Problem is, he didn't see Phil playing in that stripe. In fact, Phil played his last game of his 61 game career for North about 10 years before Josh was even born!
The way a lot of you guys talk about Kelly and his "North pedigree" you'd think the Kelly's were the North equivalent of the Danihers at Essendon, the Shaw's at Collingwood, or the Ebert's at Port Adelaide, but I reckon half of your board on here wouldn't have even heard of Phil Kelly until Josh was either drafted, or about to be!
Two years ago Bailey Rice had the opportunity to play for the club he barracked for AT THE TIME, who his father played in a PREMIERSHIP FOR and who he got to WATCH HIM PLAY FOOTY FOR, and yet he chose to play for another team.
Why? Granted his father played for that team as well, but that likewise was before he was born and I reckon that reason would have been way down the pecking order of importance, when it came to making a decision.
Just as it was for Josh Dunkley, who was apparently in no hurry to play for Sydney, even though his father played there and he presumably barracked for them at the time as well.
Sure if it's a line ball decision and he's right on 50/50 when choosing between the merits of two teams, the fact his father played for one would likely push him to choose that team, but surely most would put much more stock in where they feel that club is at, where they see it going, how he would fit into the team, how much money he would make there, what other perks are involved, where that club is located geographically, whether he has any friends there or not and so-on, before the romanticism of playing there because his father played there over 30 years ago.
That sort of thing might be a major motivating factor to someone really young, but probably not so much for someone in their 20's, who stopped barracking for that team 4 years ago, who is sitting down to potentially plan the next decade of his career.