When Collingwood defeated Carlton on the final day of the 2022 home and away season and cruelly denied the Blues a September berth, Olli Hotton didn’t know how to feel.
Hotton, a potential first-round draftee from the Sandringham Dragons, is the son of Trent Hotton, who played 17 games for the Magpies in the ‘90s and 61 games for the Blues in the early 2000s.
Hotton describes his household footy fan vibe as a “family feud”. His dad and brother Taj support Carlton, but he barracks for Collingwood – although Hotton concedes he’s “55 per cent Collingwood and 45 per cent Carlton because I find myself just barracking for Carlton half the time”.
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“I’m almost 50-50, but when they play each other I give the slight edge to Collingwood,” Hotton told foxfooty.com.au. “So that Round 23 was a very tough day for me.
“I didn‘t really know who to go for because I wanted to see Carlton in the finals, but I wanted us top four.
“When the final siren sounded, I couldn’t decide if I was happy or sad.”
Come draft night next month, there’s a sneaky chance Hotton could add to his black and white apparel collection. Collingwood holds Pick 16 – which will fall by one, possibly two spots after father-son and academy bids – and for many recruiters, that’s an appropriate draft range for Hotton.
Foxfooty.com.au earlier this month asked 16 draftees which AFL teams they barracked for – and there’s a good chance some of the players will land at the clubs they’ve supported for most of their lives.
Sandringham Dragons midfielder Cam Mackenzie is in the top-10 mix. He supports Hawthorn, which holds Pick 6.
“When the family moved over (from London), the first people we met went for the Hawks and we just picked them after that. Looking back, it was a good team to pick … well, maybe not right now, but we saw a few flags,” he told foxfooty.com.au.
“The idea (of playing for Hawthorn) does sound pretty special. Growing up supporting the team that you end up playing for would be pretty amazing. But the main goal is just to get drafted.”
Oakleigh Chargers on-baller George Wardlaw is a “pretty big fan” of Essendon, which holds Pick 4. And if North Melbourne doesn’t pounce on Wardlaw with either Pick 2 or 3, the Bombers surely will.
“It‘s a dream to get drafted, so regardless of where I go, I’d be over the moon. But it’d be pretty cool growing up for a team and eventually playing for them. That’d be awesome,” Wardlaw told foxfooty.com.au.
Wardlaw has played alongside Bombers father-son prospect Alwyn Davey Jnr in several teams. Off the field, he’s “always picking his (Davey’s) brain about what he‘s doing next year”.
Davey, at this stage, hasn’t officially nominated the Bombers as his preferred destination under the father-son rule. But he said the prospect of representing the club his dad played 100 games for and he supported is exciting.
“I’ve had the thought of seeing what I could look like with the red and black on. It‘s a good feeling, even for the family,” Davey told foxfooty.com.au.
“But no matter what, Dad always just said: ‘No matter what team, I’m always going to be proud of you.’”
Lions academy prospect Jaspa Fletcher, the son of former Lion Adrian Fletcher, lives a stone’s throw from The Gabba and has been training with Brisbane throughout the year.
But star midfielder Will Ashcroft – who’s expected to be taken by Brisbane with Pick 1 after the club matches a rival’s bid – doesn’t support the Lions nor the Suns, despite his dad Marcus’ involvement as a player then administrator at the two clubs respectively.
“I’ve been Geelong all my life,” Ashcroft told foxfooty.com.au.
“(Cats assistant) Nigel Lappin is obviously close with Dad after their flags. Plus I love Joel Selwood, he’s my favourite player. He’s the ultimate captain and role model. I’ve followed Nige and Joel ever since I was pretty young.”
Gippsland Power’s Bailey Humphrey is also a Geelong supporter, albeit “not a diehard” one.
“Dad tells me that he bought me a Geelong jersey when I was first born,” Humphrey told foxfooty.com.au.
“When I was younger I went for Richmond, but then I don‘t know … I just think we had a (Cats) membership sent to us in the mail and I was like ‘I’ll have that’ – and then ever since that it’s been Geelong.”
Jhye Clark, the Geelong Falcons captain, has been heavily linked to the Cats, who now hold Pick 7 in this year’s draft thanks to the Jack Bowes salary dump trade.
But Clark doesn’t support the Cats.
“Pa and Dad were always mad Collingwood supporters, so you just got born into it. I probably would’ve been kicked out if I didn’t go for Collingwood,” Clark told foxfooty.com.au.
“They definitely exceeded my expectations this year. With such a young list and after finishing so low on the ladder last year, I think we‘ve had a great year. They should be very proud playing in the finals, let alone just getting all those wins on the board.”
The cheeky ‘threat’ Clark received from his family is something a few other draftees – and many other footy fans around the country – can empathise with.
Top Tasmanian prospect Lachie Cowan barracks for Carlton because “I don’t think my dad would let me support anyone else”. Same goes for Harry Sheezel and his love for Hawthorn.
West Adelaide’s Harry Lemmey reckons he was as young as three or four when his dad started taking him to see Adelaide Crows matches. However his family has a good split of Crows and Power fans, so he watched a lot of AFL footy live as a kid.
“By the time I was 9 or 10, I was going every week. Crows one week, Port the next,” Lemmey told foxfooty.com.au.
Dandenong’s Henry Hustwaite goes for St Kilda – and he thinks he knows why.
“Well my brothers … Campbell has always been Collingwood and Fletcher goes for the Tiges, so that was kind of the grandparents claiming them when they were born,” Hustwaite told foxfooty.com.au.
“I just got stuck in the middle and Dad was good mates with Nathan Burke, so that’s kind of why I ended up with St Kilda … Well that‘s the reasoning I get.”
As for other top prospects, Oakleigh’s Elijah Tsatas and GWV Rebels’ Aaron Cadman both support Richmond, while Woodville-West Torrens on-baller Mattaes Phillipou follows Port Adelaide.
Swan Districts on-baller Elijah Hewett, though, is a genuine neutral.
“I actually don’t go for a team. People raise their eyebrows when I say that, but I never have. I’ve just watched certain players,” Hewett told foxfooty.com.au.
