To get Barassi to Melbourne, the VFL said a club could seek a clearance for the son of a player with a record of 50 or more games. It was first implemented in the early 1950s to ensure that future Australian Football legend Ron Barassi Jr went to the same club as his father, who was killed in World War II.Īfter Barassi Sr's death, young Ron moved with his family into the exclusive recruiting zone of VFL rivals Collingwood and Carlton. The youngster probably does not know the father-son rule was conceived to benefit his beloved Melbourne Football Club. "He was in tears when Melbourne told him. "He's (Taj Woewodin) had a terrific year at East Fremantle and then playing for WA in three interstate games ," said Sheehan, who has decades of experience as AFL talent ambassador. Nick Daicos (son of Peter), Sam Darcy (son of Luke), and Jase Burgoyne (son of Peter) will realise their potential to "go father-son".ĭaicos and Darcy will likely break a record and become the highest father-son draft picks selected in AFL history.Īnother who is set to be drafted is West Australian prospect Taj Woewodin, whose father Shane won the 2000 Brownlow Medal when playing for Melbourne. On Wednesday and Thursday, teenagers with names familiar to older footy heads will arrive in the AFL via the national draft.
The Saints have not missed out: Hall of Fame champion Nathan Burke's daughter Alice was recruited by St Kilda to play in the 2021 AFLW season. St Kilda famously had a great group of players (from the 1990s) that had girls." "Some have had some great luck with it," Sheehan said of the father-son rule. Seconds later, Paul Chapman kicked a match-winning goal. "Little Gary" could not mark the ball, which fell into the centre circle and was claimed by Scarlett, who bounced and then toe-poked the Sherrin back to Ablett Jnr, who took off and launched a bomb to the goal square. Steve Johnson kicked the ball to Gary Ablett Jnr in the middle of the ground, a bold decision that flirted with the potential of a turn over of possession. Scores were level between Geelong and St Kilda at the 23rd-minute mark of the last quarter in the 2009 season decider. The father-son rule helped Geelong win another premiership cup two years later, with a particular passage of play in the grand final illustrating its value to the Cats. Tom Hawkins - the son of Geelong 182-gamer Jack - also made his debut for the Cats that season. In 2007, they played in Geelong's grand-final winning team alongside another father-son recruit Matthew Scarlett, whose dad John played 183 games. Gary Ablett Snr never won a flag, but his sons Gary and Nathan did. That started - I suppose in a way - my close interest in the father-son rule because you're following an Ablett."
"He played that state game, where he kicked eight against WA.
"I caught up again maybe eight games into his career at Geelong. "They said goodbye to me and introduced a handful of recruits, including Gary Ablett Snr, and so I took an interest in him," Sheehan said. The kid was Gary Ablett Snr, who had spent time he did not enjoy at Hawthorn, before giving Saturday arvo spectaculars to supporters of the powerful Ovens and Murray league.īy the end of the year, Sheehan had departed Geelong. "This kid, he was kicking them goal-post high with a wet ball. "I've seen the best player I've ever seen outside the VFL," McMaster said. The scout had spent the weekend in the rain-shivering mountain town of Myrtleford in north-east Victoria. "Where'd you go, what'd you see?" Sheehan asked McMaster. After a decade at Geelong as player, coach and development manager, Sheehan was working his last season with recruiter Bill McMaster. Sheehan's mind winds back 37 years to the day he first heard praise for the name Ablett. "Oh yes, there's no doubt," AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan said. Have some clubs benefited more than others from the way their players were propagated? In a world of sport where professionals can be sent from city to city or coast to coast, the AFL's 70-year-old father-son rule pays homage to tribalism and all that sentimentality you did not know you still had as a barracker.īut maybe allowing genetically gifted families to keep working for one employer isn't lovely and fair for everyone.