Brothers. Brothers. Brothers.

[Dancin' Douggy]

I would like to discuss an AFL preconception.

The blind presumption that two (or more) brothers would LOVE to play with each other for the same team.
It seems to be universally considered as a mutually desirable outcome for all parties.
Unquestionably a great thing.

Ok.....
To be at every training session together.
Take every interstate flight together.
Have all your stats compared.
Attend every club function together. Etc etc.

I, for one, would have HATED that. Seriously would have been utterly deflating.

Jeeeeezus. You've just left home. (my home in St. Albans was CROWDED, believe me.......)

So.......
You're finally carving your OWN place in the world.
You've just left the pressure cooker of home.
Maybe moved interstate.
You're breathing like a free man.
You're competing only against yourself and a randomly selected group of strangers.
You're making new friends, spreading your wings, chasing the dream.
Your only burden, responsibility and focus is the team ethic and your own performance.
The future is golden open and free.

Then your little brother turns up....................


I feel bad even saying it, like you're not even ALLOWED to, but it would have been the WORST thing for me at that age.

THE WORST!

So. I don't think teams should PRESUME drafting the brother is the right thing to do. Do some gentle research please.

Thoughts Woofers?

And replace brothers for sisters in regards the AFLW.

[Twodogs]

Dunno. Never had a brother or a sister. I would have loved to have had one but it is what it is.

[Dancin' Douggy]

I got good ones and.............

[Eastdog]

I have one younger brother. His a Pies man and I’m a Dogs man.

[EasternWest]

Dunno. Never had a brother or a sister. I would have loved to have had one but it is what it is.

You can have two of mine.

[Twodogs]

I got good ones and.............

Having said that I come from a family that was fairly well known around Footscray. Pretty much everyone knew my uncles and I constantly got the "oh you're so and so's nephew" and judged on their merits (not that they were bad people, maybe a touch on the scary side) or "oh yeah, I know your dad" response from most people I met. It always felt like I couldn't do anything without it getting back to my family one way or another. That used to shit me no end.

[bornadog]

I wonder if the Cordy Brothers liked playing together?

[Dancin' Douggy]

Who knows? Maybe they hated it?

[Twodogs]

I wonder if the Cordy Brothers liked playing together?

John Reid left Melbourne to come to Footscray to play with his brother Bruce when Bruce came down from Bendigo to play with us. The Daniher boys all ended up at at Essendon together. There are probably a few more examples of players joining their brothers at other clubs too. And there's lots of examples of players not doing it when they had the chance or leaving clubs where their brother was playing.

It depends on the brothers I guess.

[bornadog]

John Reid left Melbourne to come to Footscray to play with his brother Bruce when Bruce came down from Bendigo to play with us. The Daniher boys all ended up at at Essendon together. There are probably a few more examples of players joining their brothers at other clubs too. And there's lots of examples of players not doing it when they had the chance or leaving clubs where their brother was playing.

It depends on the brothers I guess.

Hopefully young Macrae ends up with us as well as Libba

[ledge]

Hopefully young Macrae ends up with us as well as Libba

Lots of examples of brothers playing together happily just at our club.
Mac Pherson ,Wheeler, Oconner, Atkins, Grant, Reid.
I think if you come from interstate or country it’s good as you have some family with you.
I know the club wanted Steve Macpherson a year early and only let him come because big brother was there to help.
Admittedly he was only 16.
Gary and Nathan Ablett, I get the feeling Nathan only played because Gary got in his ear.

[Dancin' Douggy]

I guess for most families maybe it would be a positive.

I just don't think clubs should presume it's a given.

[Twodogs]

Lots of examples of brothers playing together happily just at our club.
Mac Pherson ,Wheeler, Oconner, Atkins, Grant, Reid.
I think if you come from interstate or country it’s good as you have some family with you.
I know the club wanted Steve Macpherson a year early and only let him come because big brother was there to help.
Admittedly he was only 16.
Gary and Nathan Ablett, I get the feeling Nathan only played because Gary got in his ear.

Spargos, Whittens.

[ledge]

Spargos, Whittens.

Probably more.
I know we are talking brothers but I imagine sons and grandsons would probably want to play at the club they played for ..
we had a big family that started with Dolly Aked and all through the Edwards family to the last in Butch , sadly Jake never got to the club but was very close.

[jeemak]

I'd always lived in the shadow of my older brother from a young age. He was smarter (still is), was better at sports (still is), and seemed to always have a leg up but at a point I started catching up and am still doing so.

Football wise I went to his club (VAFA Old Boys) for my senior career. I got looked over constantly as a first year U/19 while he was playing seniors and by this time I was going really well. The next year of U/19 I won the B&F by a landslide but still didn't get a chance. We made it to A Grade the following year and I got yo-yo'd between seniors and seconds without explanation. The reality is the coach at the time didn't really rate me.

All of a sudden I'm starting line up, playing great footy for a couple of years, we almost are the best side in the ammos first year of a new regime but bad kicking kept us out of the finals (I'm talking 2.15 in quarters across important games). Year two of the new regime, player revolt, I protested against it. We were the worst A grade ammo team for a long time.

Old coaching team comes back in, my brother is made captain, I'm still first team but my hamstrings fail me almost at the rate my attitude does as a result of being relegated from A grade to B grade...….and then to C grade due to a complete lack of care for the basics of the game. We could have fought to remain in B grade.

C grade comes along, I've lost it. I'm fat, have a bad attitude, my brother is still captain and the team starts winning. Footballers can get away with things in C grade you can't in the upper levels, I'm left incredulous that I'm not getting a game and it's probably right, but deep down I know it's because I've given up.

I see my brother captain a C grade premiership and I'm super happy for him. By the time it rolled around I should have been playing. I know I was fought for at selection by my brother, but the politics within the club coupled with my shit attitude made it an impossibility.

You never know what a change in personnel might do to a day at a time, I'll never forget what my brother did and what his name is against for that club. I'll remember how happy he looked and I'll never think a thought that could take that away from him.

****My brother bogged off to the UK for years and years and I've travelled the world. Footy isn't everything, academia isn't, we sit eye to eye at the table with respect, with no shadows cast. Everyone's happy and footy clubs are weird places full of weird people and while I may have let it worry me at a time, none of that worries me now.

[1eyedog]

The Townsville Coppers know mine better than me. Absolute waste of space.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Probably more.
I know we are talking brothers but I imagine sons and grandsons would probably want to play at the club they played for ..
we had a big family that started with Dolly Aked and all through the Edwards family to the last in Butch , sadly Jake never got to the club but was very close.
Jack, Alan and Bob Collins, also further back to Tom and George Tribe, the latter playing Test Cricket for Australia and a Wisden champion for many years playing County Cricket in England. John and Robert Schultz, Bill and Frank Scanlan, also Graeme and Barry Ion.

[EasternWest]

The Townsville Coppers know mine better than me. Absolute waste of space.

I take back what I said. You can be my brother.

[bornadog]

I think it is great when brothers in AFL anyhow, play together. Makes the supporters feel good.

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

The Mcphersons reminded me of the Hanson brothers in Slapshot

[Bulldog4life]

Lots of examples of brothers playing together happily just at our club.
Mac Pherson ,Wheeler, Oconner, Atkins, Grant, Reid.
I think if you come from interstate or country it’s good as you have some family with you.
I know the club wanted Steve Macpherson a year early and only let him come because big brother was there to help.
Admittedly he was only 16.
Gary and Nathan Ablett, I get the feeling Nathan only played because Gary got in his ear.

EJ's brother Don played 24 games with us before winning a couple of B & F's at Yarraville.

[craigsahibee]

The Mcphersons reminded me of the Hanson brothers in Slapshot

Anyone know where I can get that movie?

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

It’d be good to watch now that we won the premiership. It’s on free to air from time to time. I watched the Michael Palin Ripping Yarns Golden Gordon after we won it’s on Youtube

[KT31]

It’d be good to watch now that we won the premiership. It’s on free to air from time to time. I watched the Michael Palin Ripping Yarns Golden Gordon after we won it’s on Youtube

'My mum once made the blackest black pudding I've ever seen ... even the white bits were black,' -

Still makes me laugh.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Are Essendon telling Josh they will draft his Brother if he comes to the Bombers. But WON"T if he doesn't?

That is emotional blackmail, and surely must be considered to be tampering in the draft/trade or something along those lines.

Surely they're breaking some kind of rule. If they're not, it's still despicable. GOD I HATE THAT CLUB!

[KT31]

Are Essendon telling Josh they will draft his Brother if he comes to the Bombers. But WON"T if he doesn't?

That is emotional blackmail, and surely must be considered to be tampering in the draft/trade or something along those lines.

Surely they're breaking some kind of rule. If they're not, it's still despicable. GOD I HATE THAT CLUB!

Be funny is his brother told them to $%&^ off.

[Twodogs]

It’d be good to watch now that we won the premiership. It’s on free to air from time to time. I watched the Michael Palin Ripping Yarns Golden Gordon after we won it’s on Youtube

I watched that on YouTube just the other day. Everytime my son and I ask each other EPL results Davitt scored twice in last three minutes and Frank Hagerty saved a penalty no matter what the score was.


'My mum once made the blackest black pudding I've ever seen ... even the white bits were black,' -

Still makes me laugh.

I hate to be one of those people but that's from the Testing of Eric Ostlewaite. The most boring boy in the world. He's so boring his parent's run away from home because he won't stop talking about shovels.

Gordon Ottershaw's big quote is that he "might give up football for a bit" (and we've all been there) instead of getting a season ticket at Leeds when Barnestoneworth look like they will stop playing games at the Sewage Works ground.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Yes I loved that show too. "it were a Spear & Jackson number 12"........

I watched that on YouTube just the other day. Everytime my son and I ask each other EPL results Davitt scored twice in last three minutes and Frank Hagerty saved a penalty no matter what the score was.



I hate to be one of those people but that's from the Testing of Eric Ostlewaite. The most boring boy in the world. He's so boring his parent's run away from home because he won't stop talking about shovels.

Gordon Ottershaw's big quote is that he "might give up football for a bit" (and we've all been there) instead of getting a season ticket at Leeds when Barnestoneworth look like they will stop playing games at the Sewage Works ground.

[KT31]

I watched that on YouTube just the other day. Everytime my son and I ask each other EPL results Davitt scored twice in last three minutes and Frank Hagerty saved a penalty no matter what the score was.



I hate to be one of those people but that's from the Testing of Eric Ostlewaite. The most boring boy in the world. He's so boring his parent's run away from home because he won't stop talking about shovels.

Gordon Ottershaw's big quote is that he "might give up football for a bit" (and we've all been there) instead of getting a season ticket at Leeds when Barnestoneworth look like they will stop playing games at the Sewage Works ground.

New that TD, was just going with the Michael Palin Ripping Yarns reference.:)

[Twodogs]

Yes I loved that show too. "it were a Spear & Jackson number 12"........

My favourite quote from the series comes from Tomkinson's School Days when the schoolmaster finds him making the full scale model icebreaker in the boat model club. "What the hell is that Tompkinson?" "Well you'll just have to break it down before the head sees it"

Oh and "call me school bully." And the 30 mile hop against the Buddhist public school St Anthony's is a highlight too.

[ledge]

My favourite quote from the series comes from Tomkinson's School Days when the schoolmaster finds him making the full scale model icebreaker in the boat model club. "What the hell is that Tompkinson?" "Well you'll just have to break it down before the head sees it"

Oh and "call me school bully." And the 30 mile hop against the Buddhist public school St Anthony's is a highlight too.

Well this stayed on track lol

[Twodogs]

Well this stayed on track lol

I don't have a brother so there's really no track for me.

[ledge]

I don't have a brother so there's really no track for me.

Bulldog brothers !

[KT31]

I don't have a brother so there's really no track for me.


Bulldog brothers !

Plenty of Woof Brothers and Sisters.:)

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

We are family