Father-son rule

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The Father-son rule is a drafting rule in the sport of Australian rules football whereby the sons of former players can bypass the standard draft or zone requirements and play for the same club as their father. The exact qualification requirements vary in each league, but generally requires the father to have played or coached for a minimum number of games (ie 50 or 100 games). The rule is designed to continue the traditions of association that a family has with a particular club.

[edit] AFL

In the AFL, where player selections are tightly controlled through the AFL Draft process, the current rules are as follows:

Sons of former VFL/AFL players can play with the same club their father played or officiated with under the father/son rule. The main eligibility requirements is that the sons father must have played 100 games for that club.
West Australian and South Australian AFL teams have a modified father/son rule in place that have a sunset clause that will be activated when these clubs have been in the AFL competition for 20 years ie: West Coast Eagles 2007; Adelaide Crows 2011, Fremantle Dockers 2015, Port Adelaide 2017. In this 20 year period they can claim the sons of players who played for certain clubs in the WAFL or SANFL. After the 20 year period, they become eligible to include sons of players of only their own club, rather than sons of players of the WAFL or SANFL clubs.
If a player is nominated as a father-son selection, the club must forfeit their 3rd round selection.
If a son is eligible for father-son selection to multiple teams, both the club and the player must agree as to which club he will join, or if he will not join any team through this rule. An example of this was Ben Cousins, whose father Bryan Cousins played for both Geelong and Perth, so was eligible to join Geelong, Fremantle or West Coast. Cousins chose to play with West Coast. In 2005 Marc Murphy was eligible to join the Brisbane Lions due to his father playing over 100 games for the Fitzroy Lions. However he declined to join Brisbane and instead entered the 2005 AFL Draft and was selected with the first pick by Carlton.

These rules were tightened in 2003 with the games requirement increasing from 50 to 100 games for VFL/AFL players. WAFL player requirements are 150 games and SANFL players need to have played 200 games. The increased game requirements are due to the West and South Australian teams having four or five clubs to choose from.

[edit] Draft

In the draft, the father-son selection is made in the third round. If any other team selects the son at a higher pick, the father's team will nominate their intentions, and the selection will automatically count as a third round pick; the first team then picks again. Subsequent father-son selections in the same draft are made using a second round pick, then a first round pick; if a team trades for more third round picks, these cannot be used for father-son selections.