THE AFL today admitted Tom Scully's father, Phil, may not have been employed by the GWS Giants had it not been for Toms signing to the club last month.

Phil Scully has been employed by the Giants as a Melbourne-based recruiter at the club but – in an unprecedented eventuality – Scully Snr’s pay will be included under the salary cap.

AFL operations boss Adrian Anderson this morning conceded that the league's investigations officer Ken Wood had found Phil Scully may not have been employed if Tom Scully had not signed a $6 million five-year deal last month.



"Ken must have (concluded) that in some way it’s connected with the player’s past, present or future services to the club," Anderson told SEN today.



"And (Phil’s) opportunity may not otherwise have existed other than for the fact Tom is playing for the club.



"Ken’s obviously come to the conclusion that there is sufficient connection for it to be included in the salary cap."

The Herald Sun this morning revealed Phil Scully will earn a full-time salary as a recruiter for the club that poached his son from Melbourne last month.



Embarrassed club officials went public about the arrangement only after being contacted by the Herald Sun.



GWS will include Phil Scully's wages in the club's salary cap - an unprecedented ruling that raises questions about the Giants' hiring of him.



The message is the AFL was not convinced Phil Scully's employment was unrelated to his son's five-year, $6 million deal.



The league last night said it had approved the arrangement, but would not say when it was first notified of the plan.



"The GWS Giants have notified the AFL of the appointment of Phil Scully and that (his salary) will be included in the club's Total Player Payments," the AFL said.



The AFL initially refused to discuss the Phil Scully situation.



But it later confirmed it had approved the arrangement - if his wages were included in the club's Total Player Payments.



Scully Sr has previously worked in recruiting for the Sydney Swans.



The GWS recruiting team includes the father of their star signing, the son of coach Kevin Sheedy, Sam, and Neville Stibbard, stood down and then demoted over bullying claims this year.



GWS's hastily released statement said: "The Greater Western Sydney Giants are pleased to confirm that Phil Scully has accepted a role with the club's recruiting department and will begin work in January 2012.



"His new role will see him remain in Melbourne, working closely with (GWS list manager) Stephen Silvagni.



"He's spent the last two years working for the Swans, but expressed an interest to the Giants about moving into a full-time position.



"He has had a lot of experience with the talent pathway in Victoria and he is going to be a valued addition to our team.



"His son Tom Scully signed with the Giants in September this year and will move to Western Sydney in a few weeks' time."



The Herald Sun is not suggesting that Tom Scully or his father Phil have done anything wrong.



Attempts to speak to Phil Scully were unsuccessful.



The club did not say when it first approached Phil Scully about the job.



GWS chief executive Dale Holmes did not return repeated calls.



Coach Kevin Sheedy could not be contacted.







Originally published as AFL's say on job for Dad