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'.
5. The Selwoods
Although one name may stand above the rest, all four of the Selwood brothers managed to carve out admirable careers, with even the shortest tenured Selwood having served eight years in the league.
Joel Selwood is the clear face of the Selwood clan, with the former Cat considered by many as one of the greats of the 21st century. Joel's accolades are vast, with the 2022 retiree having claimed four premierships, six All-Australians, three best and fairests and four AFLPA most courageous player awards throughout his illustrious career. He is also among the greatest leaders of all time, captaining the most games in AFL history (245) and being the all-time leader in games won as captain (160). Joel likewise tops the charts in terms of finals games (40) and finals series played (15), and has also contributed to the fourth most wins of any player to have ever played the game (245). Overall, the famous number 14 played 355 games (second most in Geelong history) and kicked 175 goals across 16 years in the league.
Despite being the lowest draft pick of the Selwoods at 53, there is a strong case to be made for Adam having had the second-best career in his family. Adam played 187 games across 11 years and is best known for his role in the 2006 West Coast Eagles premiership side. The season prior, a 21-year-old Adam had also been nominated for the Rising Star award and ended up placing two spots ahead of Lance Franklin in the final vote count. Furthermore, in a team that included the likes of Chris Judd, Ben Cousins, Daniel Kerr, Dean Cox, Quinten Lynch, Darren Glass, David Wirrpanda and Andrew Embley, Adam had impressively finished within the top three in the Eagles B&F on multiple occasions.
The youngest Selwood brother, Scott, split his 12-year career across both Joel's Geelong outfit and Adam's West Coast Eagles team. Scott's greatest accomplishment came in 2012 when he beat out four All-Australian teammates (Dean Cox, Nic Naitanui, Darren Glass and Beau Waters) to win the Eagles' best and fairest award. Other notable players he beat out for the honour included Shannon Hurn (had a career high 12 goal season), Josh Kennedy (averaged 2 goals per game), Jack Darling (53 goal season), Matthew Priddis (averaged 26.1 disposals) and Daniel Kerr (averaged 23 disposals). Throughout his 169 games at the elite level Scott had also been regarded as one of the best taggers in the league, using his prowess of tackling to great effect. This is best exemplified by his 2017 season, where he led the league in tackles per game with 10, beating out the next-best player in the category by an impressive three tackles per game. If not for serious ankle and hamstring injuries that derailed certain parts of his career, the 34-year-old could still potentially be playing to this day.
The late Troy Selwood played a respectable eight seasons and 75 games in the Brisbane Lions midfield throughout the 2000s. Troy was not able to crack a game in the Lions' 2003 premiership side, a disappointing yet not unsurprising occurrence considering the quality of talent ahead of him (Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Simon Black, Marcus Ashcroft, Shaun Hart, etc). Although he may not have lit up the league at any point in his career, Troy had remained relatively consistent throughout, never once dropping below 10 disposals per game in any given season. In 2006, Troy impressively finished top 10 in Brisbane's B&F count despite only playing 16 of a possible 22 games. His standout season came the following season when he averaged 19 disposals and six marks per game.
Altogether, the Selwoods have 786 games, five premierships, six All-Australians and four best and fairests to their name.
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.