Jacob Allison will dedicate his AFL debut against the West Coast Eagles to his older brother Tom. 

Allison, along with his parents, will miss Tom’s 21st birthday party in Brisbane on Saturday night, as he will be in Perth preparing for the biggest moment in his life. Allison will start off the bench in the Round 19 clash. 

His brother Tom, who will remain in Brisbane, couldn’t be more stoked for his younger sibling. 

“He said it’s the best birthday present he could ask for. Even though it’s his 21st birthday, which is massive, but for him to say that was huge for me,” Allison said.

The 19-year-old says he wouldn’t have come this far without his brother’s support. 

“I’m very close with him. I guess when you have an older brother you kind of have to thank him for where you get. I definitely have to thank him for the hours and hours in the backyard and kicking the footy with him,” he said.

Along with their sister, the family grew up in Geelong and Allison can still clearly remember walking down to the park and having a kick with his family.

“I always wanted to play AFL. This is definitely ticking off a dream,” he said.

When he was six the family moved to Queensland and in 2011 he was selected in the Brisbane Lions Academy program. 

“I think I was more of a mediocre football player and then going through that definitely changed me so I have to thank them a lot for getting me this opportunity,” Allison said.

It was at the Academy Allison met future teammates Ben Keays and Harris Andrews, who he’ll share the ground with on Sunday afternoon against the Eagles. 

“There’s a lot of Queenslanders out there now which is awesome. I can’t wait to get out there and do the jersey proud,” he said.

Allison has played thirteen NEAFL games for Brisbane this year. Chris Fagan rewarded his persistence with a Senior call up this week, telling Allison he’d been “knocking on the door for a while.”

“I guess I was in a bit of shock. It’s something you always dream of and for him to finally say that was awesome,” Allison said.