One of football's most famous families will equal another for most games, combined, between a grandfather, father and son at the highest level this weekend.
Jack Silvagni, playing in his 144th match of AFL football, will take the total amount of games played between him, his famous father Stephen, and Stephen's famous father, Sergio, to 695, a number matched only by the revered Kennedys.
It's the latest, timely reminder of the serendipity and romance attached to the father-son draft concession, and, it's as fitting a time as any to take a stroll down memory lane and appreciate the generational greatness that bonds families - players and fans alike.
***Disclaimer: this list is specific to grandfather-father-son or father-son lineages. Bands of brothers, such as the Danihers and Selwoods, cousins, such as the Riewoldts, and marital bonds, such as the one that famously joined the Tuck and Ablett clans have not been considered as one unit.***
4. Daicoses
Just pipping the Ashcrofts are the Daicoses. Father Peter was already one of the most revered figures in Collingwood's storied history before his two sons took the league by storm.
A prodigiously talented forward with mercurial goal sense, Peter kicked 549 goals from 250 games, all in a black and white guernsey. Making that return all the more impressive is Daicos' relatively small size - he was a medium forward in an era of giants, but more than held his own. He would play a starring role in Collingwood finally ending the 'Colliwobbles' in 1990.
Two best and fairests, three V/AFL Team of the Year nods, five times the Pies' leading goalkicker, a Hall of Famer and a Collingwood Team of the Century member.
Eldest son Josh started his AFL career with somewhat of a whimper. Taken with pick 57 in the 2016 National Draft, his career was on life support before the arrival of two pivotal figures in Collingwood's modern history: premiership coach Craig McRae, and Josh's exceptional younger sibling, Nick.
Josh, in his 166 games, has collected a premiership, an All-Australian selection, a Goal of the Year win and a Copeland Trophy as the Pies' best and fairest player, garnered in the 2023 flag season.
Nick's trophy cabinet, only 109 games in, is burgeoning. A flag, three All-Australians, a best and fairest, a Leigh Matthews Trophy, the Rising Star, the AFLCA's Champion Player of the Year gong, and scope to add to all of that this season. Most notably, he will be looking to finally claim the Brownlow Medal, after three consecutive podium finishes.
525 games and 698 goals, and counting, for Collingwood's first family, who, with the Ashcrofts, may just see themselves even higher in a future iteration of this list.
