Sons need to follow in footsteps of fathers
Caroline Wilson
The Age
August 20, 2006
WATCHING James Hird stretch down with his son in the Essendon rooms after the win over Collingwood nine nights ago provided yet another stirring reminder of why the AFL should think long and hard about what to do with its contentious father-son rule.
That such a simple and old-fashioned philosophy should create so much angst for the competition and its clubs says a lot about how complicated the game — and life — has become.
So much has changed in football. Even tradition is frowned upon now as holding back the Victorian clubs. Can't we celebrate and expand this rare element in the game not dictated by the scientific, equality-driven draft but the good fortune of the generational gene pool?
As Richmond recruiting boss Greg Miller pointed out, the rule has changed 11 times since he first approached the VFL in 1971 to make a plea to play for South Melbourne where his father, Allan, had played 36 games. He wouldn't have got there today (the rule was, in fact, introduced in 1950, amended 12 times in total and 10 times since the first national draft was held in 1986).
Ditto Jonathan Brown to Brisbane because Brian Brown managed only 51 games for Fitzroy and the AFL has lifted the father-son games requirement from 50 — it was once as low as 20 — to 100. So Jonathan's younger brother, now playing for the Geelong Falcons, will not get to play alongside his brother under the father-son rule should the Lions want him.
This is frankly poor. The old Fitzroy Lions were promised a decent profile once taken over by Brisbane, but how on earth can they feel any affinity with a club that played only five games in Melbourne this year? No wonder Brisbane's Victorian members deserted the club in droves this season.
Brisbane needs to move forward but it also needs tradition, which is why Sydney has worked so hard since its first premiership to keep the Melbourne Swans on board.
Mick Martyn, who memorably celebrated with his dying father, Bryan (73 games), after a Friday night game, would not have got to North Melbourne today.
Once again the rule is being reviewed by the AFL and looks headed for yet another overhaul. And in this case the competition should pay only passing attention to its 16 clubs when it turns to them for guidance.
The South and West Australian clubs are still going over what they regard as years of injustice regarding the harsh game requirements for father-sons from their local state competitions, requirements that were only relaxed by the AFL Commission several months ago.
And as Miller readily admitted, everyone else is jealous of Geelong, which, having picked up Gary Ablett and Matthew Scarlett, to name two, as third-round father-son draft selections, will in 2007 add Jack Hawkins' son, Tom, to its list. Hawkins is regarded as a top-five pick but will again go to the Cats via the third round of the draft.
Had John Murphy's son Marc not resisted the move to Queensland, Brisbane would have picked up the No. 1 draft choice of 2005 via pick 41. The Kangaroos, who similarly nabbed Ross Smith's son Jesse two years ago, are the subject of much father-son envy as well.
The mandate from the commission to AFL football boss Adrian Anderson seems to be one for change. Anderson is said to favor a bidding system, but is unlikely to reach a decision until late spring when, of course, Hawkins will be well and truly ensconsed at the Cattery.
The bidding system, while open to exploitation, has some merit although the whole point of the father-son rule surely remains that the son join the club of his father. Under the system, any club interested in a potential father-son such as Hawkins must name its selection and the club entitled to the player must take him with its nearest pick, which follows the winning bidder's nomination.
And such a rule change could in fact help a club such as Carlton — which could potentially take three second-generationers this year in the sons of Wayne Johnston, Ken Sheldon and Greg Williams. And yet none of that trio are necessarily third-round draft choices, especially when you consider that the Blues' third-round pick this year could be as high as No. 33.
Under the present system, Carlton would have to give up first, second and third-round picks to take the three but in a bidding system, should St Kilda, for example, bid for Jake Williams as a fourth-round pick, then Carlton could take him under the father-son rule as its fifth-round choice.
Under the new system, Collingwood, which took Jason Cloke as a third-round pick not only because of his own promise but on the promise of two younger brothers, might only have sacrificed a fourth or fifth-round pick. The Magpies took Tony Shaw's son Brayden as a second-round pick in 2003 but delisted him after two years.
The element of surprise, good fortune and disappointment will continue to punctuate father-son stories. Take Andrew Raines, a favourite for this year's Rising Star award but not considered good enough for a father-son in 2003 when the Tigers took him at pick No. 76, four choices behind Tom Roach, its father-son of that year's draft.
Should the father-son rule become a bidding system, then the AFL should relax the game requirement back to 50 — or even 20 — because the new system would prove so much fairer for all concerned.
The league fears widening the father-son pool but it should not. It should embrace it and the promise of romance the rule delivers. Given that a bidding sytem could narrow the number of second or even third-generation footballers at AFL clubs, then a 50-game requirement seems more than fair.
The competition, after all, loves its memorable moments and the most memorable moment of all involved a father and his son bound by life, impending death and, of course, football, together in a car travelling around the MCG.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/08/19/1155408070452.html
