Gavin Brown admitted he was shocked when the club he works for bid on his son in Friday night's draft.

Former Collingwood captain Brown - a development coach at North Melbourne - was sitting at home watching the draft with family when the Kangaroos bid on the person sitting next to him - son Callum - at pick 35.

The Magpies matched the bid and Callum became a Pie, but only after Gavin was taken aback by the Roos' initial pick.

"It was a bit of a surprise. I was a bit shocked actually. I was watching to see who they were going to pick," Gavin said on Monday.

"When I left work they didn't give me any inclination at all. So I was sort of sitting there thinking 'hang on a minute'.

"So it was a bit of a shock to be honest."

By Monday that had all largely been forgotten though, as the Pies unveiled Brown and fellow father-son pick Josh Daicos - the son of Magpies great and Gavin's 1990 premiership teammate Peter – at the Holden Centre. The club's other new draftees Sam McLarty and Kayle Kirby were also on hand, as were Brown snr and Daicos snr.

Both Josh (taken at pick 57) and Callum were granted their request to wear different jumper numbers to those donned by their famous fathers. Callum will wear No.17, while Josh will wear No.26 – the number worn by Gavin across his 254 games at the Pies. Peter's No.35 has been handed to a new Magpie, but rather than Josh or Callum it will be McLarty who will wear that jumper in 2017. That decision was made in accordance with the recent tradition that the club's first draft pick wears the number – also worn with distinction by former Magpies defender Simon Prestigiacomo – as a nod to the backman's selflessness in withdrawing himself from Collingwood's 2010 grand final team because he didn't feel fit to play. Kirby has been given jumper No.27.

Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert explained that Josh and Callum wanted to create their own legacies. "It was a request from the players. In a lot of ways we think they're going to be under enough scrutiny and attention," Pert said.

"We'd like to think they'd make their numbers that they're taking in their first years as famous as the numbers that were worn by [their fathers]."

Callum said Gavin was comfortable with his decision. "I speak to dad quite a bit about footy. He's sort of all just about hard work and he was pretty happy for me to create my own legacy and go different to his number," Callum said.

Josh - arguably under even more pressure than Callum given Peter's standing as an icon of the club - said that comparisons with his father - who kicked 549 goals across a storied career - were inevitable. "I can only play my best football and give it my best crack, and hopefully that warrants the discussion. But that doesn't really faze me," Josh said.

Peter said the added scrutiny on Josh and Callum could work in their favour. "It can either be your greatest ally or your greatest foe," Peter said.

"Pressure is sometimes a good thing...it can make you work a bit harder."

McLarty - a versatile tall taken at pick 30 - made headlines in the lead-up to the draft because of his bionic ear, which helps him deal with profound deafness. With the Pies having lost Jack Frost, Jonathon Marsh and Nathan Brown, McLarty could be needed to play in the backline next year. Having been plagued by shoulder issues this year, McLarty says he expects to be back in full training before the end of the year.

Kirby - a small forward from Bendigo who had a stint this year with Richmond's VFL side - gave an unexpected answer when asked where he was when the Pies picked him. "I was actually at the pub," Kirby said.

"I was with family and friends, and most of them were in the pokies!"