Tom Papley’s selection in the 2015 Rookie Draft resurrects a family bloodline stretching back half a century.

Tom is the grandson of South Melbourne duo, Max Papley and Jeff Bray, who both donned the red ‘V’ during the 1960s.

Max played 59 games from 1964-67, winning the ‘66 Club Champion in the process, while Jeff played 34 matches from 1964-66 in an injury-plagued career.

As Tom settles into life at the SCG, sydneyswans.com.au has flipped through the history books to uncover a little more about the Papley-Bray family.

In 1966, ahead of South Melbourne’s Round 11 clash against Essendon, an article in Melbourne newspaper The Age titled ‘South’s “big three” back' jumped out of the sports section.

The exclusive referred to the imminent return of captain-coach Bob Skilton, centre half-forward Graeme John and centre Max Papley for the match at Lake Oval.

Anyone judged alongside a now three-time Brownlow Medallist seems like a huge commendation for someone who had a subsequent four-year stint at the Swans.

Despite only playing 59 games, Papley actually had all the attributes to become an all-time great and was in the prime of his playing days with the talented centreman going on to claim the Club Champion award the same season.

Twelve months on, Papley would be prematurely lured away from Albert Park.

Max Papley pictured after winning the 1966 Club Champion award. Photo published in Jim Main's "In the Blood".

A move to Moorabbin, in Melbourne’s south-east, before his time with South Melbourne, sparked a love affair with the local football club which was part of the then Victorian Football Association (VFA).

At the time there were two premier leagues in Melbourne, VFA and VFL, with the latter breaking away some 65 years prior. The leagues were still at loggerheads over the split which ultimately bought about the demise of Papley’s beloved club.

A bold bid by local council to bring VFL football to Moorabbin Oval resulted in the VFA expelling the footy club for disloyalty after publicly backing the council.

Papley all of a sudden found himself without a club, just months after captaining the Roos to the 1963 VFA premiership. He was convinced to join South Melbourne, a club he grew up barracking for, in a bid to resurrect his football career.

Around the same time, a West Adelaide recruit by the name of Jeff Bray also joined the red and white.

Bray had carved quite a career at the Westies before making the move across and would become football royalty in South Australia by the time it was all over.

He’s one of a select group who holds a place in the South Australian National Football League’s Hall of Fame, earning his induction less than a year after his passing in 2006 from a heart condition.

The honour capped off an incredible state career spanning 12 years and 196 games for West Adelaide, in which Bray became a dual best and fairest winner and premiership centre half-backman.

He was also an inaugural member of West Adelaide’s Hall of Fame and represented SA eight times, including in 1963 when the “Croweaters” defeated the previously dominant Victoria in front of 59,260 at the MCG.

Jeff Bray nursing his broken hand while unlacing his South Australian style guernsey after a South Melbourne training session in 1964. Photo: The Age

Those 12 years in the SANFL were split either side of his stint with South Melbourne.

Described as “barrel chested and resolute” by footy historian John Devaney, Bray became a great team member at South Melbourne with the greatest endorsement coming from then captain-coach Skilton valued his backman’s leadership and team-oriented approach.

After a strong pre-season, Bray unluckily broke his hand in South Melbourne’s final practice match which hampered his first year at Lake Oval. On top of that, the interstate recruit was ineligible to play VFL football anyway due to an issue with his residential qualification.

The mature-age recruit would eventually debut in Round 5 against Geelong but would only manage another two games due to ongoing knee issues.

It took a couple of seasons for Bray to hit his straps. He played 12 games in ’65 before featuring in every game of the ’66 season with one of his best performances coming against St Kilda in Round 5 at Lake Oval.

Head held high despite a 42-point defeat, Bray kept Saints skipper Darrel Baldock (a premiership captain by season’s end) to only two goals in a display worthy of praise in the local tabloids.

Bray’s time at South Melbourne was short lived, however, coming to an end before the ’67 season when he joined several players in requesting transfers back to their home states.

In an era considered far less professional to the modern game, Bray considered a move back to West Adelaide to be more beneficial.

After some deliberating, South officials eventually granted him a clearance back to his old stomping ground where the worn and torn defender played another three seasons of football before giving the game away completely in 1970.

Papley was gone the following season.

In the summer, Papley was the captain-coach of the Moorabbin Sub-District Cricket Club. He revealed to historian Jim Main back in 2012 that “I probably loved cricket more than football” which played a hand in his decision to walk away from VFL football.

Papley told South officials at the time he’d take part in pre-season training and practice matches only if football didn’t interfere with his cricket commitments.

The Swans were resolute and when an offer to join the VFA club Williamstown as coach came along, Papley gave it serious consideration before pulling the trigger and accepting.

He spent five seasons at Williamstown before moving to Bunyip, about 80km south-east of Melbourne, where his playing days ended.

Max Papley poses for a photo after Tom's VFL debut for Casey Scorpions. Photo: Paul Amy

Papley has played a significant part in Tom Papley's football and has always been on hand to offer advice and encouragement. He has been grandfather to now three AFL footballers, with Tom's cousins Ben and Michael Ross playing for North Melbourne and Essendon respectively at one stage.

Fortunately for the Swans, the bloodline continues which would warm the hearts of any football tragic let alone supporters who witnessed Max Papley and Jeff Bray during the 60s.

Let's hope Max and Jeff's talents have rubbed off on Tom as the new recruit writes his own chapter in the Papley-Bray football story.