Zeke Uwland Biography

Zeke Uwland, a top contender for the No.1 pick in the AFL draft, is balancing his recovery from a back injury with studying law and working as an auditor.

"I think study establishes good habits early in your life. The fact is the average life expectancy of a playing career is four years, so if that happens to be me, I'll have 60 years of working ahead, so why not try and get set up as quick as possible," Uwland said.

"It has always been a bit of a release for me from footy, something I can turn to. I think it helps when you do have an injury or when something isn't going right, you can always fall back on something else. Footy then doesn't take up your whole life and I don't ride the wave of emotions based purely on how footy is going. That helps. I think having a job after footy is inevitable and I really want to set myself up for the future."

In addition to his academic pursuits, Uwland is also coaching the Gold Coast Acadamy midfield team.

"I think getting exposure to coaching and really learning the game has helped me develop my mental aspect," he said.

"Helping out with the Suns' midfield group as an assistant coach has been pretty cool. It's been good to work closely with the players, not only on their individual goals but also playing the system, which is Dimma's system."

As he recovers from a back injury, Zeke Uwland says he is learning from the experience of his older brother, Bodhi Uwland, who underwent recovery from a similar injury.

"Bodhi missed 18 months, so I had that awareness and got onto it pretty early. Having that awareness in the first phase is pretty important," Zeke said.

"Knowing when to pull up and not push your body too far, especially early on; I could have reported no pain and come back to running earlier, but it's just not that worth it in the long run. I'd rather play round one next year then maybe national championships this year. That's the goal."

Zeke Uwland, a front-runner for the No.1 pick in the 2025 AFL Draft, will have a managed start to the season due to a back issue, but his return to the field is expected sooner than initially feared.