AFL Draft news: Inside the pre-season testing day, standouts, injured stars, famous names
Brothers of top five picks, a potential father-son and the brother of a Power gun all impressed at the pre-season draft testing. See who caught the eye.
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The top AFL draft prospects from across Victoria came together on Saturday for their annual pre-season testing.
We were there for an insider’s look at the day, which came two weeks before the Coates Talent League season kicks off on March 25.
Here are all the key takeaways.
THE TESTING
More than 400 of the top underage footballers from 12 Coates Talent League clubs across Victoria converged on Maribyrnong College, primarily to show off their athletic traits.
Players were put through a series of five tests, consisting of the standing vertical jump, running vertical jump, 20m sprint, AFL agility test and Yo-Yo test.
For all but the Yo-Yo, players had three attempts at each test and their best result would be recorded.
Most left happy enough with their results, many noting that they had improved them from the same time last year.
Gippsland Power forward-midfielder Zane Duursma – a potential top-10 draft pick this year – ran a 20.2 Yo-Yo test as a bottom-age player last March, but managed a 20.6 result this year.
“It was hot in there,” Duursma said afterwards.
“Doing the Yo-Yo test at the end was pretty tough, but it was good.
“I got 20.6 I think, which is not too bad. I’m not too fussed with that.”
Measurements of players including height, weight and reach were also taken as part of the testing.
Similar testing will again be completed by players at the AFL Draft Combine in October.
THE STANDOUT PERFORMERS
According to AFL recruiters, Bendigo Pioneers’ Harley Reid would have been the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft had he been eligible.
His all-round testing on Saturday was very consistent, and even without a footy in hand he looks to be a strong chance to have his name called out first come November.
The Pioneers also had another eye-catcher in Oliver Poole, who ran just outside 7.8 seconds in the agility test, less than .2 seconds off Darcy Jones’ 2022 draft combine record.
GWV’s George Stevens, who missed the entirety of last year with an ACL injury, also posted good scores and has the ability to shoot up the draft rankings when he gets some consistent footy under his belt.
Another possible bolter is Dandenong Stingray’s Joziah Nannup, who only last year played his first full season of Aussie Rules.
Nannup is quick as lightning and showed a huge vertical leap for his size.
With a season of senior football under his belt for Doveton, he should be well placed at under-18 level.
THE RECRUITERS
Almost every AFL club was represented for at least part of the testing day, with recruiters, national recruiting managers and list managers all present.
Most eyes were fixed on the Yo-Yo test.
“You are mainly just looking at how hard some of them push themselves,” one recruiter said.
Another recruiter said they would also sometimes take note of the small things, like how players support and interact with their teammates.
It was also a good networking day for many of the recruiting teams, some of whom had a chance to have a brief chat to players on the sidelines as well as talking to Coates Talent League coaches and talent managers.
Many also took the opportunity to speak with AFL Academy coach Tarkyn Lockyer, who will work closely with many of the top AFL Draft prospects this year.
THE YO-YO CHALLENGE
The Yo-Yo test is a modified — and much harder — version of the infamous beep test and is seen as the ultimate barometer to test a young player’s endurance.
GWV’s Archie Caldow was one of the day’s top performers in this bracket, with the under-16 Vic Country representative breaking the esteemed level 22 mark.
However, Caldow did not do any extra training for what many consider the pinnacle of a potential draftee’s testing.
“There was nothing specific for the Yo-Yo, I just practised my turns a bit and that’s about it,” he said.
Caldow, who last year won gold at the Australian Track and Field Championships in the under-17 Men’s 3000m, spoke of the added pressure of the Coates League testing day.
AFL recruiters were in attendance as they finalise their pre-season drafting notes.
“It was a bit intimidating seeing all the club shirts there,” Caldow said.
“I think I got a bit more nervous, but I think I probably performed better.”
Caldow attends St Patrick’s College in Ballarat, a renowned football school, but as a gifted athlete across two sports he accepts that he may have to pick one this year.
“It’s coming to a point where I probably have to choose,” he said.
“I’ll probably focus more on footy in the winter, and then make a decision at the end of the year.”
THE FAMOUS NAMES
There were AFL surnames galore at the 2023 Coates League testing day, as younger relatives look to step out from the shadows and make their own mark this season.
Levi Ashcroft, the brother of 2022 No. 2 draft pick Will, tested very well for the Sandringham Dragons.
Ashcroft is not eligible for this year’s draft, but he is already firmly in Brisbane’s sights for next year.
Port Adelaide young gun Xavier Duursma’s “little” brother — the 190cm Zane — displayed powerful athleticism and scored well on the agility test, traditionally a stumbling block for the bigger draft prospects.
Duursma’s Gippsland Power teammate Archie Reid, the younger brother of Essendon’s Zac, had great movement for a 201cm player.
Oakleigh Chargers’ Luke Quaynor (brother of Collingwood defender Isaac) and GWV’s Nick Cadman (brother of 2022 No. 1 draft pick Aaron) also tested on Saturday.
And could there be another father-son ruck prospect heading to the Western Bulldogs?
Calder Cannon’s Jordan Croft, the son of former Bulldog Matthew, showed a massive vertical leap on both the standing and running jump tests.
THE INJURED STARS
Not everyone was available to take part in the testing, with a number of players from across the competition already sidelined with injury before a game has been played.
One of those was Northern Knights forward Nate Caddy — the nephew of Richmond premiership player Josh Caddy — who was hobbling around with a moon boot on his left leg after a recent mishap at training.
“I went up for a marking contest and fractured my fibula,” Caddy said.
“It was just during some match simulation at training.
“I did it two weeks ago and they said I’d probably be out for five weeks. So I’m hoping to get back by Round 3.”
Fellow top-10 draft prospect Nick Watson, a small forward from the Eastern Ranges, was also limping around with strapping on his ankle and did not take part in testing.
“I had a little incident on Thursday night during match simulation so it was no point risking it, especially coming close to Round 1,” Watson said.
“I’m going to get scans to make sure it’s nothing serious, but I don’t think it is.”
THE EDUCATION
There were some education pieces included for players as part of their day at Maribyrnong College.
The AFL held sessions for every club on two important areas — anti-doping and concussion.
“It is knowledgeable stuff that you need to know,” Murray Bushrangers midfielder and AFL Academy member Darcy Wilson said.
“We learnt what symptoms you get when you get concussed and how long you have to sit out the game for and things like that.
“With the anti-doping, it’s pretty self-explanatory, really. You just have to know what you put in your body.”
POTENTIAL NO.1 PICK NOT FAZED BY DRAFT PREDICTIONS
Highly touted AFL draft prospect Harley Reid says he is taking everything in his stride amid early suggestions that he could be the No.1 draft pick this year.
Just two weeks out from the start of the Coates Talent League season, recruiters are becoming increasingly excited about what Reid could produce in his top-age season.
One senior recruiter said last November that they would have picked Reid at No.1 in the 2022 draft had he been available.
The Bendigo Pioneers product had plenty of eyes on him during a pre-season testing day at Maribyrnong College on Saturday but said he was focusing on his footy and was not worried by talk linking him to the No.1 selection.
“It doesn’t really get to me,” Reid said.
“It doesn’t even really feel real. So I just keep taking it week by week and hopefully I can improve each week.”
Hailing from the country town of Tongala in northern Victoria, Reid showed his talents at both ends of the ground for Vic Country during the under-18 national championships last year as he starred as both a mid-sized rebounding defender and a marking and goalkicking forward.
However, he hopes to settle in a midfield-forward role this year.
“I love playing everywhere,” Reid said.
“But I see my best footy as being in that midfield-forward role.
“I look up to Dustin Martin and that midfield role that he plays. He takes the game on and it’s good to see that he’s always there when the game is there to be won.”
A Geelong supporter, Reid attended the AFL grand final at the MCG last September as part of the AFL Academy and trained with Essendon in January through the same program.
“I really enjoyed that,” Reid said of his time with the Bombers.
“I was at Carlton the year before (during the season) so it was good to see the difference between in-season training and pre-season training.”
Reid’s efforts last year saw him awarded the Jack Collins-Alan Schwab AFL Life Members scholarship last September.
Previous winners of that award have included Carlton’s Sam Walsh, Essendon’s Darcy Parish, Geelong great Joel Selwood and Hawthorn champion Luke Hodge.
The Coates Talent League season, formerly known as the NAB League, kicks off on March 25.
Originally published as AFL Draft news: Inside the pre-season testing day, standouts, injured stars, famous names
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