Father–son rule

The rule was first established in 1949, and there have been more than ten amendments, most recently the refining of the draft bidding process in 2015.

The first player officially cleared under the father–son rule was Harvey Dunn Jr, who was recruited to his father's old club, Carlton, in 1951, instead of being zoned to North Melbourne.

[1] The original rule is thought to have originally come into place as a result of successful lobbying by the Melbourne Football Club,[citation needed] which had wanted the young Ron Barassi to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ron Barassi Sr., who had been killed in action at Tobruk during World War II.

West Coast's Ben Cousins, for example, was recruited in this manner, without the Eagles parting with any draft picks.

Under the current system:[9] The same bidding process has also been used since 2015 by the New South Wales and Queensland clubs to gain preferential access to their states' academy players.

As of March 2011, eligibility of players differs depending upon the home-state of the team making the selection.

[10] In addition to the standard eligibility rules, the South Australian and Western Australian clubs have a modified rule in place with eligibility to be determined by a certain number of games played for specific sides in SANFL or WAFL, if those games were played prior to the club entering the AFL.

Under previous rules, the sons of a senior administrator, such as a president, vice-president, general manager or senior coach, with a tenure of at least five years at a club, would be eligible to be drafted under the father–son rule by that club; and Brisbane Lions and Sydney were previously able to recruit players whose fathers had met eligibility criteria in the Queensland Australian Football League and the Sydney Football League respectively.

Dustin Fletcher , the son of Ken Fletcher , has played the most games of any father–son selection, with 400 AFL matches played
Ron Barassi in 1953 with his father's trophies and guernsey. Barassi was zoned to either Carlton or Collingwood, however, Melbourne went to the VFL and successfully lobbied for the creation of the father–son rule to allow clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the team, a move which allowed Barassi to play for them
Brett Ebert was eligible to be selected as a father–son selection by Port Adelaide, as his father, Russell Ebert , played over 200 games for Port Adelaide in the SANFL
Abbie McKay , the daughter of Andrew McKay , was the first player to be selected under the father–daughter rule