With names such as Liberatore, Wallis, Cordy and Hunter littering the Western Bulldogs team sheet in round 14 against Melbourne, few could be excused for thinking they were back in the 1980’s.
But instead of Tony, Steve, Brian and Mark on the main stage it was their sons Tom, Mitch, Ayce and Lachie carrying on the father-son legacy.
The four sons were able to do what their fathers had not – all playing in the same team against Melbourne, with Cordy kicking two goals and Liberatore dominating the midfield.
The senior quartet all played with each other during their careers, however, the four never took to the field at the same time.
While the Bulldogs were not involved in Monday’s father-son bidding process ahead of the 2013 AFL Draft, a number of aspiring young pups have found their way to the kennel through similar means.
Lachie Hunter was the most recent recruit to land at Victoria University Whitten Oval as a father-son draftee, with the Bulldogs forced to use pick 49 in the 2012 draft to secure his services.
In 2010 the Club were gifted with a double header with Mitch Wallis (pick 22) and Tom Liberatore (pick 41) costing the Bulldogs their first two picks in the draft – but with 98 games between them in their first three years the duo’s impact has more than justified the selection.
The fourth father-son selection on the Bulldogs list is developing tall Ayce Cordy who arrived at the kennel in 2008 for pick 14.
From a historical look, David Round (son of Brownlow Medallist Barry Round) joins the list of father-son recruits who found themselves on the Bulldogs list in 1995.
But it's the son of 133-gamer David Darcy, Luke, who has been the best performed father-son recruit at the kennel (so far), added to the Bulldogs list as a pre-draft selection in 1992.
The Club great went on to play 226 games in Bulldogs colours, which included winning the Charles Sutton Medal in 2001 and All Australian honours in 2002.
All 18 Clubs today sat through this year’s father-son bidding process, with North Melbourne earmarking their first round selection (currently pick eight) to secure the highly touted father-son recruit Luke McDonald.
The Brisbane Lions also committed to using their fourth round selection at the 2013 AFL National Draft (currently Pick No.59 overall) on Queensland key position prospect Jonathan Freeman.
