Round four of the Smithy’s VFL season held a special moment for the Eckersley family, with Bomber brothers Jared and Zac returning to home soil on the Gold Coast to kick off the dew on Saturday morning.

Debutant Zac and third-year forward Jared helped the Dons secure four points on the road, snapping an interstate win drought of almost four years.

Older sibling Jared has been a key part of the foundations for the Dons’ current VFL list, instantly making his mark as the side’s leading goalkicker in 2024 and continuing his good form into this season.

The brothers had an opportunity to reflect on their journeys from grassroots to running out together for the first time in a VFL hitout. Their reviews in full:

Jared and Zac on… their football journey thus far

We started at Coomera Magpies, having played most of our Juniors there, we moved over to ‘Broady’ (Broadbeach) and then played through the SUNS Academy from U14s all the way up until U18s.

(Jared): I got reached out to from Essendon after my U19s year and I was keen to move down.

(Zac): I was pretty much the same. After my U18s year, I’d been around watching Jared a fair bit, I kind of got to know some of the people here and got the opportunity to come down.

Zac on… his VFL debut and personal goals for 2026

It was pretty crazy having the opportunity and it aligning to be at home, obviously playing against some of my mates and then with my brother, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

My goals for this year are just trying to play as much VFL footy as I can, just to continue developing and who knows what comes in the future, just trying to reach the highest level I can.

Jared on… running out alongside his little brother in their home state

It was pretty cool and quite surreal. It’s always been a dream of mine to play footy with him and to do it at a pretty high level, it was pretty cool, we never really expected it.

Jared and Zac on… important figures that have guided their football journey

Definitely our old man, he’s been a big factor for us, he always pushed us to be the best players and people that we can be.

Zac on… aspects of his brother’s game that he has used in his own development

A lot of my running work has been based off what he hasn’t had. It sounds bad to say but I always wanted to beat him, and it was never really the physical or the footy side for me when I was younger. The only thing I had kind of going for me to start with was my running ability. So just trying to beat him at that, and then gradually building on other aspects from there.

Jared on… the benchmark Saturday’s win has set for the season ahead

I think something for both of us to strive towards is to play consistently for the club. Obviously, I’ve been in and out a little bit, and Saturday being Zac’s first game – so I think something for both of us is to just try and be playing every week and building from there playing good footy.

Jared on… the focuses for his game in 2026

I’m open to playing anywhere on the ground, whatever the team needs from me as a player. Obviously, I want to keep contributing down forward and continue kicking goals, but I’ve really enjoyed playing off half back as well, so if I try and work on my craft there then we’ll see where it leads for me.