AFL Draft 2023: How every Geelong Falcons prospect fared at the combine

A host of Falcons caught the eye with strong results at the draft combine. But it wasn’t without some hiccups with a disqualification incident. See how every player fared.

See how every Falcon fared at the draft combine.

Several Geelong Falcons shone at combine testing over the weekend in front of the watchful eye AFL recruiters, with three prospects recording top-five finishes and a scrutinised talent showing significant improvement.

But the testing weekend wasn’t some hiccups, with top Falcons product Angus Hastie being disqualified from all three of his runs in the 20m sprint event.

After being walked through his technique, the 190cm defender was allowed to have a fourth run and recorded a solid time of 3.058 seconds.

Hastie had an impressive combine aside from that minor blip, finishing third nationally in the agility test (8.204 seconds) and recording a strong 2km time trial time of 6:23 minutes.

His feats along with his eye-catching draft year could see him push into the second round of the draft.

Was allowed a fourth run and got a solid time of 3.058. Also finished third nationally in the agility test. pic.twitter.com/Fz1B2w2N8l

— Dan Batten (@danbatten_) October 9, 2023

Angus Hastie ran a strong 2km time. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Falcons forwards Tom Anastasopoulos and Michael Rudd showed off their elite endurance at the Victorian state combine, finishing second (6:11 minutes) and fifth (6:17) respectively.

Anastasopoulos, a lively small forward, finished with an accurate 21.2 from 11 Coates Talent League games this year and finished the national championships with two goals and 102 SuperCoach ranking points for Vic Country.

Rudd was one of the top goalkickers for Vic Country, booting seven goals as his immense workrate and strong hands overhead stood out. However, there are concerns from recruiters surrounding his speed.

Morrish medallist and Falcons best-and-fairest Patrick Hughes appeared to dispel the doubts surrounding his running capacity with a 6:56-minute 2km time trial.

Those concerns were behind his Vic Country snub, leaving him to dominate for the Falcons where his superb contested ball-winning saw him rewarded with the league best-and-fairest.

Speaking before the testing, Hastie said he was stunned when Hughes was overlooked for Vic Country and believed all of the Falcons state combine invitees should have been testing with him at the national combine.

Michael Rudd came fifth in the 2km time trial. Picture: Martin Keep/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Patrick Hughes improved his endurance. Picture: Martin Keep/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“Especially Patty Hughes who won the league best and fairest. I think he to not make Vic Country was a massive, it wowed me a little bit I definitely thought he would be in that squad,” Hastie said.

“For him not to make that surprised all of us but I think it did give him a bit of reason to try even harder down at Falcons which he got rewarded for.”

Falcons ruckman Joe Pike was among the top performers in the vertical jump, while Geelong VFL key defender Bailey Van De Heuvel also tested.

There was another Geelong connection at the combine with Cats premiership player Zach Tuohy lending assistance to the Irish draft hopefuls who were flown over for testing.

Gaelic football star Odhran Murdock, who hails from County Down and lives in a town with a population of 2000 people, said Tuohy gave them great advice on the differences between their native code and Aussie rules.

“I have spoken to Zach on Wednesday, really really good guy. Gave us a lot of tips of what to do, what not to do, what to look out for,” Murdock said.

“There’s obviously a lot more who have played in the past as well. It’s just if you do have the chance to come over talk to them, see what they say and take a few tips.”

“We just asked Zach what the biggest adaptations were that he struggled with and he says tactically there’s a big difference between Gaelic and AFL.

“He said in terms of tackling ability, among the other difference, you can used to it quite quickly but tactically there’s a lot of getting used to.”

Originally published as AFL Draft 2023: How every Geelong Falcons prospect fared at the combine