The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule was first established in 1949, and there have been more than ten amendments, most recently the refining of the draft bidding process in 2015. History The father–son rule was established during the 1949 season, allowing a player to be recruited by the club his father had played for, despite being residentially zoned to another club. The first player officially cleared under the father–son rule was Harvey Dunn Jr, who was recruited to his father's old club, Carlton, in 1951, instead of being zoned to North Melbourne. The original rule is thought to have originally come into place as a result of successful lobbying by the Melbourne Football Club, which had wanted the young Ron Barassi to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ron Barassi Sr., who had been killed during World War II. Barassi was officially cleared to Melbourne under the rule in 1953. Incorporation into the National Draft Prior to 1997, the rule allowed the son to be recruited by his father's club, bypassing the draft entirely. West Coast's Ben Cousins, for example, was recruited in this manner, without the Eagles parting with any draft picks. In 1997, the father–son rule was altered to force clubs to use a second-round draft selection for their first father–son selection. If two players were to be drafted by the same club in the same year, then a third round selection was used for the second player. Geelong used this rule in 1997 to draft Marc Woolnough with their second selection and Matthew Scarlett with their third-round pick, whilst Collingwood chose to not select Marcus Picken. In 2001, the rule was changed to only allow a single selection per year, costing the club a third-round selection. Notably, this rule allowed Geelong to draft Gary Ablett Jr. (who, while only rated a mid-range draft possibility at the time, went on to win two Brownlow Medals) to the club in 2001 using only their third-round (40th overall) draft pick. In 2003, the rules were changed again to allow multiple players to be drafted in a single year, with a third-round selection used for the first player and a second-round selection being used for the