Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge adamant father-son draft rule should remain
Jordan Croft, son of former club defender Matthew, made his Bulldogs debut in Sunday's win over West Coast, joining Sam Darcy, son of Luke, Rhylee West, son of Scott, and Tom Liberatore, son of Tony in the team.
The capacity to priority access in the draft for the likes of Darcy, coming after Collingwood snared Nick Daicos and the Brisbane Lions both Marcus and Levi Ashcroft, all top three picks in their draft classes, has moved several clubs to call for change.
Fremantle chief executive Simon Garlick said the father-son rule no longer had 'a place' in the modern game, and others have suggested the selection criteria undermines the sense of equalisation the draft is supposed to represent.
But Beveridge said family in footy was 'something special' despite the AFL now being a billion-dollar business and that whenever father-son selections came up, there remained decisions to be made by clubs.
'Family in footy, it's something special,' he said.
'I mean, look, it doesn't matter what I say because people say, well, you're going to say that because you've got these father-sons who've come through and have either been great contributors, premiership players.
'When you try and create that spiritual culture, to have sons of former players, it is something special and when they make their debuts, our supporters reminisce a little bit.
'I'm hope they protect it.
'It's gone from 50-100 games to qualify … we have made it a little bit more difficult.
'But ultimately those clubs still need to make a decision on whether they take those players or they go to the other players in the draft order, so it's not an easy thing when you're dealing with romance or being clinical.
'It's hard to tell a family whose sons are available under the rule that you're not going to take them. There's no doubt that sometimes there may be better rated players in the draft in the academies and the father-sons, and that's something we need to remember as well.'
Croft kicked two goals on debut, along with three each from West and Darcy, giving the father-sons a big haul and selection dilemmas for Beveridge ahead of a must-win final round clash against Fremantle.
The Bulldogs have to win to secure a finals spot, and all-Australian midfielder Adam Treloar had 40 possessions in his VFL return after a long lay-off due to a calf injury.
'(Croft) did really well, didn't he? Three contested marks inside that 50 area,' Beveridge said.
'He competed well … He can really run and so he'll challenge the opposition on different fronts.'
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