AFL Trades: The pull of the childhood club carries on with several stars

Four players are expected to land at their childhood clubs by the end of trade period and the trend is only growing. Go inside the pull of the team a footy star barracked for.

It isn’t everything but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Usually a throwaway line in a club press release or a newspaper story following a trade, the power of the pitch from a childhood club is only growing stronger.

Almost immediately when Harry Perryman picked Collingwood as his free agency destination – after the Pies only entered the Harry hunt late – an old social media post surfaced of the ex-Giant in a Collingwood jumper.

Perryman wore the black-and-white get-up at a GWS Mad Monday, the theme was ‘childhood heroes’ and Perryman wanted to be Dane Swan.

Harry Perryman kicks a goal against Collingwood in 2020. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Harry Perryman (left) and Heath Shaw in 2017. Picture: Instagram

As his manager Scott Lucas later said of his free agency negotiations, “it certainly helps that he was a lifelong Collingwood supporter”.

Every player is different and opportunity and money always rates higher when picking a future club.

But as a different player manager said this week, when a childhood club comes calling a trade target at least answers the phone.

Liam Baker wants to get to West Coast. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos

This year Perryman is one of many heading to the club he barracked for as a youngster.

Famously Liam Baker wore a West Coast scarf to the 2018 grand final to cheer on his beloved Eagles, two months after making his AFL debut for Richmond.

When he decided to head home to WA, the tough onballer fielded interest from Fremantle, but West Coast was always in front in the chase and it is the Eagles who are negotiating for the kid who idolised Ben Cousins and Daniel Kerr.

When his trade is sealed before Wednesday’s deadline, look out for that throwaway line about wearing the jumper he supported.

There were plenty of those lines from Alex Neal-Bullen on Monday, when he moved from the Demons to the Crows.

The forward wanted to go home for family reasons but he swiftly chose the Crows over the Power and the emotional pull definitely didn’t hurt.

“My No.1 priority was always to come home for family reasons and when Adelaide came up with an opportunity, being an Adelaide Crows fan growing up, I used to come to AAMI Stadium to watch my footy,” he said.

“The little boy in me was jumping up and down so to be here now I am so grateful.”

Defender Josh Battle turned down more cash to move from St Kilda to Hawthorn after the Hawks hunted him all year.

No doubt the exciting run to the finals from Hawthorn played a part, so did Battle’s ties to the brown and gold.

“Growing up, me and my brother we loved the Hawks. We would go and watch the Hawks on the weekend, my brother loved Crawf (Shane Crawford) and I was probably more drawn to Buddy (Lance Franklin),” he said.

It was a similar story 12 months ago when Jack Ginnivan snuck through from Collingwood to Hawthorn late in the trade period.

Photos of a young Ginnivan posing with future coach Sam Mitchell and future teammates Luke Breust and Jack Gunston quickly surfaced.

“It’s a dream come true to don the brown and gold finally,” he said then.

“One of my favourite players was Sam. Growing up, watching him and having his number on my back, those things you dream of as a little kid so for that to happen is so special.”

Jack Ginnivan with Hawthorn players as a kid. Picture: Facebook

Former Sun Jack Scrimshaw was also traded in to his boyhood club Hawthorn, back in 2018.

The Hawks love to hunt of their own – they even drafted Hawthorn fan Cam McKenzie out of St Kilda’s academy.

But they did miss out once on a junior supporter.

When Bailey Smith only had eyes for Geelong, he turned down his old team at Waverley.

Neal-Bullen also wasn’t the only Crow to recently come home in his own way.

Jordan Dawson was wanted by both South Australian sides when he left Sydney but the pull of the Crows – he wore board member Mark Ricciuto’s number on his back as a kid – won out.

Izak Rankine, also, was a Crows kid and landed a trade there in 2022.

It didn’t quite work this year when Jack Lukosius chose to play with his good mate Connor Rozee at Port Adelaide, a decision a young Lukosius would have been disgusted by.

“I’m a Crows man. To be honest I always hated Port as a kid,” he said in his draft year in 2018.

The childhood pull is not a completely new phenomenon.

Goalsneak Nick Davis was traded to Sydney from Collingwood all the way back in 2002.

“It was the team I barracked for as a kid, that’s probably the main reason to come back,” he said back then.

Jeremy Howe made the big move of about 100m from Gosch’s Paddock to Olympic Park when he swapped the Demons for the Magpies back in 2015.

For the Tasmanian, it felt like coming home.

“Speaking with Collingwood and having the chance to play for the team you barracked for as a kid was always a big drawcard,” he said.

Luke Jackson also left Melbourne for his home club in Fremantle, while the footage of a diminutive Jack Higgins in a St Kilda jumper with a Tim Tam in his mouth quickly did the rounds when he moved from the Tigers to the Saints.

Geelong has naturally drawn Cats fans given their penchant for recruiting players from the area and pulled in Ollie Henry and Tanner Bruhn together at the end of 2022.

Both used to go to Kardinia Park to watch the Cats when growing up.

Even in the rooms after Brisbane’s premiership triumph the pull of a childhood club snuck through.

The entire family of Darcy Fort not only wore Lions scarfs because the ruck was playing in those colours, but Fort and his brothers Jackson and Fraser grew up Brisbane fans before he won a trade there from the Cats.

Even when Max King signed his bumper contract extension last week, the Saints trumpeted that he was a “lifelong Sainter”.

The phenomenon is clearly not limited to the men’s league.

Kate Surman was too afraid to speak to Tom Hawkins when she first went through GMHBA Stadium after being traded from Port Adelaide to Geelong, and Chloe Scheer was sold on the Cats by her idol Joel Selwood.

And Maddy Prespakis famously leapt at the chance to join Essendon from Carlton.

“Growing up as a Bombers fan, this is a chance to live out a childhood dream and don the sash,” she said then.

As this sluggish men’s trade period slowly picks up speed there are some new names to watch.

The Western Bulldogs hunted Giant Xavier O’Halloran who grew up a young pup, and Lion Deven Robertson proudly wore his uncle Darren Glass’ number 23 on his West Coast jumper.

Both may stay at their current clubs, but if they do win a move that line will no doubt appear about their boyhood club.

It’s no longer just a throwaway line.

And the pull of the childhood team clearly doesn’t hurt trade chances.

Originally published as AFL Trades: The pull of the childhood club carries on with several stars