Hawthorn the frontrunner for Crows father-son prospect Ben Jarman, says his uncle Andrew

Dual Magarey Medallist Andrew told The Advertiser the Crows’ interest in 18-year-old Ben appeared only lukewarm and that triple premier Hawthorn was more buoyant about his prospects.

“I have a gut feel that Ben will be playing at the Hawthorn Football Club next year,’’ Andrew said.

“Ben hasn’t made that decision yet but the Crows haven’t shown a lot of interest in him and the Hawks have been all over him, so if you put two and two together, it looks like he’ll be going to Melbourne.’’

Ben — an SA under-18 player this season and invited to next month’s AFL draft combine — is eligible to become Adelaide’s first father-son player at this year’s national draft.

He is the son of dual premiership Crow and Hawthorn premiership player Darren Jarman.

Darren played more than 100 games for both clubs, making Ben one of the rare players to be eligible for more than one club as a father-son prospect.

Currently playing in North Adelaide’s under-18 finals side, Ben is a small forward/midfielder who isn’t particularly quick but, like his dad who kicked a total of 11 goals in Adelaide’s grand final wins in 1997 and 1998, he has wonderful skills.

The Crows have never had a father-son player, having narrowly missed out on being able to select Bryce Gibbs, who went to Carlton in 2006, and Brayden Maynard, who was drafted by Collingwood in 2014.

Their fathers, Ross and Peter respectively, just failed to meet the Crows’ father-son criteria during distinguished careers with Glenelg.

Adelaide and Hawthorn have been tracking Ben’s career for years and both clubs have met with him.

Crows head of football David Noble told The Advertiser in June that Ben was on the club’s radar but that “there’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge’’ before it made a draft decision on him.

Ben, who is considered a mid-range draft pick, said his immediate concern is to continue to improve and focus on finishing his season with the Roosters strongly.

But while Darren keeps his cards close to his chest on his son’s future, Andrew insists Hawthorn is the frontrunner for his signature.

“Obviously the family would love to see Ben stay in Adelaide but the cards point to him going to the Hawks,’’ Andrew said.

“A decision doesn’t have to be made for a month or so but Hawthorn has certainly shown a lot more interest in Ben than the Crows have so we’ll wait to see what plays out.’’

Andrew said leaving home to move to Melbourne wouldn’t be a bad result for Ben, noting that playing at Hawthorn helped his younger brother Darren “grow into a man’’.

Darren played 109 games for the Hawks from 1991 to 1995 before 121 games for the Crows from 1996 to 2001.

andrew.capel@news.com.au

Originally published as Hawthorn the frontrunner for Crows father-son prospect Ben Jarman, says his uncle Andrew