The father-son rule is a rule that allows clubs to select the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the team in Australian rules football, most notably the Australian Football League. The rule was first established in 1952 and has since endured, albeit with over 10 amendments, most recently tightening of eligibility criteria in 2003 and refining of the draft selection process in 2007.

Contents 1 History 2 Current Rule 2.1 Old rules 3 Player eligibility 3.1 Victorian clubs 3.2 West Australian and South Australian teams 3.3 More than one eligible team and player choice 4 Notable Father-Son Selections 5 See also 6 References

[edit] History

The original rule came into place as a result of successful lobbying by Melbourne Football Club. The club wanted the young Ron Barassi to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ron Barassi, Sr. who had been killed during World War II. However, this meant bypassing the then standard zone-based recruitment rulings, which would have seen Barassi join Carlton instead.

[edit] Current Rule

In 2007 the AFL made an important amendment for the father-son rule, establishing a bidding system to determine which draft pick a club must give up to secure the potential recruit. The current system works as follows:^{[1] [2]}

• 1. Individual clubs are free to nominate potential father-son recruits within the above eligibility guidelines.
• 2. A meeting is held on the Monday before the start of trade week where clubs can bid for the nominated players. Each club has the option to bid, in reverse ladder order, for the nominated players.
• 3. If a bid is made, the club that nominated the father-son player must use its next available selection if it wishes to retain its hold on that player. If a club nominating the father-son player declines to match the selection nominated, the club with the successful bid must use that selection at the Draft to select the player.
• 4. Any club that makes a successful bid on a father-son selection must to the pick the player they nominate.
• 5. If no bid is made by another club, the club that nominated the father-son eligible player will forfeit its last selection in the draft to select the player.

For example in 2008 the Western Bulldogs had to use their 1st round selection, #14, to secure Ayce Cordy after St Kilda bid their 1st round selection for him. Ayce's father, Brian, played 124 games for the Bulldogs in the 1980s.^[3]

[edit] Old rules

Prior to 2007 the father-son rule allowed clubs to select an eligible player in return for giving up their allocated third round pick in the National Draft. If more than one player was eligible for father-son selection for the same club in the same draft then subsequent father-son selections required forfeit of the second, first and fourth round draft picks respectively.

[edit] Player eligibility

The current eligibility of players differs depending upon the home-state of the team making the selection.

[edit] Victorian clubs

Each club can select any player whose father played a minimum of 100 senior games for the side. The two interstate clubs with historic links to Victorian Football League teams, namely the Brisbane Lions and the Sydney Swans, can choose the sons of players who have appeared 100 times for either themselves or their predecessors, the Fitzroy Lions and Brisbane Bears or the South Melbourne Football Club respectively.

[edit] West Australian and South Australian teams

These four clubs have a modified rule in place, valid until the club has been in the AFL for 20 years, with eligibility to be determined by a certain number of games played for specific sides in state league, specifically:

• Until 2007, the West Coast Eagles could select any player whose father had made 150 WAFL appearances for Claremont, East Perth, West Perth or Subiaco.
• Until 2010, Adelaide can select any player whose father made 200 SANFL appearances prior to 1990 for South Adelaide, Norwood, Glenelg or Sturt.
• Until 2015, Fremantle can select any player whose father has made 150 WAFL appearances for East Fremantle, South Fremantle, Perth or Swan Districts.
• Until 2017, Port Adelaide can select any player whose father has made 200 SANFL appearances for the Port Adelaide Magpies, North Adelaide, West Adelaide, Central District, Woodville or West Torrens.

[edit] More than one eligible team and player choice

If a player is eligible to be selected by more than one team the individual player may choose which one of these teams is able to pick him under this rule. For example Darcy Daniher's father Anthony Daniher played 118 games with Essendon and 115 with Sydney. Darcy selected Essendon.^[4]

Alternatively a player has the right to decline to be selected under the father-son rule and instead be eligible to be drafted by any club. An example of this was Marc Murphy who declined to sign with the Brisbane Lions despite his father - John Murphy - appearing 214 times for the Fitzroy Football Club. Murphy was instead selected as the first pick in the 2005 National Draft by Carlton.

[edit] Notable Father-Son Selections

Year	Drafted Player	Club	Father
1989	Ashley McIntosh	West Coast	John McIntosh
1992	Dustin Fletcher	Essendon	Ken Fletcher
1992	Luke Darcy	Footscray	David Darcy
1992	Matthew Richardson	Richmond	Alan Richardson
1995	Joel Bowden	Richmond	Michael Bowden
1995	Ben Cousins	West Coast	Bryan Cousins
1996	Lance Whitnall	Carlton	Graeme Whitnall
1997	Matthew Scarlett	Geelong	John Scarlett
1998	Nick Davis	Collingwood	Craig Davis
1999	Jonathan Brown	Brisbane Lions	Brian Brown
1999	Rhyce Shaw	Collingwood	Ray Shaw
2000	Jason Cloke	Collingwood	David Cloke
2001	Gary Ablett, Jr.	Geelong	Gary Ablett, Sr.
2002	Cameron Cloke	Collingwood	David Cloke
2002	Brett Ebert	Port Adelaide	Russell Ebert
2002	Jobe Watson	Essendon	Tim Watson
2003	Heath Shaw	Collingwood	Ray Shaw
2004	Travis Cloke	Collingwood	David Cloke
2004	Nathan Ablett	Geelong	Gary Ablett, Sr.
2006	Tom Hawkins	Geelong	Jack Hawkins
2006	Josh P. Kennedy	Hawthorn	John Kennedy Jr.
2007	Darcy Daniher	Essendon	Anthony Daniher
2007	Jaxson Barham	Collingwood	Ricky Barham
2007	Adam Donohue	Geelong	Larry Donohue
2008	Ayce Cordy	Western Bulldogs	Brian Cordy

[edit] See also

• AFL Draft

[edit] References

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