Another Tippett stands out at AFL state screening
JOEL Tippett has made a loud push for another tilt in the AFL after highlighting his athleticism at the AFL's state screening on Saturday.
WEST Adelaide defender Joel Tippett has made a loud push for another tilt in the AFL after highlighting his athleticism at the AFL's state screening at Wayville on Saturday.
Tippett, who played two games for Gold Coast in 2011, was requested to attend the screening by at least one and as many as four AFL clubs and did not disappoint with his testing.
Tippett recorded the highest vertical leap, was third in the 20m sprint, second in the agility run (in which they weave through a course), and second in the 30m repeat sprints.
He could not take part in the beep test because of rib soreness.
Newly appointed West Adelaide coach Mark Mickan, who was there in the capacity of Geelong SA recruiter, jokingly said his hopes of having Tippett at the Bloods next year was diminishing by every test.
Two players from the Northern Territory joined 21 South Australians who either fell in the state screening category (one to four AFL clubs asking for them to be screened), or missed the national combine (five or more AFL clubs requests) because of finals commitments.
Some, including SA's hottest draft prospect, dual Norwood premiership player James Aish, could only take part in the written tests because of illness or injury.
Aish is likely to be an early first-round draft pick but he was still smarting he could not take part in the fitness tests because of a bout of gastro.
"I was actually keen to do a bit of running,'' Aish said.
"To see if I could improve my times.''
North Adelaide's Liam Jacka and Port Adelaide's Tom Gray were among other players who were prominent during the screening, while Glenelg's Tom Pitt lasted longer than anybody in the mettle-challenging beep test.
Clubs from all clubs were represented at the screening, which brought additional interest after SA won the national title for the first time since it became an under-18 format in 1996.
But for that, AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan estimated fitness tests would make up 15 per cent to football ability's 85 when clubs ranked potential draftees.
Adelaide recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie said one of the reasons it was a must-attend session was to make sure there weren't outside factors affecting the results, such as a player slipping frequently when turning.
"You have to make sure that the results are true,'' he said.
"That there's not something else you have to take into account when you get the results.''
Recruiters were also looking at how players ran, their gait, which could suggest future hip problems or areas where improvement was required.
Port Adelaide recruiting Geoff Parker's chief concern was to see the fight in the players.
"You want to see how hard they're prepared to push themselves,'' he said.
"If a player looks like he's gone in the beep test but then comes back, that might make a decision (when clubs decide on players).
"And you don't want to see somebody give up when they might have had a few more runs in them.''
AFL DRAFT COMBINE RESULTS
Running Vertical Jump
Joel Tippett, West Adelaide - 95cm
Tom Gray, Port Adelaide - 85cm
Byron Sumner, Woodville-West Torrens - 82cm
Standing Vertical Jump
Joel Tippett, West Adelaide - 79cm
Liam Jacka, North Adelaide - 68cm
Tom Gray, Port Adelaide -66cm
Baydon Ngalkin, Northern Territory - 66cm
20m Sprint
Baydon Ngalkin, Northern Territory - 2.902 secs
Robert Young, Port Adelaide - 2.908 secs
Joel Tippett, West Adelaide - 2.92 secs
Liam Jacka, West Adelaide - 2.92 secs
Agility
Robert Young, Port Adelaide - 7.83 secs
Joel Tippett, West Adelaide - 8.00 secs
Jake Pitt, Glenelg - 8.40 secs
30m Repeat Sprints
Liam Jacka, North Adelaide - 24.34 secs
Joel Tippett, West Adelaide - 25.01 secs
Josh Waldhuter, Central District - 25.25 secs
Beep Test
Jake Pitt, Glenelg - 14.11
George Hewett, North Adelaide - 14.01
Korey Beard, Port Adelaide - 13.08
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