From growing up in nondescript Charra to the heights of reaching the AFL, Kade Chandler and Jay Polkinghorne share similar journeys.
Roughly halfway between Ceduna and Penong, across the coastal back country of the farming district Charra, sprawl the Polkinghorne and Chandler family farms – where two sets of siblings grew up sharing fence lines, mateship and a brotherhood built around football.
Out the backyard of each family’s farmhouse, rising like relics from the past, stand the old sets of footy goalposts, once the focal point of the week’s most important battles.
That was with the exception of training nights and Saturdays, of course, when those skirmishes took place 40 kilometres up the road at Penong, where the four Chandler boys and three Polkinghorne lads joined forces at the Western United Tigers, the same club their fathers played for.
Today, we are inside the four walls of the Western United clubrooms, chatting with a couple of those now adult Charra boys, 18-year-old Jay Polkinghorne and 25-year-old Kade Chandler.
We’re yarning because just weeks earlier young Jay was somewhat unexpectedly drafted by AFL club Geelong.
When the same good fortune befell Kade in 2018 – drafted to Melbourne, where he still plays – he became the pride of footy-centric Penong.
Now, he will be sharing that mantle with lifelong mate and next-door neighbour Jay, and he couldn’t be happier about it.
“My jaw just hit the floor when I heard… there must be something in the water or the dust,” Kade laughs, looking out over the local footy oval which, outside the winter cropping months, may well be the only patch of green grass for 50km in every direction.
Kade is answering a question around how it is that two mates from neighbouring farms, from one of Australia’s most far-flung footy clubs, both find themselves on AFL lists.
And about there being something in the water or dust out Charra way, Kade might not be speaking too far from the truth.
His three brothers – Broadie, Jesse and Harlee Chandler – plus Jay’s siblings Cruz and Mahdi Polkinghorne – already share in a hoard of State Country, Eyre Peninsula, Mail Medal, premiership and various other footy accolades.
“I don’t know if it’s coincidence, or just the way we were brought up,” Kade continues.
“It’s probably a culmination of lots of different elements, probably a fair bit of it can be put down to things like genetics and us having early opportunities at Norwood and school footy in Adelaide and being able to bring that back to the club.
“That definitely fast tracked our development.”
But it’s talk of the local footy club and the brotherhood within that Kade speaks of with most affection.
“You can put a fair bit of it down to the culture of Westies, I think as a footy club we have fantastic foundations and junior development,” he says.
“Everyone is so close, we play footy together, we hang out together outside out of footy, most of the boys are related or family friends of some sort.
“The boys up here pretty much live in each other’s back pockets, I think that contributes to the success we are seeing.”
Before the days of Westies’ flags and AFL draftings, the two sets of siblings took each other under their wings.
“Jay has been kind of like a little brother in a way, all those Polkinghorne boys have,” Kade says.
“They were always kicking around our place, we used to go motorbike riding and shooting together, and every Sunday during footy season we’d always have a BBQ at ours and they’d be there, out the back lawn kicking the footy.
“We spent a hell of a lot of time together, we were never far away from each other, which still seems to be the case today.”
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When Jay’s name was called out with pick 44 in the AFL draft – Geelong’s first selection – he was in his typically understated way, halfway through dinner at an Adelaide pub with a couple of mates from school.
Injury had kept the high marking forward out of the limelight for much of his draft year and it was unknown if the talent from Penong was going to have his AFL ambitions realised.
So when the news arrived at the pub – via a live stream of the draft playing on his mate’s phone at the table – pandemonium set in.
“We were all just sitting there, having a feed and my name got called out, I didn’t think it was going to happen, especially not that early,” Jay says.
“Then it did, and we all just jumped up and couldn’t believe it really, I couldn’t really talk, we were all pretty spun out, it was surreal, I can’t explain it.”
At the same time, 800km west on the Polkinghorne farm, similar scenes of ecstasy were unfolding.
A quiet evening on the couch for parents Ben and Andrea quickly became an all-night affair, as family, friends and the Chandlers converged on the Polkinghorne home to celebrate.
“You should have seen our pergola the next morning,” Ben laughs, speaking a few days after the draft.
“Holy moly, we had quite a few people roll up, neighbours, friends; it turned into quite the night.
“We’re just really proud of him, we had quite a few tears on the drive over to Adelaide the next day.”
Andrea echoed the sentiments, highlighting Jay’s persistence as a source of motherly pride.
“It was all a bit emotional at the airport [when we dropped him off], but more so we’re just so excited and pumped for him and his next chapter,” she said.
“He’s a resilient kid, to get this far with the setbacks he had, it’s been a bit of a journey this year, with injury and missing state selection.
“He’s just done extremely well to get himself back from that and to where he is now.”
Back at Western United, Jay is recalling the wave of relief he felt after a breakout return from injury, where he kicked four goals and took a mark of the year contender in a Norwood under 18 game.
“That game, that’s probably the moment I thought, f–k, I’ve still got it,” Jay said.
“After my injury, I was a bit concerned about my footy, so when that game happened, I was pretty happy.
“That’s when I got told I had to get fit and stay fit for the draft, which luckily enough I did.”
Fast forward a couple of months and Jay was playing on the Adelaide Oval and dominating proceedings in the state’s top-tier school footy grand final, where he starred with four goals in a best on ground performance for Prince Alfred College.
Weeks later, he was repeating a similar feat, this time against adult bodies, kicking two majors and collecting eight marks and 17 disposals in Norwood’s reserves premiership.
Those grand final performances are thought to have confirmed Jay’s status as a legitimate draft smoky and saw him firmly on the radar of a couple of Victorian powerhouses.
“I thought it was more likely going to be Collingwood to be honest – I hadn’t spoken to Geelong for a few weeks,” Jay says.
But now, the lad from Charra couldn’t be happier to be headed down to the Cattery.
“I really like the idea of Geelong, on your days off you can go to the beach, there’s fishing spots close by, players have farms not far away, you can drive 20 minutes and be in the country.”
“I’m excited, it’s a lifestyle I think I’ll enjoy.”
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When Jay was injured early in 2024 and subsequently missed selection in South Australia’s U18 team for the national championship, leaving him uncertain about a future in footy, it was Kade who urged him to stay the course.
“I obviously look up to Kade,” Jay says.
“We talk a fair bit, not only just footy, he’s got a good story, he got picked up in the rookie draft, wasn’t getting a game for the first few years and stuck at it and he’s worked incredibly hard, it’s pretty inspirational.
“He just kept telling me – it’s not all doom and gloom mate, you just have to keep going, you can still get drafted if you don’t play state – and it happened, he was right.”
Kade remains grateful that he was in a position to understand Jay’s calling to home, as well as the instabilities around his unsure football circumstances.
“Jay and I have a very good relationship, I would ring him every couple of weeks throughout the year and ask him how he’s going, how he’s playing,” Kade says.
“There were times where he probably had a fair bit of frustration with his knee, and balancing wanting to go home and help on the farm versus no, I should stay in Adelaide and do the rehab.
“I’d been through that kind of thing earlier in my career, I wouldn’t say I coached or told him what he should do, but I did remind him on a number of occasions, you don’t need to make the state team to get drafted, you just need to finish the year really strongly. I’m absolutely rapt for him that he was able to do that.”
Asked what kind of footballer Jay could grow into at the elite level, Kade described his potential as being a “blank canvas”.
“He’s got a hell of a lot of upside, he’s incredibly athletic, and to be honest, there’s no reason he can’t play at either end of the ground or chop it up as a second ruck or even a midfielder, he moves very well for his size.”
And yet, if the day does come where Kade lines up for the Dees against Jay for the Cats, there’ll be no punches pulled.
“As soon as the final siren goes, I’m sure there’ll be a big hug, that would make my day playing against him, that would be a really special moment,” Kade says.
“But for those two hours out on the ‘G or at GMBHA, there’ll be absolutely no love lost… she’ll be full on.”
Just like the good old days as boys in the backyards of Charra.
