Cooper crushes Combine to be top ranked athlete

SYDNEY Swans Academy top-ager Holly Cooper was statistically the top athlete at the AFLW Draft Combine, scoring a near-perfect performance across the indoor athletic tests. Of the 70 athletes who tested, Cooper scored an 95 physical performance rating (PPR), to be the top ranked talent across the board for the jumps, sprint and agility testing.

The PPR is formulated looking at all the indoor tests conducted at the AFLW Draft Combine, including standing and running vertical jumps, 20m sprint and agility test. Each athlete’s score is then rated as either ‘Elite’, ‘Excellent’, ‘Very Good’, ‘Good’, ‘Average’ or ‘Growth area’, and then calculated to form a total out of 100.

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE RATING (PPR) RATING PERCENTILES

Rating categoryPercentile
EliteTop 2%
ExcellentTop 15%
Very GoodTop 30%
GoodTop 45%
AverageTop 55%
Growth areaBottom 45%

Cooper was dominant across the board, and compared to all of the Draft Combine invitees from across the country, scored ‘elite’ in her standing and running vertical jumps and her 20m sprint, while also recording an ‘excellent’ in her agility test.

The Swans Academy member narrowly pipped Western Jets tall Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner, who scored an outstanding 93. Like Cooper, she scored elite on her standing vertical jump and 20m sprint, as well as her running vertical off her right foot. Weston-Turner’s running vertical jump off her left foot was ‘excellent’ with her agility test rated ‘very good’.

Rounding out the podium of performers was Gippsland Power defender Amber Schutte who finished with a PPR score of 90, off the back of an elite standing jump and 20m sprint, excellent running jumps and a very good agility score.

Not far behind were AFLW Academy members and speedy midfielders, Amy Gaylor and Mikayla Williamson who both finished with a score of 88. Gaylor’s standing vertical jump and running vertical jump off her preferred left were both elite, as was her 20m sprint. Williamson’s agility test and standing vertical jump were elite, with the rest being excellent.

The first South Australian appears in the rankings at equal sixth, with South Adelaide’s Alissa Brook joining Vic Metro best and fairest and Eastern Ranges talent Laura Stone on 86. Stone’s Ranges and Metro teammate Georgia Stubs snuck in eighth with a score of 83, while four players recorded 81 to round out equal ninth.

Three Victorians in Tamara Henry, Jemma Rigoni and Meg Robertson achieved that feat, alongside the top ranked Queenslander, Evie Long. As with any count, once outside the top 10, large groups of players recorded the same score.

Among the next group of 79 scorers were the top Tasmanian in Mackenzie Ford, and West Australian duo, Georgie Cleaver and Ella Slocombe. Sandringham Dragons’ Isabel Bacon, GIANTS Academy members Cleo Buttifant and Sophia de Castella, and Eastern Ranges forward Alyssia Pisano were the others to hit those heights.

The top ranked Northern Territory talent was just behind in Annabel Kievit (76) alongside the likes of Shineah Goody, Mylee Leitch, Bryde O’Rourke and Indiana Williams. Oakleigh Chargers’ Lucy Cronin (74) also rated highly with trio Chloe Adams, Keely Fullerton and Kayley Kavanagh all on 71.

TOP 10 AFLW DRAFT COMBINE PLAYERS BY PPR SCORE

PlayerClubStatePositionPPR Score
Holly CooperSwans AcademyNSW-ACTMidfielder/Forward95
Kristie-Lee Weston-TurnerWestern JetsVictoriaTall Forward93
Amber SchutteGippsland PowerVictoriaMedium Defender90
Amy GaylorCalder CannonsVictoriaMidfielder88
Mikayla WilliamsonDandenong StingraysVictoriaMidfielder88
Alissa BrookSouth AdelaideSouth AustraliaTall Defender86
Laura StoneEastern RangesVictoriaMidfielder/Defender86
Georgia StubsEastern RangesVictoriaMidfielder/Defender83
Tamara HenryWestern JetsVictoriaForward/Midfielder81
Evie LongLions AcademyQueenslandWing/Forward81
Jemma RigoniOakleigh ChargersVictoriaTall Utility81
Meg RobertsonDandenong StingraysVictoriaMidfielder/Forward81

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