The freakish work ethic and application of Gold Coast Suns Academy gun Zeke Uwland
The player many view as the draft’s best has never won a club best-and-fairest, ‘never stood out’ in junior games and was told his kicking wasn’t good enough. But there’s no other prospect like Zeke Uwland.
Zeke Uwland chuckles when asked his opinion on the nickname that has stuck to him like super glue for the past 12 months.
One part alliteration another an accurate summation, Zeke “The Freak” profiles as one of the top talents in this year’s AFL draft class and the moniker seems like a perfect match.
With a lethal left foot the envy of all, the 18-year-old from Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast has been likened to Sydney superstar Errol Gulden.
If not for his Suns Academy ties he would be a genuine consideration for the first overall pick in Wednesday night’s national draft – just the second Queenslander in history to go at No. 1 after Nick Riewoldt in 2000.
It is not that Uwland dislikes the nickname. In fact, if you know anything about nicknames at football clubs they rarely trend positive and “The Freak” is a glowing endorsement of his ability.
But it does not tell his full story.
Before he was Zeke “The Freak”, he was a grinder.
“Growing up I’ve never really been that best on ground sort of player, I’ve just had that hope and aspiration to be an AFL player,” he told CODE Sports as part of the Chasing the Dream docuseries.
“I never really stood out in games as a junior. I was a ball user and not really recognised as the person that takes six bounces along a wing and kicks a goal.
“I’ve just sort of played my role I think and just chipped away at it and lucky enough to be recognised for it recently.”
Uwland has never won a club best and fairest award. Those were often reserved for his fellow Suns Academy graduates, Beau Addinsall and Jai Murray, with whom he played alongside at the Burleigh Bombers.
His best on ground medal in the Bombers’ 2023 senior grand final triumph was the first time he earned any kind of individual accolade.
He did not even know he had been named the best player in the 2024 Academy Series until asked about it by a journalist.
WATCH EPISODE 2 OF CHASING THE DREAM IN FULL BELOW
Not until his stunning 2024 U18 National Championships campaign, when he was the only bottom-age player picked in the All-Australian team, did the football world truly stand up and take notice.
“I just sort of played footy for the fun of it which is the main thing, but I also stayed true to my routine and was really consistent in my approach to the game,” he said.
“I didn’t really feel as such I made a huge jump, I felt like maybe I was expressing it a bit more. Maybe building the confidence within myself to take the game on a bit, maybe making a few more highlight plays … makes a big difference to perception.”
What is truly freakish about Uwland is his work ethic and application to achieving his goals.
In eldest brother Bodhi, who was named the Gold Coast Suns’ Most Professional Player in 2024, he has the perfect role model.
As one of four brothers who all at one stage shared a dream of playing in the AFL, it was Zeke whose passion burned brightest.
“I think Zeke out of all the boys has been the one that has been the most focused that that is his goal, he wants to be drafted, he wants to be an AFL player,” mum Michelle Uwland told CODE Sports.
“Zeke probably vocalised it a lot more than Bodhi so we always sort of knew that was what he wanted to do.
“He used to go to bed every night at 6 o’clock on the dot because he wanted to grow big enough to be an AFL player.
“And we have a little bit of a giggle now because he’s probably the smallest of the four.”
Players with elite kicking skills are often slapped with titles like “prodigious” or “blessed”. But only a few short years ago Zeke’s father, Mark, was told his son’s kicking skills were not up to scratch.
“ (Zeke) missed the U12s state side, which I thought he was capable of getting into, and then in U15s again he was quite sick the week of the state championships,” Mark explained to CODE Sports.
“Really rundown, had the flu, couldn’t get out of bed hardly at all.
“On the last day he dragged himself out of bed and got enough touches of the football to get picked as a shadow (reserve) player for the Queensland side – so he wasn’t actually picked in the 23, but as a shadow.
“I was talking to the coach after it and he said, ‘oh, I don’t think his kicking skills are all that good’ and I said, ‘well I disagree with you, he actually is an elite kick of the footy’.
“I think that (feedback) was disappointing for (Zeke). But he was lucky enough to get a call-up as a shadow player and get to go to the national championships and I thought he performed really well there and proved his worth.”
Since his standout 2024 All-Australian year, Zeke has battled groin and lower back injuries that conspired to cripple the bulk of his 2025 season – only returning in late-August to play a handful of games for the Suns’ VFL side.
But by then he had already shown recruiters all they needed to see from a football perspective.
On Wednesday night, when Gold Coast matches an early bid on its superstar Suns Academy product, Zeke will finally realise a dream 18 years in the making.
It will not be destiny; not because of a God-given gift.
Rather, because he toiled tirelessly and consistently to make that dream a reality.
Originally published as The freakish work ethic and application of Gold Coast Suns Academy gun Zeke Uwland
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