Winners from the AFL Combine

Charlie Curnow. Credit: Brian Bartlett
Charlie Curnow. Credit: Brian Bartlett

The AFL Draft Combine is done and dusted for another year. While many of the top prospects did not test with minor injury issues, there were a few guys who elevated their draft stocks. All the top ten results are listed at the bottom of the article.

Winners
Daniel Rioli
Rioli had the most to gain of anyone in this year’s draft pool. He’d shown a few signs, but recruiters needed to see if his athleticism matched his flare. Rioli tested well in just about everything; with a high relative vertical leap, the second quickest 20 metre sprint (2.89 seconds) as well as winning the repeat sprints, arguably a better test of speed than the 20 metre sprints. Rioli also had the equal sixth quickest three kilometre time trial and he had the third highest score in the clean hands test.

Josh Schoenfeld
He wasn’t a standout in the National Championships in the weak WA side, but Schoenfeld showed enough back then to look like a possible late National Draft prospect. He won both the beep test with an outstanding 16.2 (second highest of all-time) and he broke the three kilometre record, doing it in nine minutes and 15 seconds.

Jacob Weitering
Weitering had nothing to lose or gain from the testing, but everything we knew was confirmed. He ran a 15.1 beep test, good for fifth best. He also came third behind Mabior Chol and Gach Nyoun in the absolute standing and running jump tests.

Jade Gresham
Gresham is a fairly solid athlete, but his best work came in all three of the skills tests. He scored 5/5 in the goal kicking test, as well as hitting 26 out of 30 targets via hand. Gresham came sixth in the kicking test, hitting 21 of 30 targets.

Gach Nyuon
Arguably the best ruckman in the draft, Nyuon performed well in the leaping tests, equalling Nic Naitanui’s record in the absolute running vertical jump and coming second in the absolute standing vertical jump. What was even more impressive was his 2.95 20 metre sprint. We know he’s a good decision maker, but it was great to see his explosive power.

Alex Morgan
The 19 year-old missed plenty of football this year with injuries, but his terrific work across a range of tests at the combine would have helped tick a few boxes for recruiters. He had the second highest relative vertical leap, the quickest 20 metre sprint and the second best agility time.

Darcy MacPherson
The Bulldogs father-son prospect also missed plenty of football this year, but he performed well in a range of areas. His relative running vertical jump was seventh best, while his agility testing and beep test score both were in the top ten. He also came second in the clean hands test and third in the kicking test.

Mitch Hibberd
The Tasmanian blitzed the running tests, coming second in the beep test with a 15.4 and a 10.02 three kilometre time trial. He then got the highest score in the kicking test, with 24/30 and he also nail four out of his five shots on goal.

Charlie Curnow
It was a mixed bag for Charlie Curnow. He disappointed in the 20 metre sprint, with a time of 3.15. Speed was never his strong suit, but he would have hoped for a better time than that. Curnow came tenth in the kicking test, with 21 of 30, which was encouraging as his kicking has been question. He excelled in the endurance testing though, getting a score above 14 in the beep test as well as performing strongly in the three kilometre time trial.

TOP TENS
Absolute standing vertical jump (cm)
Mabior Chol – 334cm
Gach Nyuon – 330
Jacob Weitering – 327
Andre Parrella – 325
Mitch King – 324
Jesse Glass-McCasker – 323
Jack Firns – 322
Matthew Flynn – 321
Callum Moore – 319
Eric Hipwood – 318

Absolute running vertical jump (cm)
Gach Nyuon – 362cm
Mabior Chol – 357
Jacob Weitering – 344
Andre Parrella – 342
Jesse Glass-McCasker – 340
Callum Moore – 340
Matthew Flynn – 339
Eric Hipwood – 338
Liam Jeffs – 338
Harry McKay – 337
Lachlan Tiziani – 337

Relative vertical jump (cm)
Jordan Snadden – 75cm
Alex Morgan – 71
Mitch King – 70
David Cuningham – 70
Lachlan Tiziani – 69
Oleg Markov – 69
Stephen Tahana – 69
Daniel Rioli – 69
Tom Doedee – 68
Jack Firns – 68
Matthew Kennedy – 68
Darcy Tucker – 68

Relative running vertical jump (cm)
Lachlan Tiziani – 97cm
Gach Nyuon – 94
Matthew Kennedy – 91
Mabior Chol – 90
Liam Jeffs – 90
Jordan Snadden – 90
Darcy MacPherson – 89
Blake Hardwick – 86
Hisham Kerbatieh – 86
Callum Moore – 86
Stephen Tahana – 86

20m sprint
Alex Morgan – 2.88 seconds
Kurt Mutimer – 2.88
Liam Jeffs – 2.89
Daniel Rioli – 2.89
Thomas Glen – 2.90
Declan Moutford – 2.90
Callum Moore – 2.91
David Cuningham – 2.91
Hisham Kerbatieh – 2.94
Jordan Snadden – 2.94

30m repeat sprints
Daniel Rioli – 24.15 seconds
Mabior Chol – 24.30
Oleg Markov – 24.32
Thomas Glen – 24.46
David Cuningham – 24.51
Jordan Snadden – 24.54
Wayne Milera – 24.61
Will Snelling – 24.64
Liam Jeffs – 24.74
Luke Partington – 24.76

Agility
Kieran Lovell – 7.90 seconds
Alex Morgan – 8.07
Clayton Oliver – 8.11
Aidyn Johnson – 8.15
Tom Doedee – 8.19
Jesse Glass-McCasker – 8.22
Oleg Markov – 8.23
Will Snelling – 8.24
Darcy MacPherson – 8.24
Ben Crocker – 8.25

Shuttle run (beep test level)
Joshua Schoenfeld -16.2 level
Mitchell Hibberd – 15.4
Darcy Tucker – 15.3
Declan Mountford -15.2
Jacob Weitering – 15.1
Matthew Kennedy – 14.12
Kieran Lovell – 14.10
Will Snelling – 14.10
Tom Cole – 14.10
Oleg Markov – 14.8
Darcy MacPherson – 14.8

Three-kilometre time trial
Joshua Schoenfeld – 9:15 minutes
Thomas Jok – 9:47
Mitchell Hibberd – 10:02
Declan Mountford – 10:04
Brayden Hackett – 10:06
Ben Keays – 10:09
Daniel Rioli – 10:09
Will Snelling – 10:10
Mason Redman – 10:12
Nash Holmes – 10:16

Clean hands test
Kieran Collins – 29 (out of a possible 30)
Darcy MacPherson – 28
Tyrone Leonardis – 28
Daniel Rioli – 27
Rhys Mathieson – 27
Mitch King – 27
Jade Gresham – 26
Bailey Rice – 26
Darcy Tucker – 26
Declan Mountford – 26
Kurt Mutimer – 26
Jordan Snadden – 26

Goalkicking test
Jade Gresham – 30 (out of a possible 30)
Nick O’Kearney – 30
Oleg Markov – 30
Clayton Oliver – 30
Kieran Lovell – 25
Tyrone Leonardis – 25
Matthew Kennedy – 25
Mitchell Hibberd – 25
Liam Jeffs – 25
Eric Hipwood – 25
Matthew Allen – 25
Nick Coughlan – 25
Mitch King – 25

Kicking test
Mitchell Hibberd – 24 (out of a possible 30)
Nick Coughlan – 23
Darcy MacPherson – 22
Thomas Glen – 22
Matthew Allen – 22
Jade Gresham – 21
Nick O’Kearney – 21
Rhys Mathieson – 21
Declan Mountford – 21
Jordan Snadden – 21
Ben McKay – 21
Charlie Curnow – 21

*Thanks to AFL.com.au for the statistics*

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments