Under current AFL rules, a player is eligible to be drafted by the club of his ‘biological father’ where the father played more than 100 games.
The heat was on the AFL this week to reconsider the ‘biological’ relationship, when talk back radio was flooded with callers after Tony De Bolfo was told of the ineligibility of adopted sons on Twitter by AFL Media Manager Patrick Keane.
The rule first established in 1949, was designed so that clubs could continue the legacy of their famous footballing names. Over 60 players have been drafted under the rule since 1988 including Gary Ablett Jnr., Dustin Fletcher, Mathew Richardson, Jobe Watson, Jonathon Brown and Travis Cloke.
The notion is that talent can be linked to bloodlines and so paternal sons may be more appealing to clubs.
However does this discriminate against non-paternal boys who grow up in a famous footballing family? If a son grows up with an AFL father in his football club environment and has the ambition and talent to be drafted then bloodline should not matter.
This scenario does have a loop-hole though.
Footballers with eligibility status could conceivably adopt talented teenagers in order to secure their services at a club. Bobby Davis once joked that he wanted to adopt a 17-year old Luke Hodge so that Geelong could pick him up as a father-son.
A solution to this problem is that the son should be under legal guardianship for at least five years to be made eligible under the rule. This circumstance would include boys from the age of 12-13.
This week the AFL softened its stance on the issue and said the Commission will consider such applications on merit. However the issue needs more certainty and the five-year clause is a reasonable consideration and closes the loop-hole.
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