What the ultimate AFL footballer will look like in 2050

STEM cell technology and implants have been flagged as future tools to sculpt the ultimate footballer and extend playing careers.See what footballers will look like in 2050.

LEAN, muscled champion sprinter Usain Bolt will be the model for the AFL star of the future.

Stem cell technology and implants have been flagged as future tools to sculpt the ultimate footballer and extend playing careers.

The US is tipped to challenge Ireland as the AFL’s favoured international nursery.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR MELBOURNE?

THE PARK THAT WOULD CHANGE THE FACE OF THE DOCKLANDS

AUSSIE RULES HEADED FOR PACIFIC REVOLUTION

Victoria University sports academic Hans Westerbeek said medical advances would by 2050 allow scientists to build super athletes by manipulating their genetic makeup.

AFL players in 2050 will have a Buddy Franklin-like physique. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

AFL footballers will be built like Usain Bolt in 2050. Photo: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Muscles and ligaments would be artificially grown to replace damage or boost performance, he said.

“That’s not speculation — it will happen and it’s already happening,’’ Mr Westerbeek said.

“In 30 years we’ll be able to apply all of that type of stuff.

“You can almost custom make the perfect athlete that is required for the specific skills for the game.

“The whole idea of talent identification and recruiting from other sports is going to move to selecting them on the field of play to building them in the labs.

“Usain Bolt is physically, proportionally, the most perfect human specimen to create an optimal balance between the length of your limbs, the strength of your muscle, the ability to turn the limitations of your body into the fastest human being on Earth.”

VOTERS SHOULD MAKE CALL ON $300M ETIHAD PLAN: GUY

SOCCER POSES AFL’S BIGGEST THREAT

Bolt stands at 195cm and weighs about 94kg.

AFL talent chief Kevin Sheehan said footballers, especially in the ruck, will increasingly be of international background.

A third of ruckmen would eventually be imported from the US as the height profile stretches to 212cm-215cm.

“They’re not quite LeBron James but they’re the ones that have tried to be LeBron,” Sheehan said.

At 211cm, Collingwood’s US ex-basketballer Mason Cox and Docker Aaron Sandilands are the league’s tallest players, while North Melbourne’s Majak Daw is 195cm. LeBron James is 202cm.

Collingwood’s US import Mason Cox. Picture: Nicole Garmston

AFL high performance manager David Buttifant said players would bounce back stronger and earlier from injury as medical advances gathered pace.

“Stem cells, particularly with degenerative injuries, are being used at the moment and that’s going to become more prolific in our society,” the former Magpies and Carlton fitness chief said.

“That’s going to accelerate recovery in injuries, you’ll have the better players playing for longer and you want them on the paddock for the entertainment factor as well.”

Technology and innovation would shape the next generation of athletes and profiling, already prevalent in recruiting, would be crucial.

Tests would grade the key areas — physical, tactical, technical, psychological — that will make an elite AFL player in 2050.

Buttifant said the game’s demands would influence body shape and composition.

“Do players need to be as powerful and as big? Maybe not if there’s not as much body contact,” he said.

Pioneering player agent Peter Jess said the way medical experts dealt with head knocks was also in for dramatic change.

“Players will be able to have a saliva test after every training session and every game and within 20 minutes they will know if their baselines show they have any neurological symptoms relating to concussion,” he said.

“We are not far off having sensors being attached to the body that will tell you if you have a collision, the severity of the collision and the transfer of energy.”

Anti-doping expert Richard Ings said by 2050 wearable watches or even microchips implanted into athletes could immediately recognise when a performance-enhancing drug entered their bodies.

“ It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine technology would be built into a watch to take micro blood samples that were measured through your skin,’’ Ings said.