By Tyler Lewis
The pointy-end of the NAB League season is fast-approaching, which means the top prospects’ athleticism and skills are about to be put to the test in front of AFL recruiters.
Dandenong Stingrays Sam De Koning, Ned Cahill, Cody Weightman, Lachlan Williams and Hayden Young, as well as the Gippsland Power’s Riley Baldi, Charlie Comben, Sam Flanders, Fraser Phillips, Caleb Serong and Brock Smith, were all invited on Monday morning to the AFL Draft combine after impressing throughout the season.
Of the 21 players invited to the Combine from Vic Country, 11 are from the Gippsland Power and Dandenong Stingrays.
The combine – which will be held from 1 to 4 October – will test the players in facets including: the standing vertical jump, running vertical jump, agility test, 6×30-metre sprint, 20-metre yo yo run test, two-kilometre time trial, kicking efficiency, and goal-kicking.
Stingray Sam De Koning no doubt looms as a favourite for the vertical jump tests, while Hayden Young, Caleb Serong, Ned Cahill and Sam Flanders will all be among the standouts in the skills tests.
Beaconsfield and Dandenong livewire Cody Weightman will be looking to continue his form from the Under-18 Nationals in the goal kicking test, as will Gippsland goal-kicking machine Fraser Phillips.
Unfortunately for tough inside midfielders Sam Flanders and Riley Baldi, the combine doesn’t offer any tests for sheer strength and courage, which the two Power engine room operators would have indisputably topped.
Stingray Lachlan Williams looms as a bolter in the draft if he can impress in the testing, while Gippsland’s Brock Smith’s form across half-back is peaking at the right time and he will be hoping to bring that into the combine.
The combine often brings out the positives and negatives of a young prospect’s body when approaching the draft – the two-kilometre time trial and kicking efficiency drill are often the headline of importance to hint how much extra training a club will have to put into a youngster post-draft.
With Marvel Stadium playing host to a UFC event in the usual time slot for the combine, the AFL is on the hunt for a venue to host the crucial tests.
