodhi, Jarrah, Zeke and Mali she would “own another house” by now.

But it was all “absolutely worth it.”

The key pillar holding her home together has always been love.

CODE Sports’ Chasing the Dream docuseries dives into the journeys of three aspiring AFL stars: Victorian Cooper Duff Tytler, South Australian Matt LeRay, and Michelle’s son, Zeke, from Queensland.

Next week the trio are hoping to realise their AFL dreams when they are picked up in the national draft.

But on the night of November 19 spare a thought for the parents, without whom their sons would not have had the chance to chase their dreams.

WATCH EPISODE 1 IN FULL BELOW

In Michelle’s case, it included sacrificing furthering her professional career.

“For a long time I could only work in a certain area at my workplace to facilitate school drop-off – to get to work, get back to take them to training … you can’t sort of expand your career like that,” she explained.

“Those (decisions) are big things at the time (but) you look back and think ‘yeah, this is so worth it’.”

Michelle was in tears when she watched eldest son Bodhi make his AFL debut for their hometown Gold Coast Suns in 2023.

She still cannot quite believe that next week, Zeke could join Bodhi on the Suns’ AFL list.

In fact it is an almost-certainty that he will, due to his Suns Academy ties which will let Gold Coast match any bid on Zeke from a rival club.

“Mumma would be stoked,” an emotional Michelle told CODE Sports.

“Just for them to play at the elite level together, because they didn’t get to do any of that really in their junior footy because of the age gap.

“I don’t think I would have dry eyes that day. It would be special.”

The four brothers still live with Michelle at their Burleigh Heads home.

Bodhi is the eldest followed by Jarrah, with Zeke just seven minutes older than his twin, Mali.

“And he’ll claim those seven minutes from Mali,” Michelle grins.

The brothers have aged out of the WWE wrestling matches and games of backyard footy that put holes in the walls and drove Michelle to ask “Nanny” to knit replacement balls that could safely be kicked around the house.

Zeke’s diet has improved dramatically from the days of refusing to eat anything other than chicken nuggets and mashed vegetables.

And he no longer religiously goes to bed at 6pm each night, hoping those extra hours of sleep will help him grow taller and improve his chances of getting drafted.

This year Zeke has done dozens of interviews. By the time his name is called next Wednesday night, football fans will feel they know just about everything there is about the lethal left-footer who has been likened to Sydney superstar Errol Gulden.

But only Michelle knows it all.

Knows about his near-miss kitchen accident at two years old which nearly cost Zeke his big toe, or about the list of goals he wrote when he was seven which has sat by his bed ever since.

“He gets quite embarrassed about it now because one of those goals was to be a Brownlow Medallist but it is like, ‘you can still dream those big dreams, that’s awesome’,” she said.

And about the “lucky undies” she buys the kids for Christmas each year and which Zeke wore on his return from injury in August.

Michelle lived through the heartbreak of watching Bodhi’s AFL dream go within a whisker of being lost when he battled through a debilitating lower back injury in his first season.

And then the moment Zeke was diagnosed with a lower back stress fracture of his own in February this year.

“Oh you poor bugger. Here we go again,” she sighed.

“He had watched Bodhi go through it – our whole house and family had watched what it takes, the hard times, the hard days, so we sort of felt prepared in a sense.

“We just used all the positives around it and the fact that he listened to his body early, whereas Bodhi would push through the pain to play, so his injury was a lot more severe.

“I think just Zeke watching how far he had come it was like, ‘yep, we’ve got this’.”

Zeke has been told he can bring 10 people with him to draft night next week.

He has a long list of deserving people he wants to share the biggest night of his young life with.

But the first name on the list was mum.

WE HAVE GOT TO SUPPORT HIM: WHEN KIDS HAVE TO CHOOSE

Matt LeRay’s sporting dreams have always been shared by his parents.

When he preferred a school cricket trip in London over representing South Australia at the U16 AFL National Championships, Coralie and Darren LeRay backed him in.

And when Matt was adamant a Sherrin needed to be in his carry-on for the seven-week trip to the US, so be it.

Last December, Matt told his U19 South Australian cricket teammates he would not be back – the captain of the state was going to focus on footy.

“He’s had to make some tough calls with cricket,” Darren told CODE Sports.

“Saying to your teammates ‘look sorry, I am going to pursue a footy career’ tells us he is very focused and that is what he wants to do with his footy.

“It is huge he made that call … he believes it is the right one, so we have got to support him.”

Ever since, Darren has often pondered the outcome of draft night. Will his son remain in South Australia or head interstate?

There is still some trepidation about whether his name will be called at all.

“She (Coralie) keeps telling me off about it,” he laughs.

“It’s all pretty exciting, but we just have to wait and see, fingers crossed.

Darren coached Matt in both footy and cricket growing up. So invested in his son’s sporting passions, he admits: “I’m one of those dads, when he’s playing a game of footy, I have to go to the other side of the ground, I need to be on my own.”

Chasing the Dream perfectly captures the emotions of a parent in the weeks and months leading up to the AFL draft.

For Coralie and Darren, the smiles are irremovable. Every second sentence has to include the word “proud”.

‘YOU WERE THAT LITTLE KID ONCE’: MUM’S ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE DRAFTEE

Briony Duff-Tytler admits she “didn’t know a lot about football” but that did not stop her doing all she could to help top-five draft hopeful Cooper make his dreams come true.

Before giving it away to own and run the Hanging Rock Café in Woodend – in part so she had more time to spend with her children – Briony had a 20-year career with Emirates.

It meant the four Duff-Tytler kids spent plenty of time at the airport, which had its advantages when Hawthorn – Cooper’s boyhood club – was travelling to and from away games.

“We used to stalk the team at the airport,” Briony told CODE Sports.

“Take all the kids and they would meet Roughy (Jarryd Roughead) and Clarko (Alastair Clarkson).”

When Covid shut down the Riddell District Football Netball League, Briony got on the phone to the Bendigo Dockers – whose competition was still up and running – to see if they had room for Cooper and his older brother, Tobi.

“We went up there (and) I think they played two games – gave them a jumper and they were such a lovely club,” she said.

“I think they got one or two games in before that (league) closed. “

An Australian representative basketballer at junior level, Cooper had an enviable-but-difficult decision to make – he could only choose one of his sporting loves.

If basketball was the winner it likely meant losing Cooper to college in the United States. As difficult as that would have been, Briony wanted to make sure her son made the call that was best for him.

“I had a bit of a feeling that basketball was on its way out … but I didn’t know a lot about football and not sure I was as confident as everyone else with what they were saying about the draft and things,” she said.

“So I tried to encourage him to just wait on his decision.

“He came to me and said ‘no, I want to make this decision. I feel I can’t give 100 per cent so I need to make a decision’.

“I said ‘OK, what is that?’ He said footy.

I didn’t really know which way I wanted him to go. Either way is always scary. It’s a sliding doors moment, isn’t it?”

Basketball’s loss is Australian rules’ gain. At 201cm, Cooper is the premier ruck prospect in this year’s draft class and expected to be among the first names called on November 19.

With recruiters across the country falling over themselves to speak to the prodigious Calder Cannons product, Briony likes to keep her son humble and honest while he is still at home.

“We did call him ‘Flops’ because he used to fall over – maybe his legs were a bit long,” she laughs.

“He used to be quite clumsy, so he was ‘Flopsy’.”

Her advice to Cooper as he prepares to enter the AFL?

“I suggested he stay off social media,” she said.

“I’m not sure that’s going to happen, but it would be great if he didn’t read that.

“And stay humble. Stay out on the ground for two hours signing autographs if you have to. “You were that little kid once – just remember that.”