Will Ashcroft and Jaspa Fletcher had only ever heard the stories.

Neither boy was old enough to remember when their Dads were champion AFL footballers, but both grew up with a burning desire to follow in their fathers’ footsteps.

You can’t get around Queensland footy with surnames like Ashcroft and Fletcher and not be told more times than you can remember about your old mans’ feats.

But for the first time, the two 17-year-olds are living and breathing life at an AFL club, just like their Dads did for a combined 555 games.

Will and Jaspa will spend summer doing pre-season with the Lions ahead of the 2022 NAB AFL Draft.

Marcus Ashcroft was a Queensland junior who played all of his 318 AFL games at the Bears (152) and Lions (166) and was a member of the premiership threepeat between 2001 and 03.

He moved to Victoria for work reasons in 2018 and Will and the rest of the family joined him when that school year ended.

For a footy mad teenager, moving to Melbourne was a dream come true for Will who had dominated junior ranks in Queensland. Rather than coming back to the pack, the step up in competition inspired even more improvement from Will who would go on to captain the Victorian State Schoolboys Under 15s side in his first year. This year he captained the Vic Metro Under 17s side as well as starring for Brighton Grammar where he won their best and fairest.

Although he will return to Victoria to complete his final year of schooling in 2022, his Dad had no hesitation sending Will up to Brisbane for the summer for a taste of life in an elite AFL environment.

“This is what he has been craving,’’ he said.

Adrian Fletcher has been kicking the footy with Jaspa for his son’s entire life. And with years of coaching experience at the Lions, Collingwood and in Queensland State programs, he’s given Jaspa insights few of his peers could match.

But he knows the experience Jaspa is gaining at the Lions will trump all those afternoons in the local park.

Jaspa, who has recently been chosen for the 2022 NAB AFL National Academy, plays senior QAFL footy at Sherwood. He made the move after progressing through the junior ranks at Cooparoo. A member of the Lions Academy since he was 12, it’s plain to see that football runs in Jaspa’s blood.

Adrian played 107 of his 237 AFL games for the Bears (86) and Lions (21) and then returned to spend a further six years as an assistant coach to Leigh Matthews and Michael Voss.

Although Fletcher played at four Clubs, including Geelong, St Kilda and Fremantle, he said Jaspa had grown up in Brisbane and had been a lifelong Lions supporter.

“This is such a great opportunity for Jaspa and we’re really grateful to the Club for that,’’ he said.

“There is no better pathway than to be able to train alongside and learn from the best.

“He’s got a lot of work ahead of him and there’s no guarantees and he knows that, but whatever happens in the draft next year, this time he gets to spend with the Lions is going to be great for his development.’’