There’s growing intrigue over whether Hawthorn father-son candidate Cooper Hodge will instead pick Brisbane.

Plus the league is set to create a secret formula to decide which teams need special assistance. More below in AFL DAILY!

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PREFERENCE OF FATHER-SON GUN SPLIT BETWEEN TWO POWERS

Brisbane is believed to be the favourite for Cooper Hodge, the son of Hawthorn great Luke, who can choose to nominate for either the Lions or the Hawks.

Hodge is eligible for the 2026 draft and has spent his teenage years in Brisbane, due to his dad’s late-career move to the Lions.

That has made him eligible for the Lions Academy, as well as being eligible as a Hawthorn father-son due to Luke’s 305 famous games for the club.

Hodge does not need to make a decision until later this year but the Hawks recently made their pitch, according to the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph, who forecast the Lions as ahead in the race.

“So how does Cooper Hodge not become a Hawthorn superstar?” Ralph asked on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle.

“I reckon there’s a real good chance of it right now. Hawthorn sat in the living room with his parents and they’ve said there’s absolutely no pressure on him to choose the Hawthorn Football Club. He’s a father-son there, of course an Academy member of Brisbane.

“I think if you made an educated guess right now, he’s playing for the Brisbane academy, he’s happy at home, the Lions would have their nose in front.

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“But what Hawthorn have said is the only thing we care about is getting you drafted, and then you can make a decision.

“And so their view is even if you choose Brisbane, you will always have a place in our hearts because your dad is the four-time premiership champion and three-time premiership captain. If he picks the Lions, the door will be always open to always love him.

“I just think to myself; Jason McCartney’s son (Aiden), he’s got multiple clubs to choose from (also tied to Swans Academy), it might not be the Roos.

“If you scrap the father-son … I reckon in three or four years we wouldn’t care. I just think it’s an extraordinary compromise to the draft.”

Luke said earlier this year Cooper’s first priority is proving he’s a draftable player.

“People say he has got a decision (to make), but it is up to the clubs. First of all, he has got to put himself in a position, so his next three months is important for getting the kick, playing a role,” Hodge told The Age.

“As far as the decision, it is up to the clubs. There are pros and cons about staying, pros and cons about going. The thing is, first of all, is to do enough this year to give yourself an opportunity to get drafted.”

Cooper Hodge’s decision on picking Brisbane or Hawthorn is yet to be made, while struggling clubs will get help via a new formula.Source: FOX SPORTS

SECRET AFL FORMULA TO HELP STRUGGLERS

The AFL is set to create a statistical model which will help it make decisions on whether bad teams need assistance packages.

AFL Media reports the league’s formula will involve “around eight elements” including win-loss record, percentage, ladder positions and recent finals appearances over a period of time so they can compare how badly teams require help.

It will also be kept secret so teams cannot manipulate the system as was seen with the previous priority pick rules – when winning four games or fewer in two consecutive seasons earned you the No.1 pick.

“Unlike the old priority pick model where you knew what you had to do – or not do – to win a priority selection, the AFL won’t be releasing this. This will be an in-house (model),” AFL Media reporter Cal Twomey told Footy Classified when elaborating on his story.

When host Eddie McGuire suggested it was a “secret” formula, Twomey replied: “As it should be, because you don’t want clubs to know then they’ll be able to maybe change how you perform.”

Currently, clubs present to the AFL and the league weighs up how much assistance (if any) it wants to give on a discretionary basis.

That has seen big gaps between the packages given out, like Gold Coast being given the No.2 pick in the 2019 draft (which gave it access to Noah Anderson), while last year West Coast was given an end-of-first-round pick plus four extra rookie spots.

In 2022 North Melbourne was given three end-of-first-round picks (across two drafts), plus later picks that had to be traded (which it used to land Griffin Logue and Darcy Tucker) and extra rookie spots.