AFL Draft Combine

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Docklands Stadium, where the AFL Draft Combine is held. Docklands Stadium (Etihad Stadium) 2014.jpg
Docklands Stadium, where the AFL Draft Combine is held.

The AFL Draft Combine, formerly known as the AFL Draft Camp, is a gathering of prospective talent, where selected potential draftees display their athletic prowess and relevant Australian rules football skills. Over four days participants are required to undergo a series of medical, psychomotor, athletic and fitness tests as well as interviews conducted by the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League. [1] The first AFL Draft Camp was held in 1994 at Waverley Park; in 1999 it moved to Canberra, where it was hosted by the Australian Institute of Sport, and in 2011 it was moved to Docklands Stadium. Each year the Draft Combine is held in the week following the AFL Grand Final. [2]

Contents

Through various partnerships the AFL also conducts draft combines around the world with AFL International Combine having been held in Ireland, the United States and New Zealand. However unlike the Draft Combine the primary aim of International Combines is to supply secondary talent through the Rookie draft.

Purpose

The testing results measured at the combine are used to inform recruiters of players' athletic attributes and skills heading into the AFL Draft, which is held in November. Recruiters also have the opportunity to interview participants whom they may potentially want to draft. Clubs are able to send a representative to the combine, where they are able to conduct a medical screening on participants. This screening gives clubs an idea of a player's past injuries and future injury concerns. [3]

Invitations

To be eligible for the AFL Draft Combine, a player must receive at least 5 nominations from AFL clubs. Leading into the combine, AFL recruiting managers are expected to submit a list of 70 players from the draft pool whom they would like to screen at the national combine. Approximately 100 invitees attend the draft combine. Draft hopefuls who don't receive enough nominations for the national combine but still receive 3 or 4 nominations have the opportunity to attend their respective state screening. [4]

Players who are overlooked for the national combine may be invited to attend a state-based combine, where similar testing is done.

Tests

The following tests performed at the combine are associated with the attributes required to perform in the AFL. [5]

Beep test (shuttle run)

Players are to finish a 20-metre leg before the sound of the beep; they continue to run back and forth as the time in between each beep gets shorter. The test starts at level 1 and finishes at level 21. When a person fails to make the line before the beep, they no longer are allowed to continue. [6] This test was replaced with the yo-yo test in 2017. [7]

Long-distance time trial

In groups of 10–20, players are to complete a 3000-metre run as fast as they can. The finishing time is then recorded. This was replaced by the 2 km time trial in 2017. [8]

Repeat sprint test

This test is designed to measure both speed and endurance. Here players complete six 30-metre sprints, with the cumulative time recorded. [6]

Agility test

The player starts standing upright; once they pass through the gates, the player is to navigate around a series of poles (without touching them or knocking them down) and reach the finishing gates as quickly as possible. [6]

20-metre sprint

This is to measure a player's speed. The individual being tested begins in a crouched position. They are then to sprint as fast as they can up to 20 metres. Sensors are used to measure the time taken to the 5m, 10m and 20m mark. Each player is given 3 attempts at this, with the quickest time being recorded. [6]

Running vertical jump

In this test an instrument called a Vertec is used to measure a player jumping off one leg from a running start. The player being tested aims to hit the 'fingers' on the Vertec as high up as possible. [6]

Standing vertical jump

This is similar to the running vertical jump; however, the player instead takes off on two feet from a stationary start. The aim again is to hit the fingers as high up as possible on the Vertec. [6]

Nathan Buckley kicking test

This test was devised by Nathan Buckley and is used to measure a player's kicking efficiency over six kicks. Six targets are set out at distances of 20, 30 and 40 metres. An official is designated to request a target at random and call the instructions out to the kicker. The kicker then proceeds hit the target. Each kick is given a score from one to five (five being the perfect kick). [6]

Matthew Lloyd clean hands test

Matthew Lloyd designed this test to measure how well a player takes possession of a football and is able to dispose of it using a handball. Three targets are set up on both the left and right sides at distances of 6, 8 and 10 metres. The test starts with an official either rolling or throwing a football at the player; an instruction of what target to hit is then called out by the official. The player then attempts to handball the ball at the target. This is done six times, and a score from one to five is allocated for each handball. [6]

Brad Johnson goal-touching test

This test was constructed by Brad Johnson and measures a player's accuracy kicking for goal. This test takes place on an oval with four markers placed at different angles and distances to kick from. Five kicks are taken in total: two set shots, two snaps (one left and one right) and one kick on the run. A score is then derived from the number of goals and behinds a player kicks. [6]

Physical

Measurements of a player's height, weight, skinfolds, arm length and hand span are all recorded. [6]

Testing records

Best Performances: 2 km Time TrialTimeYear
Harry Sharp 5:282020
Cooper Hamilton5:482021
Jay Rantall 5:502019
Finn Maginness 5:512019
Fraser Rosman5:522020

[6]

Best Performances: 3 km Time TrialTimeYear
Joshua Schoenfeld9:152015
Jack Hiscox 9:172014
Josh Kelly 9:322013
Tim Houlihan 9:372006
Tom Lamb 9:452014

[6]

Best Performances: Beep TestLevelYear
Billy Hartung 16.062013
Caleb Daniel 16.012014
Bradley Hill 16.012011
Jack Hiscox 16.012014
Will Hoskin-Elliot 15.122011

[6]

Best Performances: AgilityTime (seconds)Year
Darcy Jones7.702022
Stephen Hill 7.772008
Danyle Pearce 7.792004
Nathan Van Berlo 7.802004
Elliot Yeo 7.802011

[6] The fastest agility test ever recorded at any AFL combine was 7.761 seconds by Tyrone Thorne at the 2019 Western Australia draft combine. [9]

Best Performances: Standing Vertical JumpHeight (cm)Year
Aiden Bonar 892017
Marvin Baynham882014
Dean Towers 852012
Jesse Lonergan 832012
Spencer White 822012
Best Performances: Running Vertical JumpHeight (cm)Year
Leek Aleer 1072021
Kyron Hayden 1032017
Nic Naitanui 1022008
Jared Brennan 1022002
Chad Warner 1002021

[11]

Joel Wilkinson has the record for both the 20m sprint and the repeat sprint test. 38 Joel Wilkinson.png
Joel Wilkinson has the record for both the 20m sprint and the repeat sprint test.

[6]

Best Performances: Repeat SprintTime (seconds)Year
Joel Wilkinson 23.402010
Brad Harvey23.462010
Shaun Atley 23.692010
Kieran Harper 23.842010
Jack Fitzpatrick 23.912009

[6]

Best Performances: 20m SprintTime (seconds)Year
Joel Wilkinson 2.752010
Jonathan Marsh2.782013
Danyle Pearce 2.792004
Ashley Smith 2.802008
Edward Allan2.812022

AFL International Combine

Since the 2000s, the AFL began to look to increasingly recruit athletic talent from outside Australia. It is estimated over 100,000 people participate in the sport outside Australia [14] and the Australian Football International Cup takes place every three years in Melbourne, where teams from 18 countries compete against each other. [15] With the exception of international rookies, the AFL however has traditionally looked outside of its grassroots player base for amateur and professional athletes from other sports with transferrable skills. As such this is the primary aim of the International Combines.

All AFL international combines have been indefinitely postponed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

US Combine

Mason Cox, a Dallasite college basketballer, is the most successful talent unearthed at an international combine, playing more than 100 senior AFL games. Mason Cox 2018.1.jpg
Mason Cox, a Dallasite college basketballer, is the most successful talent unearthed at an international combine, playing more than 100 senior AFL games.

The US AFL Combine was held annually between 2012 and 2017. The first combine was run in 2012, and it has been run semi-annually since 2017. Each year, a minimum of two of the group were chosen to partake in the AFL National Combine held in Melbourne. From 2015, the AFL shifted its focus exclusively to rucks; and, as such, all 15 participants from the 2015 combine were from a college basketball background. After a poor yield between 2015 and 2017 while scouting for American athletes over 2 metres tall, the AFL put the program on hold to focus on talent in Ireland and New Zealand.

Notable combines: [16]

YearLocationDatesNotable participants
2012Los AngelesEric Wallace (signed by North Melbourne)
2013 [17] Los AngelesPatrick Mitchell (signed by Sydney)
2014 [18] Los Angeles Jason Holmes (signed by St Kilda)
Mason Cox (signed by Collingwood)
2015 [19] Los AngelesApril 24–27Matt Korcheck (signed by Carlton)
2016 [20] Bradenton, FloridaJanuary Darragh Joyce (signed by St Kilda)
Ray Connellan (signed by St Kilda)
Cillian McDaid (signed by Carlton)
(note all three of the 2016 prospects flew from Ireland to be tested in the US)
2017 [21] Los AngelesMay Anton Tohill (signed by Collingwood) (flew from Ireland to be tested in the US)

European Combine

Oisin Mullin, a gaelic footballer from County Mayo, Ireland, was signed by Geelong in 2021, began playing Australian rules in November 2022, and made his AFL debut in May 2023 Oisin Mullin 2023.jpg
Oisín Mullin, a gaelic footballer from County Mayo, Ireland, was signed by Geelong in 2021, began playing Australian rules in November 2022, and made his AFL debut in May 2023

The European Combine has been held annually since 2010 and overseen by the AFL. Since 2015, it has been run by International Talent Manager Tadhg Kennelly, a former player for the Sydney Swans who was originally drafted from Ireland.

All of the early trials were held in Dublin. Among those who try out, a large proportion are Gaelic footballers, as the skill set of Gaelic football is considered similar to that of AFL. [22] Unlike the key positions sought from US and New Zealand athletes, AFL clubs are typically searching Ireland's gaelic talent for running midfielders and attacking (rebound) defenders. The two best-performing participants at the combine are then given the opportunity to attend the AFL National Combine.

To date, only a couple of the tested players have been successful at AFL level, with the majority of successful Irish players scouted by other means. During a drought in combine talent, former Irish player Pearce Hanley in 2016 was critical of the format as a recruiting method due to its primary focus on athletic testing over game adaptability. [23] Many of the more successful players have been recruited directly or—in the case of Colin O'Riordan, Conor Glass and Mark O'Connor—bypassed the European Combine altogether, instead flying directly to Melbourne, Australia, to participate in the AFL Combine there, where they have a more direct recruitment pathway. Others did not sign at the event but decided to sign sometime later, as was the case of Darragh Joyce.

In 2019, a women's combine was run for the first time as part of a pathway to the AFL Women's competition. [24]

In 2022, the AFL flagged a return of the European Combine; however, it did not oversee them in 2023, with independent recruiters holding trials in Ireland instead. [25]

Notable combines: [26]

YearLocationDatesNotable participants
2012National Basketball Arena, Tallaght, DublinFebruary [27] Sean Hurley (signed by Fremantle)
Ciaran Kilkenny (signed by Hawthorn)
2013Dublin12-13 February [28] Daniel Flynn (signed by Port Adelaide)
Ciarán Byrne (signed by Carlton)
Ciarán Sheehan (signed by Carlton)
2014Dublin13-14 December [29] Paddy Brophy (signed by West Coast Eagles)
Padraig Lucey (signed by Geelong)
2015Dublin5 December [30] Cian Hanley (signed by Brisbane Lions)
Darragh Joyce
2016Dublin11-12 November [31] No signings
2017Dublin2 December [32] Cillian McDaid (signed by Carlton)
James Madden (signed by Brisbane Lions)
Mark Keane (signed by Collingwood)
Anton Tohill (signed by Collingwood)
Stefan Okunbor (signed by Geelong)
2018Dublin Luke Towey (signed by Gold Coast Suns)
2019Dublin7–8 December Deividas Uosis (signed by Brisbane Lions)
Ross McQuillan (signed by Essendon)
Ultan Kelm (signed by Fremantle)
Oisín Mullin (signed by Geelong)
Vikki Wall (signed by North Melbourne AFLW) [24]
2020DublinNo signings due to impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

New Zealand Combine

The first New Zealand combine was held in 2013. Unlike the combines in the US and Europe, New Zealand's combine targets mainly junior (under-18s) rugby and soccer players with key-position potential. Kurt Heatherley was signed by Hawthorn via the AFL Combine in Melbourne in 2012 before the New Zealand combines had begun. The first women's combine was held in 2014.

Notable combines:

YearLocationDatesNotable participants
2013ASB Sports Centre, Wellington24 JanuarySiope Ngata (signed by Hawthorn – U15 international scholarship), Maia Westrupp (signed by Melbourne – international scholarship)
2014ASB Sports Centre, Wellington23 JanuaryGiovanni Mountain Silbery (signed by St Kilda – international scholarship)
Killarney Morey (signed by Sydney Swans women's Academy)
2015ASB Sports Centre, Wellington23 April
2016Trusts Arena, AucklandApril William Warbrick [33]
2017ASB Sports Centre, WellingtonApril Mykelti Lefau (signed by Richmond VFL) [34]
Misilifi Faimalo (signed by Richmond VFL)
2018ASB Sports Centre, Wellington23 April
2019Secondary Schools Combine (various)

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References

  1. ↑ "AFL Draft". WA Football. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "AFL Draft Camp Testing". www.topendsports.com. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Burgess, Darren; Naughton, Geraldine; Hopkins, Will (1 January 2012). "Draft-camp predictors of subsequent career success in the Australian Football League". Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 15 (6): 561–7. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2012.01.006. PMID   22710084.
  4. ↑ "Updated: 2013 National Draft Combine Invites Announced + Important Draft Dates". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  5. ↑ NAB AFL Draft Combine , retrieved 4 September 2015
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Inside the Draft CombineBELLO – AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Australian Football Yo-Yo Test Results", theyoyotest.com, retrieved 16 November 2020
  8. ↑ "Running machine takes out Combine 2km trial", afl.com.au, 6 October 2017, retrieved 16 November 2020
  9. ↑ "AFL Draft combine: Peel Thunder pocket rocket Tyrone Thorne beats Stephen Hill's agility test record". 13 October 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  10. 1 2 Twomey, Callum (28 April 2014). "Taller than Sandi: Basketballer shines at US combine". Australian Football League. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  11. ↑ "Swan's brother records four top-10 results; famous vertical jump record shattered: Full AFL draft combine results". 19 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Draft Combine – AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Top prospects star as former steeplechaser smashes AFL draft combine record". November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  14. ↑ Williams, Grant (5 October 2012). "Participation Numbers Boom".
  15. ↑ "AFL International Cup 2014 – AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "AFL US Combine Comes to IMG Academy". 27 March 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  17. ↑ 2013 International AFL Combine from Top End Sports
  18. ↑ 2014 AFL US Combine from USAFL
  19. ↑ 2015 International AFL Combine from Top end Sports
  20. ↑ Talent at US Combine reaches record heights By Callum Twomey 26 April 2016
  21. ↑ 2017 International AFL Combine from Top end Sports
  22. ↑ "AFL looks to Europe for fresh talent" . Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  23. ↑ Brisbane Lions star Pearce Hanley says Irish recruiting not up to standard by Daniel Cherny 24 March 2016
  24. 1 2 Gaelic star dominates first-ever women's AFL Europe Combine by Marc McGowan for AFL Women's 9 December 2019
  25. ↑ It is back on board now' – Irish AFL sessions resume in Dublin by Maurice Brosnan for the Irish Examiner 31 May 2023
  26. ↑ "Kennelly set to host fourth AFL international combine". Irish Independent. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  27. ↑ 2012 International AFL Combine Top End Sports
  28. ↑ AFL International Combine – Dublin from AFL Europe 15 February 2013
  29. ↑ English prospect Sam has the will to make the big time from WorldFootyNews 15 December 2014
  30. ↑ The 20 young Irish hopefuls who've been chasing an AFL contract over the last two days from The 42 Ireland 5 December 2015
  31. ↑ https://afleurope.org/tag/draft/ AFL Europe Talent Combine Review] by AFL Europe 14 November 2016
  32. ↑ 'There were some guys in the Jim Stynes mould' - AFL impressed by Irish talent at European combine by Ray McManus for the Independent Ireland 4 December 2017
  33. ↑ Warbrick awarded Rising Star for Round 1 from AFL New Zealand 18 February 2016
  34. ↑ "Inside Football's Draft Prospect Profiles – J-M". 1116 SEN . Sports Entertainment Network. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
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