IT’S A footy family at IKON Park.

Carlton’s AFL players are currently preparing for the rapidly approaching 2024 season, while the AFLW list was finalised in the final weeks of last year.

And if the players of the present day are seeking any advice away from the football club, they can always turn to family.

Of Carlton’s 44 AFL-listed players, 11 of them have direct familial links to past League players. The Game Changers are even more prominent, with seven of 30 coming from footballing stock.

Six of the Blues’ AFL list are the sons of former footballers. Of course there’s Jack Silvagni, who was selected to his boyhood club as a father-son selection back in 2015.

But there’s also Jesse Motlop, Ollie and Elijah Hollands, Mitch McGovern and Tom De Koning who followed in their dad’s footsteps.

From an AFLW perspective, the competition’s first father-daughter selection in Abbie McKay was joined by Meg Robertson - the daughter of former Blue Ben - at this year’s draft. Tarni Brown arrived from Collingwood where she was a father-daughter recruit in her own right: dad Gavin also spent time at Carlton as an assistant coach in the 2010s.

From a sibling perspective, McGovern, De Koning and Brown can also relate to Charlie Curnow, Harry McKay (apparently) and Yasmin Duursma, whose brothers have all played senior AFL football.

Of course, each of Carlton’s teams have their own set of siblings, with Elijah joining brother Ollie and Celine reuniting with twin sister Brea in the respective trade periods.

Looking back further, Silvagni’s grandfather Sergio played with the Hollands’ great-grandfather Martin Cross in the 1962 VFL Grand Final, while he also played alongside Len Cottrell - the grandfather of Matthew - back in 1958 and 1959.

Harriet Cordner’s grandfather Don was the 1946 Brownlow Medallist when playing at Melbourne, while Marc Pittonet’s great-grandfather Frank Gibson played 63 games for Fitzroy in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Rounding things out is Caleb Marchbank, whose great-uncles Bill and Jim played for Carlton in the early 1900s. Jim featured in two flags in 1906 and 1908 (he missed 1907), where he played alongside ‘Ted’ Kennedy — the great-grandfather of Pittonet’s long-time partner, Elise.

We're sure it's all a happy coincidence, even though Carlton's GM of Football Brad Lloyd is the son of former Blue John, while the Blues' AFL Head of List Management Nick Austin gets to ask his dad Rod 'Curly' Austin about his 1979 premiership medal.

Footy’s a funny game.

Family ties: Carlton’s players with footy blood

AFL

Jack Silvagni
Stephen Silvagni (father); Sergio Silvagni (grandfather)

Jesse Motlop
Daniel Motlop (father); Shannon, Marlon and Steven Motlop (uncles)

Ollie Hollands
Elijah Hollands (brother); Ben Hollands (father); Martin Cross (great-grandfather)

Harry McKay
Ben McKay (brother)

Mitch McGovern
Jeremy McGovern (brother); Andrew McGovern (father)

Tom De Koning
Sam De Koning (brother); Terry De Koning (father)

Elijah Hollands
Ollie Hollands (brother); Ben Hollands (father); Martin Cross (great-grandfather)

Caleb Marchbank
Jim and Bill Marchbank (great-uncles)

Marc Pittonet
Frank Gibson (great-grandfather)

Charlie Curnow
Ed Curnow (brother)

Matthew Cottrell
Len Cottrell (grandfather)

AFLW

Abbie McKay
Andrew McKay (father)

Brea Moody
Celine Moody (sister)

Celine Moody
Brea Moody (sister)

Tarni Brown
Gavin Brown (father); Callum and Tyler Brown (brothers)

Yas Duursma
Xavier Duursma (brother)

Meg Robertson
Ben Robertson (father)

Harriet Cordner
Don Cordner (grandfather)

Must have played a senior AFL/AFLW game.