AFL DRAFT combines have wrapped up around the nation, giving an insight into how each elite level hopeful stacks up athletically. For most prospects, it was a chance to showcase just how much they had improved since preseason, especially after a full season of football – albeit compromised. For the Victorians in action, they finally got to show their wares after a substantial amount of time away from the field, with a number of them registering results indicative of remarkably hard work in the meantime.
Having taken a look at the top 10 results from each test, we now look back at the combines as a whole to further put under the microscope those who performed well across the board. Needless to say, these athletes can certainly play too, with plenty of first round prospects scattered across the pointy end of each leaderboard. Furthermore, these are the players who have earned National Combine invites; meaning they have done so at the request of at least three-four AFL clubs, or by having previously earned passage into their respective academy hubs.
>> SCROLL for all the top 10 results
Among the top overall performers, three West Australians managed top 10 results across four different tests. Peel Thunder’s Isiah Winder is arguably the best draft prospect of the lot, a classy small midfielder who achieved top two results in the standing vertical jump and running vertical jump (right). To top it off, he also came fifth in the 20m sprint and sixth in the agility test. He uses all those traits on-field too, and looms as a potential second round pick. West Perth defender Kellen Johnson and Fremantle Next Generation Academy (NGA) member Chris Walker were the other two WA products to complete the feat, doing so in all three jumps and the agility test.
Godfrey Okerenyang, who took out the 2018 AFL Grand Final sprint and comes from a strong athletics background, was the only other player to manage top 10 results in four different tests. The GWS Academy hopeful leapt for the biggest standing vertical jump (84cm) and running vertical jump (right, 92cm), while also placing third in the 20m sprint. His podium finish in the running vertical jump (left) rounded out the four-peat. He looms as a more prospective pick at this year’s draft, having only recently committed to pursuing a footballing career.
Another two high-upside late chances who are already tied to clubs in Josh Eyre (Essendon, NGA) and Aiden Fyfe (Gold Coast, Academy) each racked up hat-tricks of top 10 features. Like most of the others, they were prominent in the jumping tests, while also respectively running the eight and ninth-best 20m times. In the most compromised draft crop ever, the likes of Reef McInnes (Collingwood NGA) took out first place in the speed test with a searing time of 2.78 seconds, while Sydney Academy member Braeden Campbell and Bulldogs NGA gun Jamarra Ugle-Hagan were also among that top 10 with equal times of 2.90 seconds. The latter two are expected to attract bids within the top 10.
There were plenty of other first round prospects to light up the track, too. WA key defenders Denver Grainger-Barras and Heath Chapman showed their wares in the agility and endurance departments respectively, while fellow sandgroper Jack Carroll was a standout jumper – even while sporting a cast on his broken wrist. Archie Perkins was another to impress in multiple categories, with Vic Metro hub teammates Finlay Macrae and Nikolas Cox acing the 2km time trial. Others to excel across the board included Nathan O’Driscoll, a second round candidate, and Brodie Lake, who hails from the Northern Territory but made the move to South Australia this year. He is eligible to be pre-listed by the Gold Coast Suns via their access to the Darwin zone.
NATIONWIDE AFL DRAFT COMBINE TOP 10s
Standing Vertical Jump:
1. Godfrey Okerenyang (GWS Academy) – 84cm
=2. Isiah Winder (Peel Thunder) – 76cm
=2. Pierce Roseby (Sydney Academy) – 76cm
=4. Jack Carroll (East Fremantle) – 74cm
=4. Chris Walker (East Fremantle) – 74cm
=6. Kellen Johnson (West Perth) – 73cm
=6. Shannon Neale (South Fremantle) – 73cm
8. Harry Grant (GWS Academy) – 70cm
=9. Jaiden Hunter (Perth) – 69cm
=9. Sam Frost (GWS Academy) – 69cm
EASTERN Ranges star Oliver Greeves tore Saturday’s preliminary final wide open, booting four goals in a third quarter purple patch. Greeves’ goals – all consecutive – were part of the Ranges’ run of six to set up an unassailable 35-point advantage heading into the final break against GWV Rebels. The prolific six-minute period was the […]
WHILE the 2025 AFL National Future Girls showcase match gave an insight into next year’s AFLW Draft crop, there were still plenty of players with talent who missed out be it through injury or non-selection. We take a look at those who either would have played if fit, or were unlucky to just miss the […]
EASTERN Ranges head into the 2025 Coates Talent League Grand Final looking to break recent trends. They face three-time reigning premiers Sandringham Dragons at IKON Park on Saturday with the potential to play spoiler to a historic fourth straight flag, while creating their own glory. >> FEATURE: “Settled” Sandringham ready for shot at history The […]
DANDENONG Stingrays coach Nathan Boyd is looking forward to Saturday’s Coates Talent League Girls Grand Final with his side achieving the feat by knocking off reigning two-time premier Oakleigh Chargers in the preliminary final. Boyd was part of a mid-season switch which saw the former Gippsland mentor move closer to home and take up the […]
IT WAS a result that few would have seen coming given recent form, but St Kilda got back on the winner’s list with a comprehensive 9.6 (60) to 1.2 (8) victory over Essendon on the weekend. The Saints piled on the first three goals of the contest, and while the Bombers responded late in the […]
WHILE the 2025 AFL National Future Girls showcase match gave an insight into next year’s AFLW Draft crop, there were still plenty of players with talent who missed out be it through injury or non-selection. We take a look at those who either would have played if fit, or were unlucky to just miss the […]
NORTH Melbourne might not have been intending to send a message to the rest of the competition, but the Kangaroos’ performance against Brisbane was loud and clear. In a grand final rematch on the road, the Roos put Brisbane to the sword with a 10.5 (65) to 5.6 (36) victory, leaving plenty wondering if there […]
Scouting Notes: Claremont continues Colts Grand Final run
CLAREMONT has secured its sixth WAFL Colts Grand Final berth in seven years after knocking off East Fremantle in Sunday’s prelim at Leederville Oval. In what was a low-scoring affair impacted by sheeting rain, the Tigers were resolute in defence and mounted a clearance advantage of 46-29. A heated, scrappy contest saw Claremont kick four […]
AN ENTERTAINING showcase of some of the best talent for the 2026 AFL Women’s Draft saw Team Vescio come away with the seven-point victory over Team Conti at Ikon Park on Sunday. We took note of some of the players who caught the eye across both teams in what is shaping up to be strong […]
Stay informed
If you like the content that Draft Central provides and don’t want to miss any of it, then sign up to our subscriber list where you can be emailed out the latest AFL Draft Guide or sport-specific magazines, as well as the option to sign up to a monthly newsletter.