State combine results sizzlingBy Jason Phelan
Fri 21 Oct, 2011THE NAB AFL Draft Combine held in Melbourne in the first week of October produced some amazing test results and the state screening sessions that followed soon after have followed suit.
West Perth's Brad Hill was the toast of Etihad Stadium after he posted a new record 16.1 shuttle run result on the third day of the national event, but that mark has since been bettered by Gippsland Power's Hayden Hector and Claremont's Kane Mitchell.
Both draft hopefuls posted a 16.2 result in the gruelling test of endurance with Hector running at the Victorian state screening and Mitchell in Perth.
"There was a standing ovation in both cases," AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said.
"Everyone loves this test because it is a last man standing event that people watch right to the end. There was an enormous roar as Brad Hill's mark was passed at each venue."
Hector and Mitchell weren't the only two to impress. Former St Kilda rookie Mark Hutchings ran a repeat sprint time of 24.01s that would have seen him place inside the top five at the national combine.
Glenelg forward Jordan Murdoch got the South Australian screening session off to a flying start with a time of 2.76s in the 20m sprint test - a mark fractionally outside Joel Wilkinson's record of 2.75s set just last year.
"Murdoch, who couldn't test in Melbourne because his side was in a final, was absolutely eye catching," Sheehan said.
"His first sprint attempt nearly blew the record away. It looked quick and it turned out to be very quick."
NSW Ram Harry Cunningham lit up the agility drill with a time of 7.93s, which also would have seen him placed inside the top five at the national event, with the Northern Jets' Adam Flagg blitzing the Matthew Lloyd Clean Hands Test with a score of 28 out of 30 - equalling the top score of Elliott Kavanagh at the national meeting.
The Bendigo Bombers' Ben Duscher scored 28 out of 30 in the Nathan Buckley Kicking Test - just one point shy of WA onballer Shane Nelson's national mark.
It won't come as much of a surprise that Aaron Sandilands' 'little' brother Chad was the tallest player tested at 204.5cm.
Sheehan said the outstanding results were typical of this year's group that saw 260 players tested - 15 of whom have already found their way onto an AFL senior list via trade week.
"I think it's easy to say that it was the most well-presented group that we've ever had, but I think it's backed up by the data," he said.
"They were in great condition for the final job interview, as we call it. You just have to look at their endurance numbers with the repeat sprints and the beep test - all of those are way up.
"The watchful eyes are still there. There mightn't be the 200 to 300 AFL scouts that we get at the national combine, but every club has got someone there looking to see how they sort themselves out.
"But the testing is done and now it's up to the clubs to analyse all of the information."
Twelve players on average are drafted onto a primary list from state screenings each year with a further 30 rookie-listed.
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