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Port Adelaide to miss father-son pick in repeat of the Bryce Gibbs moment that denied Adelaide Crows

PORT Adelaide is to miss an AFL pre-draft pick on the son of a Magpies premiership captain, Darryl Borlase.

NOT ENOUGH. Port Adelaide Magpies premiership captain Darryl Borlase did not play enough SANFL games before the Power started in the AFL in 1997 to have his son James qualify for a father-son pick in 2020.
NOT ENOUGH. Port Adelaide Magpies premiership captain Darryl Borlase did not play enough SANFL games before the Power started in the AFL in 1997 to have his son James qualify for a father-son pick in 2020.

PORT Adelaide is to have its “Bryce Gibbs” moment in missing a father-son call at the 2020 AFL draft with the son of 1998 SANFL premiership captain Darryl Borlase.

And to deepen the Power’s pain, Borlase’s son – Sturt-listed key position player James – qualifies as a pre-draft pick for Adelaide as a “next generation academy” recruit because he was born in Egypt while Borlase was on assignment for the Australian Wheat Board.

Borlase was credited with 201 SANFL senior games when he played in the 1996 SANFL grand final – the cut-off for father-son picks for Port Adelaide that joined the AFL in 1997. But the AFL has stripped these 201 matches back to 177 by taking out Escort Cup games that are counted by the SANFL but not the national league’s scrutineers.

This puts James Borlase, a member of the AFL’s Australian under-15 team last year, well out of contention for father-son eligibility.

For the Power and Crows to qualify for a father-son pick in the AFL draft system, the father must have played 200 or more SANFL games – a qualification rule that tripped up Adelaide’s wish for Gibbs in 2006 when he became the No. 1 pick at Carlton.

Gibbs’ father, Ross, had played only 191 SANFL league games – nine short of qualification – by the end of 1990 when the Crows were granted their AFL licence.

Borlase finished his 14-year career in 1998 with 246 senior games – and four SANFL league premierships. But the AFL is recognising only SANFL matches played for premiership points and in the major round.

Port Adelaide has challenged the AFL’s ruling since June last year.

Power football chief Chris Davies told The Advertiser the AFL’s count on Borlase’s games record could not be challenged further, regardless of the debate on why the SA-based AFL club have a 200-game qualification rule while it is 100 VFL games for the Victorian-based clubs.

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“Unfortunately, the AFL qualification rules mean James Borlase is not eligible to be considered by the Port Adelaide Football Club as a father-son pick,” Davies said.

“Obviously, we are disappointed when Darryl is a great of our football club – a long-serving player with a distinguished record and a premiership captain. His name is on a locker at Alberton and it would have been in the spirit of the father-son theme to have James one day hang his boots in that locker. But the rules are the AFL’s to make.”

Borlase’s mother, Jenny, also has a distinguished sporting record. She represented Australia in netball in 70 internationals and claimed a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

Adelaide has pre-listed Borlase for drafting by using the “next generation” rule that was written to encourage AFL clubs to invest in developing overseas-born talent.

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/teams/port-adelaide/port-adelaide-to-miss-fatherson-pick-in-repeat-of-the-bryce-gibbs-moment-that-denied-adelaide-crows/news-story/945be9792a77af6b7e7bbb921633fc5a