WILL Ashcroft is standing on the precipice of greatness.

By Saturday evening, he could become a three-time premiership player. And by Saturday evening, he could also become just the second footballer behind Richmond legend Dustin Martin to be a three-time Norm Smith Medal winner.

He's only 22 years of age, by the way.

Ashcroft has already achieved what few in the game could dream of. Gary Ayres, Andrew McLeod, Luke Hodge and Martin are the only other dual Norm Smith winners. 'Dusty' was 29 and playing in his 244th game when he became the first to ever win three Norm Smith Medals.

Ashcroft will be 22 and playing in his 85th game.

It's a remarkable thought. But it's also a believable one for anyone that's followed Ashcroft's career from the outset. This was a player built for the big game. In his only other Grand Final, with Sandringham Dragons to cap their 2022 Talent League premiership, guess who was best on ground? Yep.

Mark Wheeler was the talent boss for that Dragons side and knew from the moment he inherited Ashcroft into his program that the kid was special. While he's worked incredibly hard, both at junior level and since arriving at Brisbane, there was always a sense he was bound for greatness.

"He was a standout from day dot," Wheeler told AFL.com.au this week.

"He was meticulous in the way he prepared. He always knew where he was going. He started his online app pretty early, he had this wellbeing thought way before anyone else had it to that level. He was weighing his food, he was doing his diet, he was always promoting the benefits of what clean stuff is in your body and things like that.

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"He was definitely just wired differently. He would have better conversations with adults more than his own teammates, because he was probably more advanced in his thinking."

Ashcroft's Grand Final performances are now a thing of folklore. He pipped Lachie Neale to the 2024 Norm Smith Medal after helping himself to 30 disposals and a goal against Sydney, then saluted ahead of Harris Andrews the very next year having finished with 32 disposals and a goal.

The 'Normies' have complemented the Gary Ayres Medal for best player in the 2025 finals series, the two Marcus Ashcroft Medals in 2025 and 2026 for best player against rivals Gold Coast, as well as the Goal of the Year victory in 2023. One last reminder, Ashcroft is 22 and into his fourth season.

His performance on Grand Final day with Sandringham in 2022 also featured a whopping 39 disposals and six clearances and came just months after he had claimed the Larke Medal for his efforts with Vic Metro for the best player at the national championships.

"Everywhere the ball went, you looked down and Will was there," Wheeler said.

"He just had one of those days. He had a couple of good mates with him in Harry Sheezel and they drove each other. Then you chuck in Charlie Clarke, who was the third in that side, they would continue to drive each other.

"He was just clean and you wanted the ball in his hands. I remember he was just running, he was always running. That was something that Marcus drilled into his boys pretty quickly, that you just had to be on the move. If you watch him in that game, if you ever go back to it, he just never stands still. He's always on the move."

Will wasn't the only Ashcroft playing in that Sandringham Dragons Grand Final. He's also not the only Ashcroft with a remarkable premiership legacy. In fact, winning flags runs in the Ashcroft DNA.

His father, Marcus, finished with three premierships in three seasons for Brisbane before retiring in 2003. His younger brother, Levi, started his AFL career with a premiership in his first season in 2025. In fact, on Saturday evening, Levi won't just be playing to go two in two. He'll be playing to go five in five.

Incredibly, Levi played in the Sandringham Dragons' 2022 premiership win alongside brother Will as a 15-year-old. He played in its 2023 premiership win as a 16-year-old. He then played in its 2024 premiership win as a 17-year-old.

He then got drafted to Brisbane, so naturally played in the side's 2025 premiership victory over Sydney as an 18-year-old. Saturday's encounter against Fremantle will be a chance to play in another premiership, this time as a 19-year-old.

"Those players are unique because they just want the ball in their hands," Wheeler said.

"They're matchwinners, and they were always going to be matchwinners. Will has already gone past the level I thought he was going to be and Levi's catching him pretty quickly. I mean, it's Levi's fifth Grand Final in a row.

"They just hate to lose. Those brothers, they're competitive. They've always had that in them. I think Levi's off two in golf and Will's not far behind him. Everything they do, they're competitive.

"That's why you say 'matchwinner', because they hate losing. You can just see it. It's 'give me the ball and get out of my way, I'm going to lead'. They had that little spark from pretty early."

Perhaps the big difference between Ashcroft's performances in 2024 and 2025, compared to the Grand Final he's heading into this Saturday, is that 2026 will be the first time he'll enter the game as genuinely one of the best players in the competition. The pressure, naturally, will be different.

Ashcroft finished outside the top 10 of Brisbane's 2024 best and fairest count, then made the podium in 2025. Later this year, when the Lions crown their club champion, it would not surprise to see him claiming the honour for himself. But the heightened expectations are unlikely to bother him.

Ashcroft has cleared every hurdle in his career and this season has seen him go to another level altogether. A top five finish in the Brownlow Medal, a lead in the Gary Ayres Medal for the second straight season, career highs for disposals, goals, score involvements and inside-50s, plus what still lies ahead.

"Everyone says once you get to the next level, you get found out a bit," Wheeler said.

"There was a little bit of that with me. Yeah, you've been able to push off and get away from these kids, but everyone is going to be quicker and stronger at the next level. Will's got stronger and Levi's getting to that stage, but Will's been able to do that.

"You think, Will's gone into a pretty talented team and he's forged himself to already being in their top 10 players. That was the biggest surprise for me, how quick he got that status.

"The first Norm Smith Medal was definitely deserved, the second Norm Smith Medal was definitely deserved. He's just one that likes to be challenged. Hopefully, that'll help him again on Saturday."

And so, naturally, Ashcroft enters the 2026 Grand Final with the football world at his feet and the chance to grasp greatness. For any other player, a third premiership – and a third Norm Smith Medal – would be seen as a pipedream. But for Ashcroft, many might instead consider it a formality.

"I'd love to see it," Wheeler said.

"If I was ever allowed to bet on the footy, I'd be putting something on it."