Are the Abletts a worldwide phenomenon?

Remove this Banner Ad

Bunk Moreland

Bunk Moreland

Hall of Famer
Veteran 10k Posts 30k Posts
Sep 22, 2011
40,681
88,193
Your girlfriend's dreams
AFL Club
Essendon
Was thinking about this for some reason.

There’s quite a few successful father-son combos but clearly nobody comes close to the Abletts. I’d say most would have had GAS as one of their top 10 all time players... and his son is not far off him. For some he’s even gone past him, but I’ll leave that endless argument for another day.

My point is... has this ever happened anywhere, even outside of the AFL?

You think about other sports the world over... soccer, basketball, league and union, NFL, baseball, swimming, golf, tennis, athletics... anything else... is there any other examples of a father and son both being THAT good? Like, possibly top 10 all time good?

I couldn’t think of any, but am not an expert of all sports of course.

The stories of most sons of all-time greats seem to involve being weighed down incredibly by the name. I don’t even know if Don Bradman’s son played cricket, but he did change his surname because he was so sick of it. Michael Jordan’s sons were okay college players, but didn’t get close to even going pro, let alone getting anywhere near their father’s feats.

Is there anybody and if not, what does it say about our sport (if anything)?
 
1. The Mannings
Father: Archie Manning
Son(s): Peyton Manning, Eli Manning
The Mannings are the unrivaled father-sons NFL trio. Archie spent 14 years (1971-1984) as an NFL QB, throwing for 23,911 yards and 125 touchdowns. Archie's teams never made the playoffs, but Peyton made for the postseasons Archie missed out on. Peyton made the playoffs 15 times in his 18-year career. The five-time NFL MVP won two Super Bowls and set a slew of QB records including passing yards (71,940) and touchdown passes (539) before retiring in 2016.
Don't sleep on Elisha though. The youngest Manning brother has two Lombardis of his own and is going for more as he enters his 15th season. Eli's 210 consecutive QB starts streak is the second-longest in NFL history (Brett Favre's 297 is no. 1). Archie and his boys have thrown for a combined total of 147,533 yards. Name a better trio, I'll wait.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Depends on how you compare different sports and different eras. Cesare and Paolo Maldini are both AC Milan and Italian legends and Paolo has a 13 and 18 year old at AC Milan as well. Could well be Father-Son-Grandson (although could end up like Carlton so who knows). Father & son both won Champions Leagues and captained the club. Danny and Daley Blind both won all league titles at Ajax with Danny winning in Europe as well. Both played for the Netherlands. Pablo Forlan played in two World Cups with Uruguay and Diego's record speaks for itself. Manuel and Manuel Sanchis Both played for Real Madrid and both won Champions Leagues. Finn's son's Michael & Brian Laudrup both were in the Denmark side that won Euro '92 and Michael's son Andreas has played in the Champions League (Finn played 19 times for Denmark). Peter and Kasper Schmeichel both won Premier League titles with Kasper arguably doing it harder at Leicester.

Senior didn't win a premiership or captain Geelong (as far as I know). As far as top 10 player? It's a bit hard in soccer with the sheer number of players around the world. Paolo Maldini did come third in the Ballon d'Or twice and Cesare did win 3 U-21 Euro titles as a manager (which is a record). The Maldini's would be above the Abletts in my book.
 
Underarm said:
First to come to mind is Ken Griffey Sr and Jr. They even got to play together and scored back to back Home Runs.

Also Frank Lampard and his father Frank played over 500 games in the EPL/1st division.
Click to expand...
Also Lampard's uncle Harry and Jamie Redknapp.

It's not uncommon in English football.
 
Ablett Jnr was a great player at Geelong between 2007 and 2010. 4 years.

Unfortunately that is not a long enough period to win me over.

He stuffed up his legacy by going to GC where any champion could play selfishly and be fed stats. If he stayed at the Cats he could have turned out to be one of the best players of all time.

But who knows.

What did the OP say?
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Luv_our_club said:
Ablett Jnr was a great player at Geelong between 2007 and 2010. 4 years.

Unfortunately that is not a long enough period to win me over.

He stuffed up his legacy by going to GC where any champion could play selfishly and be fed stats. If he stayed at the Cats he could have turned out to be one of the best players of all time.

But who knows.

What did the OP say?
Click to expand...
What his GC days represent is the fact he was a great player without the team around him, at the time a lot of people had doubts he would be as good without the support. His legacy as one of the all time great players is already assured....In terms of club stature he is easily the Suns best player ever ( obviously) & he would sit in the top 10 greatest ever Geelong players.
 
Mt Isa Mustang said:
Graham and Shaun Pollock were uncle and nephew and a seriously great cricketing family combination.
Not top 10 of all time but amongst the best players in their respective eras
Click to expand...

Please don’t forget Shaun’s Dad Peter Pollock. Absolute gun. He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 66.
 
Baird said:
Bobby and Brett Hull - Hockey
Click to expand...

According to the criteria, easily the best example.

Also, Lee and Richard Petty, Bobby and Barry Bonds.

If we can change the constraints to parents and children I think its fair that Mohammed Ali and Laila Ali win this title comfortably over Senior and Junior....
 
Last edited:
Luv_our_club said:
Ablett Jnr was a great player at Geelong between 2007 and 2010. 4 years.

Unfortunately that is not a long enough period to win me over.

He stuffed up his legacy by going to GC where any champion could play selfishly and be fed stats. If he stayed at the Cats he could have turned out to be one of the best players of all time.

But who knows.

What did the OP say?
Click to expand...

LOL, bollocks. If anything Ablett enhanced his reputation by performing in a s**t team. Where he let himself down was on display in his last 2 years there where he showed he wasn't a leader's a-hole and his effective refusal to play when it got really tough.

Still one of the GOAT though. But will always have that blot on his record of being such a poor captain.
 
Rob said:
LOL, bollocks. If anything Ablett enhanced his reputation by performing in a s**t team. Where he let himself down was on display in his last 2 years there where he showed he wasn't a leader's a-hole and his effective refusal to play when it got really tough.

Still one of the GOAT though. But will always have that blot on his record of being such a poor captain.
Click to expand...

When Hawthorn played GC, I don't think Ablett enhanced his rep.

We thumped them and let Ablett run around without a tag collecting close to 40 touches and goals. We let him do whatever he wanted.

And we let their mids service him as much as planned.

Ablett's time at the GC is a little embarrasing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GC2015
Analysis The Ablett Effect
4 5 6 7 8
Replies
175
Views
6K
rye
rye
PowerfulPies2023
  • Poll
Dunstall vs Lockett vs Carey vs Ablett vs Lloyd vs Franklin vs J Brown - Who is the most Elite of them all?
3 4 5 6 7
Replies
151
Views
6K
Waterhouzin
W
Lingsface
Daicos Brownlow/ Ablett 14
Replies
12
Views
594
Lingsface
Lingsface
Dirty Bird
Are non-Victorian teams' fans killing their own clubs?
2
Replies
37
Views
1K
MC Bad Genius
MC Bad Genius
GC2015
  • Poll
Carlton 2024 - Are they being overestimated?
4 5 6 7 8
Replies
178
Views
6K
My Tilly
My Tilly
M
WSYD How are GWS going off the field?
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
132
Views
4K
Colonial
Colonial
PowerfulPies2023
Carlton are the one to watch out for - They can win The Premiership
8 9 10 11 12
Replies
288
Views
7K
Cripps 'n' Blue Bloods
Cripps 'n' Blue Bloods

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top