PORT ADELAIDE midfield coach Jarrad Schofield has talked about his pride in seeing his son Taj recruited by the club in the rookie draft, but has promised no favours once they’re on the training track.
Taj Schofield was officially claimed by Port with pick 37 in Thursday’s AFL Rookie draft.
It was a huge source of pride for Jarrad to see the two-year-old he carried with him while celebrating the 2004 Premiership grow into a man, and have the opportunity to live out his dream of playing in the AFL for the club they both love.
“You watch your young son grow into a young man and to be able to now live out his childhood dream, you couldn’t be any prouder as a parent,” Jarrad Schofield said during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
“Knowing the industry and how cut throat it is, makes me understand and appreciate the opportunity he does have now and I’m just super proud as a parent and so is my wife and his sister – my daughter.”
While recruiters will often want to meet a draft prospect’s family to get a feel for who they are away from the football field, it was a different situation for the Schofields, who the club was very familiar with.
The Port midfield coach joked he would be biased if the recruiters asked him about his son, but warned Taj that his hard work starts now.
“I think he’s the fourth father-son here at the club and any player who comes through and has a son coming through, and hopefully in future a daughter coming through and play footy at this wonderful club has a great opportunity,” he said.
“They do get a bit of a leg up but it doesn’t mean there’s any guarantees.
“Credit to Taj, he’s handled the added pressure that comes with being a son of a father who has played, especially one that has played in a premiership.
“He’s handled it well but he’s got all the hard work in front of him now.”
Schofield said he was well aware that there were no guarantees that his son would land with Port Adelaide or be drafted at all, but the club had given him assurances that it expected to claim him in the rookie draft, as it did.
“It’s exciting (for Taj to come to Port Adelaide) because from a coaching point of view I know how excited we are about where we’re heading as a football club and a team on the ground,” he said.
“When you look back at when we were living in Perth and he would be the mascot running out on the oval with Travis Boak looking after him to where they are now where they’re going to be kicking footies together, I can’t not get excited about that, but he knows he’s just one of many players now and I’ll treat him like that.
“He knows he’ll get no favours from me.”
Taj Schofield is known for his composure and decision making on the ball and his precise kicking.
And while there is a chance the pair will find themselves together in midfield meetings at some point down the track, the older Schofield said for now he expects his son to work under Nathan Bassett and Chad Cornes in the forward line.
And, he said, he expected his son to get every opportunity to play league football in 2021.
“I think he’ll probably come into the forward line and learn his craft there,” he explained.
“We’ve gradually brought guys like Connor Rozee and Zak Butters into the midfield so I dare say Taj will go down the same path, but that’s Kenny’s decision.
“The wonderful thing at this footy club, is that it doesn’t matter about your age and experience, if you’re right to go and you train well and we think you’re ready to go, you’ll be picked.
“He’s got some work to do. He’s fit enough but he needs to build that strength and power AFL bodies get after a couple of pre-seasons but in terms of understanding the game and getting used to the speed, I don’t think it’ll be that much of a dramatic adjustment.”
