The SANFL’s best young talent — men and women — on show at the national draft combines
The AFL and AFLW draft combines start Tuesday in Melbourne and South Australia’s best young footballers will be on show to recruiters. We look at who they are and how they will be tested.
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The best young talent from South Australia will be on show as the AFL and AFLW national draft combines begin on Tuesday in Melbourne at the MCG, Holden Centre and National Tennis Centre.
Norwood midfielder Dylan Stephens, Glenelg premiership player Will Gould and West Adelaide defender Will Day lead the 12-man contingent of SANFL draft prospects to be put through their paces — both physically and mentally — by AFL recruiters at the four-day combine.
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Highly-rated Port Adelaide father-son prospect Jackson Mead is one of four Woodville-West Torrens juniors — the most of any SANFL club — invited to the camp.
Players require the interest of at least four AFL clubs to win an invite.
There will be plenty of eyes on Mead, and rightly so, despite the Power having first choice on the son of 122-game defender Darren.
A bid in the second-round is expected to come for Mead, who was named in the Under-18 All-Australian side after averaging 21 disposals at the national carnival, and Port Adelaide currently hold picks 10 and 29.
Leading the charge for the women are South Adelaide’s SANFLW premiership-winning duo Montana McKinnon and Hannah Munyard.
McKinnon — an athletic 183cm ruck/forward — was named the Most Valuable Player for the Central Allies (a composite SA/NT team) at the under-18 AFLW National Championships held on the Gold Coast in July. After the championships she was picked in the under-18 All-Australian team, her second All-Australian honour.
Midfielder, Munyard, has become known for her lightning speed and clean ball movement, while Woodville West Torrens mid/forward Jaimi Tabbis expected to impress, having worked closely with Adelaide co-captain Chelsea Randall through the Crows Talent Academy.
West Torrens defender Madison Newman — also named in the 2019 AFLW’s under-18 All-Australian side on the interchange bench — averaged 18 disposals and six rebounds throughout this season’s SANFLW competition and was named the league’s “breakthrough player of the round” in the first game of 2019.
On Tuesday, the 48 women will have interviews with prospective clubs, as well as medicals and a mobility session, with general testing including a 2km time trial, sprints and vertical jumps on Wednesday.
Testing for the men’s combine will also cover speed, agility, aerobic capacity and jump.
Recruiters will also evaluate the players mentally, conducting a number of their own interviews and tests, before it all concludes with the 2km time-trial on Friday — something Day, one of the standout defenders of this year’s pool, has had in his sights set on since the season concluded.
“It’s been about trying to get that different type of conditioning from match fitness,” Day said of a mindset shift following West Adelaide’s Under-18 preliminary final exit.
“I’ve been trying to prepare for the different events — the 2km is a real focus.”
The 17-year-old cousin of Gold Coast’s Sam Day is a smart rebounding-defender, who reads the play exceptionally well and is looming as a first-round selection in November.
“It (getting drafted) wasn’t really a reality until this year — it doesn’t really feel real yet,” Day said of his rapid rise, which has him firmly in the sights of recruiters, following a move from Glenelg in 2018.
“I’m just trying to focus on little bits at a time and I’m really just not taking anything for granted.”
Geelong’s Jacob Kennerley, taken at pick No. 50 in last year’s draft, won the 2km time trial at the 2018 combine in a time of 6.04.
Prior to 2017, the combine featured a 3km event with Gold Coast’s Josh Schoenfeld setting the record in 2015 (9.15).
The Yo-Yo test replaced the beep test in 2017 and it was young Crow Ned McHenry recording the best score (22.2) last year, while South Australian Izak Rankine took out the agility test before being selected at pick No. 3.
Adelaide midfielder Jordan Gallucci, the Crows’ first selection in the 2016 draft, is a joint record-holder for the vertical jump, reaching a mark of 89cm in his draft year.
The top-two prospects Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson, who look bound for the Suns after the AFL announced its assistance package for Gold Coast, lead Vic Metro’s combine invitees, which stands at 23.
Vic Country will have 21 prospects on show with dashing defender Lachie Ash and Robbie Gray-like midfielder Caleb Serong likely to be taken inside the first 10 picks this year.
Impressive young ruck prospect Luke Jackson, who AFL Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan says could be the next Brodie Grundy, and state under-18 captain Devon Robertson lead the 16 names from Western Australia.
A further 21 players from South Australia, including Magarey Medallist Luke Partington, will test at the state draft combine on October 12.
AFL Draft Combine — South Australia
Dylan Stephens
Norwood/St Peters/Walkerville
Midfielder, 183cm, 70kg
Will Gould
Glenelg/PAC/Lucindale
Defender, 191cm, 98kg
Will Day
West Adelaide/Sacred Heart/PHOS Camden
Defender, 187cm, 70kg
Jackson Mead
Woodville-West Torrens/Henley High/SMOSH West Lakes
Midfielder, 184cm, 83kg
Harry Schoenberg
Woodville-West Torrens/PAC/Min-Man
Midfielder, 180cm, 78kg
Cameron Taheny
Norwood/Rostrevor/ Eastern Ranges
Forward, 185cm, 80kg
Kysaiah Pickett
Woodville-West Torrens/PAC/Port District
Forward, 170cm, 67kg
Josh Shute
Sturt/Rostrevor (2018)/Walkerville
Midfielder, 187cm, 73kg
Karl Finlay
North Adelaide/PAC/Central Augusta
Defender, 192cm, 88kg
Josh Morris
Woodville-West Torrens/Henley High/Rosewater
Forward, 186cm, 76kg
Callum Park
Glenelg/Henley High/PHOS Camden
Midfielder, 188cm, 67kg
Dyson Hilder
North Adelaide/Blackfriars/Broadview
Defender, 196cm, 91kg
AFLW Draft Combine — South Australia
Hannah Munyard
South Adelaide
18, 163cm
Midfielder
Montana McKinnon
South Adelaide
18, 183cm
Ruck/forward
Jaimi Tabb
Woodville-West Torrens
18, 168cm
Mid/forward
Madison Newman
West Adelaide
18, 168cm
Defender