It was time for the Peter Jackson VFL players to take to the main stage at the NAB AFL State Draft Combine on Saturday October 4 at Etihad Stadium.
Nine VFL players - Adam Saad (Coburg), Michael Hartley (Coburg), Jake Owen (Williamstown), Adam Marcon (Williamstown), Jack Johnstone (Williamstown), Sam Tagliabue (Essendon), Daniel Coghlan (Essendon), Shannon Taylor (Frankston) and Nic Newman (Frankston) - tested their skills in a variety of activities along with players from the TAC Cup and others from around Australia.
Those invited to State Combine were nominated by up to three AFL clubs to measure their athleticism and skills leading up to the NAB AFL Drafts in late November and early December.
For a number of the players it was not their first experience of the Combine, invited previously in their final year in the TAC Cup or equivalent under 18 competition.
This was however their opportunity to show their progress and highlight their strengths across six testing areas – standing vertical jump, running vertical jump, agility test, 20 metre sprint, 30 metre repeat sprint and the beep test – all on the one day, putting each of the players through their paces.
In the running vertical jump, Tagliabue produced the best jump at 85cm which gave him an absolute jump height of 3.52 metres (combined total of height, standing and running jumps) which puts his jump range at AFL standard. The Bomber bigman impressed on the day with not only his leap but his speed and agility in the tests as well.
In the 20 metres sprint test Saad and Taylor highlighted their strength (see vision below), as both set the early best times. Taylor – who recorded the best sprint time last time he attended Combine and ran one second flat over the first five metres - produced a 2.91 run, but it was Saad who impressed with his final run of 2.86. The time was the equal best of the State Combine and the best by a Victorian at the 2014 National or State Combine; just five seconds off the best 2014 time of 2.81 set by American Marvin Baynham.
Many of the VFL players recorded low three second times, with Owen (3.07) and Tagliabue (3.10) the next best after Saad and Taylor.
Continuing on from his impressive sprint time, Saad backed it up with a 24.90 in the repeat 30 metre sprint, not far behind the best time of the day at 24.52.
Taylor too showed his ability across a number of categories with an agility test of 8.13. This time placed him in the top 10 of the week for the Combine, and ahead of Newman with Newman with 8.31. 8 seconds was the benchmark on the day set by Geelong Falcon Harrison Kol.
Two VFL players featured in the top five times in the beep test, with Marcon (14.11) and Coghlan (14.9) both impressing behind the best mark of the day set by Oakleigh Charger Will Fordham with 15.3. Newman also featured with 14.3, while the majority of the VFL players all reached level 12.
In the running vertical jump, Hartley produced one of the best jumps of the day with 88cm, seeing him feature in the top 10 for the National and State Combines.In the standing vertical jump, Saad recorded a height of 71cm placing him just outside the top 10 for the week, with Tagliabue jumping 60. It was an impressive Combine for Saad, as he recorded the lowest skin fold test of the Combine as well.
Speaking after the Combine, AFL National and International Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan said the NAB AFL Draft Combine was an important part of the decision-making process for AFL recruiters, but was not the be all and end all.
“It (Combine) is only part of the analysis of how you play the game, which clubs have observed over quite a number of years.
“Keep it in perspective, it (testing) is the last 15% of the analysis.”
The performances on the field and testing results have now been recorded, and the wait is on now for these players till the NAB AFL Draft later next month.
NAB AFL Draft: Thursday November 27
NAB AFL Preseason/Rookie Draft: Wednesday December 3
*Note: not all testing results are released from the various Combines
Last Modified on 13/10/2014 16:37