Everyone loves a family connection at an AFL club and I thought it would be fun to start a thread that details our club's history of family connections and discuss current family connections / potential future family connections. My only criteria would be that the person/s of topic must at least be a player, coach or admin staff member. The reason I point this out is because family connections are very common at the academy level yet most of those players will never make it to the top level. In this point I'm only going to include family members who were a part of the team at the same time so this obviously excludes combinations like the Tippetts and Wellers. Let's run it back to our very first AFL season and start with a famous brotherly combination:
The Ablett brothers - Gary Ablett Jr & Nathan Ablett (2011)
Gaz and Nath managed just one season together for us in 2011 and were able to line up alongside each other in the red & gold for two AFL games that year. It was a fairly uneventful pairing but Gary did handball to an open Nathan in the goal square to kick his one and only goal for us in round 23 of the 2011 season. Gary went on to play a further six seasons for us without Nathan. Special mention to Nathan as well because he was a part of our VFL team in 2010 but that obviously didn't include Gaz.
The Swallow brothers - David Swallow
& Andrew Swallow
(2019-2020)
Dave was of course our very first number 1 pick back in 2010 and has been with us for over 12 years now but the Melbourne media would have you believe he was always on the verge of joining his older brother Andrew at North Melbourne, even from the very beginning of Dave's career. Skip forward to 2016 and it was in fact Andrew who requested a trade to the Suns to join younger brother David at the Suns but North Melbourne rejected his request and stripped the captaincy off him for his final season with the Roos in 2017. We did consider picking up Andrew the following year but I believe he failed a medical test with us and we passed on him. Andrew then moved to Byron Bay and adjusted to retired life but just 12 months later we hired him to work as an assistant coach (tackling) as well as working with our newly established AFLW team in 2019. Andrew and Dave did two years together at the club with Andrew coaching and Dave playing but unfortunately Andrew was let go last year due to COVID cuts. Dave continues to captain our club to this day. Interestingly, the Swallow brothers did in fact play one game together for us in round 2 of the 2019 NEAFL season when Dave was returning from injury and Andrew was convinced to pull on the boots again. Andrew played seven games for our NEAFL team that year but only played the one game alongside younger brother Dave.
The Farrar cousins - Jy Farrar & Kitara Whap-Farrar (2020)
Neither Jy or Kitara were aware of their relation until they were drafted to our club in late 2019. Jy grew up in Halls Creek WA while Kitara hailed from Cairns QLD so they couldn't really have grown up further apart and yet both ended up on the Gold Coast and discover a cousin they never knew existed. The connection was short lived as Kitara was delisted after just one season with us in 2020 but Jy continues to play for us and had some good games in 2021 which should mean we see more of him in the future. I believe Kitara is still playing locally for Coolangatta so I'm sure the two cousins still catch up regularly.
The Levi sisters - Maddison Levi & Teagan Levi (2022-)
The latest addition to our family connection thread and both Gold Coast locals, Maddi & Teagan Levi have played and dominated many sports together for the last few years. Both were prodigious talents in rugby sevens and can obviously play Aussie rules at a high level as well. The sisters are both on our 2022 list but may not get to play together for another year due to Maddi's rugby commitments. Don't be surprised if both sisters end up playing for Australian rugby sevens team in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Ablett brothers - Gary Ablett Jr & Nathan Ablett (2011)
Gaz and Nath managed just one season together for us in 2011 and were able to line up alongside each other in the red & gold for two AFL games that year. It was a fairly uneventful pairing but Gary did handball to an open Nathan in the goal square to kick his one and only goal for us in round 23 of the 2011 season. Gary went on to play a further six seasons for us without Nathan. Special mention to Nathan as well because he was a part of our VFL team in 2010 but that obviously didn't include Gaz.
The Swallow brothers - David Swallow
PLAYERCARDSTART
24
David Swallow
- Age
- 31
- Ht
- 186cm
- Wt
- 87kg
- Pos.
- Mid
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 21.1
- 5star
- K
- 11.7
- 4star
- HB
- 9.4
- 5star
- M
- 3.2
- 3star
- T
- 4.4
- 5star
- CL
- 4.2
- 5star
- D
- 18.4
- 4star
- K
- 11.1
- 4star
- HB
- 7.3
- 4star
- M
- 4.3
- 4star
- T
- 4.6
- 5star
- CL
- 4.0
- 5star
- D
- 19.4
- 5star
- K
- 10.0
- 4star
- HB
- 9.4
- 5star
- M
- 2.8
- 3star
- T
- 5.0
- 5star
- CL
- 4.4
- 5star
PLAYERCARDEND
PLAYERCARDSTART
Andrew Swallow
- Age
- 36
- Ht
- 182cm
- Wt
- 80kg
- Pos.
- Mid
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 20.7
- 5star
- K
- 9.6
- 4star
- HB
- 11.1
- 5star
- M
- 2.9
- 3star
- T
- 6.6
- 5star
- CL
- 5.8
- 5star
No current season stats available
- D
- 8.8
- 3star
- K
- 5.4
- 2star
- HB
- 3.4
- 3star
- M
- 2.6
- 3star
- T
- 4.4
- 5star
PLAYERCARDEND
Dave was of course our very first number 1 pick back in 2010 and has been with us for over 12 years now but the Melbourne media would have you believe he was always on the verge of joining his older brother Andrew at North Melbourne, even from the very beginning of Dave's career. Skip forward to 2016 and it was in fact Andrew who requested a trade to the Suns to join younger brother David at the Suns but North Melbourne rejected his request and stripped the captaincy off him for his final season with the Roos in 2017. We did consider picking up Andrew the following year but I believe he failed a medical test with us and we passed on him. Andrew then moved to Byron Bay and adjusted to retired life but just 12 months later we hired him to work as an assistant coach (tackling) as well as working with our newly established AFLW team in 2019. Andrew and Dave did two years together at the club with Andrew coaching and Dave playing but unfortunately Andrew was let go last year due to COVID cuts. Dave continues to captain our club to this day. Interestingly, the Swallow brothers did in fact play one game together for us in round 2 of the 2019 NEAFL season when Dave was returning from injury and Andrew was convinced to pull on the boots again. Andrew played seven games for our NEAFL team that year but only played the one game alongside younger brother Dave.
The Farrar cousins - Jy Farrar & Kitara Whap-Farrar (2020)
Neither Jy or Kitara were aware of their relation until they were drafted to our club in late 2019. Jy grew up in Halls Creek WA while Kitara hailed from Cairns QLD so they couldn't really have grown up further apart and yet both ended up on the Gold Coast and discover a cousin they never knew existed. The connection was short lived as Kitara was delisted after just one season with us in 2020 but Jy continues to play for us and had some good games in 2021 which should mean we see more of him in the future. I believe Kitara is still playing locally for Coolangatta so I'm sure the two cousins still catch up regularly.
The Levi sisters - Maddison Levi & Teagan Levi (2022-)
The latest addition to our family connection thread and both Gold Coast locals, Maddi & Teagan Levi have played and dominated many sports together for the last few years. Both were prodigious talents in rugby sevens and can obviously play Aussie rules at a high level as well. The sisters are both on our 2022 list but may not get to play together for another year due to Maddi's rugby commitments. Don't be surprised if both sisters end up playing for Australian rugby sevens team in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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