EXPECT to hear "the son of" more than a few times when the Calder Cannons get spoken about this TAC Cup season.
The 2012 Cannons list was finalised last week with 48 players taking the next step towards realising their AFL ambitions.
Dual TAC Cup premiership winning coach Martin Allison is back in charge of the side and will go to work on the list he put together with region manager Ian Kyte and the Cannons' recruiting team.
Carrying a bit of extra pressure though will be five Cannons, all sons of ex-AFL players and two of them sons of ex-AFL coaches.
Daniel Thompson (son of Mark), Joe Daniher (son of Anthony), Jordan Madden (son of Justin), Charly Williams (son of Greg) and Darcy Bailey (son of Dean) will naturally attract the attention of the wider footy world due to the achievements of their fathers.
Daniher has already committed to Essendon as a father-son pick and is playing for a coach who knows how to manage a player, with his AFL future already pencilled in.
Allison coached Tom Liberatore (father Tony) and Mitch Wallis (father Steve) when the duo were taken as father-son picks by the Bulldogs after the Cannons' 2010 TAC Cup premiership season.
"If any of those players are as good as Liberatore and Wallis it'd be a welcome distraction," Allison said.
"I really feel for the sons of a Greg Williams, Mark Thompson, Justin Madden, because they're always going to be looked at as the 'son of'.
"It's a difficult gig. There's expectations put on, not by us coaches but by the wider public.
"They're very well-adjusted young players, they've dealt with it all their life. It's probably going to be under a bit more scrutiny now that they're playing at TAC Cup level.
"Wallis and Liberatore are examples of some well-adjusted young blokes who are covering the weight of expectation."
There are also family connections to the AFL in Ryan Arrowsmith (younger brother of former West Coast player Ash) and Anthony Prestia (cousin of Gold Coast player Dion).
Allison's son Xavier is on the Cannons' list this year as well, setting up another challenging father-son situation.
"We made a decision for both him and my godson, who didn't get listed, that I would be removed from the process and Ian Kyte be the decider," Allison said.
"When (Xavier) started playing well in the practice games ... I thought he might be a chance.
"Getting selected is the easy bit. Every move I make in the games he plays in, is going to be scrutinised by people. But that's OK, he knows that."
Calder Cannons start the TAC Cup season on Sunday, March 25 against Northern Knights at Princes Park, Carlton, at 9.45am.
Meanwhile, Essendon District Football League's A grade power junior clubs have dominated this year's Calder Cannons TAC Cup list with 18 of the 48 players in the under-18s team hailing from three sides.
But coach Cannons coach Martin Allison was quick to point out the cyclical nature of club-of-origin in TAC Cup and also highlight some of the success stories from clubs not regularly represented on a list.
Aberfeldie (eight), Doutta Stars (five) and reigning A grade senior premier Strathmore (five) make up the bulk of the EDFL representatives, with 14 of the competition's 26 clubs having at least one player make the final squad.
Allison said that in in 2010, St Bernards had eight players on the TAC Cup list while Strathmore had just one. This year the Snowdogs have two.
CALDER CANNONS 2012 UNDER-18 LIST
Aberfeldie: Liam McBean, Joe Daniher, Anthony Prestia, Josh Ojamiren, Daniel Ratcliffe, Charly Williams, Joel Madden, Matthew Merlo
Assumption College: Sam Gemmill, Riley Ross, Zac Keogh
Craigieburn: Nick Fletcher
Diggers Rest: Jack Sheahan
Doutta Stars: Marcus Calvaresi, Jordan Angus, Mitch Jensen, Dayne Tannenberg, Jake Brown
East Keilor: Jordan Madden
Fitzroy: Jacob McCormack
Gisborne: James Ferry
Gisborne Rookies: Jonathan O'Rourke
Greenvale: Keegan Shrimpton, Jayden Walker
Jacana: Billy Morrison
Macedon: Lachlan Plowman, Matthew Dick
Maribyrnong Park: Rory Atkins
Moonee Valley: Reilly O'Brien
Oak Park: Errol McConnell
Pascoe Vale: Jesse Boyd
Rupertswood: Sean Hetherington, Liam Berry, Sean Gregory
St Bernards: Daniel Thompson, Will Considine
Strathmore: Darcy Bailey, Josh Rule, Andrew Galucci, Ryan Arrowsmith, Xavier Allison
Sunbury Kangaroos: Jake Young
Sunbury Lions: Jason Cooke, Aaron Christensen
West Coburg: Omar Abdallah, Adam Saad
Woodend: Alex Shipard, Jake Owen