Latest AFL News

AFL announce big changes to Draft Combine

Published by
Stephen Marson

The AFL have scrapped the beep test and the 3km time trial from this year's Draft Combine along with a number of events that have been modified.

The beep test will be replaced by the Yo-Yo run, as the competition and combine have come to the agreement that the Yo-Yo run is the more accurate test for players' fitness levels.

The test is quite similar to the beep test, as players run between cones 20m apart at timed intervals.

Players will have a 10-second recovery period in between the 20m sprints, where they will need to jog around another cone before returning to the starting point before the interval is out.

Another reason for the beep test's absence from the Combine is the fact that most clubs don't test their players, meaning they won't be able to measure the results against players from their team while scouting potential draftees.

As well as the beep test, the 3km time trail has been trimmed to just a 2km run, with AFL clubs preferring the shorter distance as it also mirrors their own programs.

Two other events have been removed, with the clean hands test and the 30m repeat sprints test both evicted from the schedule.

The AFL believe that the repeat sprints test could impact the fitness of players ahead of the NAB All Stars game in Grand Final week, with the test historically the most common of the Combine events to cause soft-tissue injury.

More time has been allocated to medical screenings and club interviews following the reduction of events at this year's Combine, which will run from Tuesday, October 3 - Friday, October 6.

Published by
Stephen Marson