With plenty of discussion surrounding the dominance of the Daicos', the Ashcrofts and the De Konings in today's league, we thought it was time to take a look at some of the greatest football families in the history of our game.
Here are 10 of the best AFL football families that have graced the game...
Honourable Mentions: The Burgoynes, the Moores, the Ashcrofts, the Darcys, the Liberatores, the Tucks, the Whittens, the Barassis, the Scarletts, the Silvagnis, the Fletchers, the Hawkins', the Maddens, the Blakeys, the Clokes, the Hirds, the Roccas', the Picketts, the Hills, the Scotts, the Curnows and the Pickens'.
3. The RiewoldtsÂ
The Riewoldt family are proud owners of two of the top 25 goalkickers in VFL/AFL history.
Older cousin Nick was a highly touted talent from the get-go, going at Pick 1 in a stacked 2000 draft crop. This draft included the likes of Shaun Burgoyne, Alan Didak, Drew Petrie, Kane Cornes and Daniel Kerr. Despite these immense expectations, Nick managed to live up to the hype, becoming St Kilda's second most capped player and third greatest goalkicker in club history. Across his 17-year career, 'Rooey' collected many individual honours, including five All-Australians, six best and fairests and one AFLPA MVP. Testament to his importance to the Saints is his club record 11 years and 221 games spent as the club's captain. Overall, Nick played 336 games and kicked 718 goals, leading St Kilda's goalkicking on four occasions. Unfortunately for Nick, he stands alongside Gary Ablett Sr as one of the unluckiest players to have never won a premiership medal.
Despite never truly being considered as the best player in the league at any point like Nick had been, there is a strong case to suggest that younger cousin Jack had the better career. Unlike Nick, Jack was fortunate enough to play in a premiership dynasty, winning three flags as vice-captain in a dominant Richmond Tigers side. It is also worth noting that in an era that included the likes of Lance Franklin, Tom Hawkins, Josh Kennedy, Jeremy Cameron, Matthew Pavlich, Tom Lynch and Taylor Walker, Jack had managed to top the Coleman Medal chart three times throughout his career. The Tasmanian was also a 3x All-Australian, 2x best and fairest winner and 12x Richmond leading goalkicker in his 347 games at AFL level. The now 36-year-old currently sits 14th on the all-time goalkicking leaderboard with 787.
The Tasmanian pair combine for a total of 683 games, 1505 goals, eight All-Australians, eight best and fairests and 16 goalkicking titles for their respective clubs.
Couldn’t manage to get the Silvagni name in there Dale?
Not a great effort Dale.
You include uncles and cousins – but ONLY if they have the same name. A few extra moment of research would have told you that the Ablett famil also includes Michael, Travis and Tuck.
While the Watson family includes Seb Ross.