Ben Jarman appears headed to Adelaide after Crows nominate him as a father-son pick
THE Jarman family says it is “over the moon’’ that Ben Jarman is poised to become the Crows’ first father-son selection in their 26-year history.
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THE Jarman family says it is “over the moon’’ that Ben Jarman is poised to become the Crows’ first father-son selection in their 26-year history.
Adelaide Monday ended months of speculation over the classy 18-year-old’s future by nominating him as its first father-son pick 10 years after falling agonisingly short of being able to secure Carlton’s Bryce Gibbs under the qualification criteria.
Rival clubs can still try to select Jarman at the national draft on November 25 but the Crows’ play — and draft-poor Hawthorn’s decision not to nominate him — leaves them in the box seat to finally land a father-son player.
Ben’s likely selection has plenty of romanticism for Adelaide.
The small midfielder/forward’s dad Darren is one of the Crows’ favourite sons, having starred in their two premierships in 1997 and 1998, kicking a total of 11 goals in the two grand finals.
A brilliant ball-user, Darren played 121 games for Adelaide from 1996 to 2001 after 109 matches for Hawthorn from 1991-95, where he played in the Hawks’ 1991 premiership side.
“To have Ben nominated by the Crows is very exciting for the family,’’ Ben’s uncle, Andrew, an inaugural Crow and dual Magarey Medallist, told The Advertiser.
“Ben’s always been an Adelaide supporter and to get the chance to stay at home and play for the club he loves is a real bonus and thrill for all of us.
“Obviously it’s not a done deal yet but the likelihood is that he will now end up at the Crows and I’m sure the club won’t regret making this decision because Ben will be a beauty.’’
Ben could decline Adelaide’s offer to be a father-son pick but this is highly unlikely with Andrew saying he is “delighted’’ at being nominated by the club he supports.
With Hawthorn seemingly bowing out of the race, any other club can still call Ben’s name at the draft but the Crows would have the right to secure him with their next pick, leaving them in prime position to add a highly-driven, superbly-skilled player to their list.
If no other club calls Ben’s name, Adelaide can use its final pick, No. 89 overall, to land him.
The Crows other selections at this stage are at 13, 43, 53 and 67.
Ben, whose knock on him is his height (175cm) and weight (70kg), is widely considered to be about a third-round selection.
“There are no guarantees for us or Ben,” Adelaide list manager Justin Reid said.
“We will be true to our talent order and there is still plenty of work to be done between now and the national draft.
“We will see how the draft selections fall compared to our list of available talent but the nomination needed to be lodged (Monday) and we are pleased to have done that.”
Hawthorn had initially courted Ben more heavily than the Crows, whose interest ramped up in the past two-to-three weeks, Andrew said.
The Hawks’ lack of draft picks — they don’t enter the draft until number 88 — hurt them in their pursuit of Ben as they traded away prime selections to secure Tom Mitchell from Sydney and Jaeger O’Meara from Gold Coast.
“After careful consideration we have decided to not nominate Ben under the father-son rule,” list manager Graham Wright said.
“Due to the lateness of our picks in the draft, which at this stage carry no points, we felt we could not commit to Ben but we will still consider him like every other player when we have our selections in the national and rookie drafts.”
Jarman was one of five sons of guns nominated by AFL clubs as father-son prospects this year, along with Callum Brown and Josh Daicos (Collingwood), Sam Simpson (Geelong) and Jake Waterman (West Coast).
andrew.capel@news.com.au
Originally published as Ben Jarman appears headed to Adelaide after Crows nominate him as a father-son pick
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