It’s the time of the year where AFL clubs start looking around at second-chance players.
Describing it like a used car lot, Ryan Daniels said clubs are now kicking the tyres on a lot of interested players that have found themselves out of contract.
“A lot of good players get delisted or there’s just no room for them at clubs,” he explained, such as Zac Langdon, Jackson Nelson, and Connor Blakely.
Rhino likened the process to that of the AFL Draft Combine, where newly-drafted players are put through their paces with various tests and drills such as the running vertical jump and the 20-metre sprint.
Except if you’re injured.
While chatting to a couple of young draftees, Rhino learned that they put you in a big room with three or four reps from every club, so about 45 or 50 reps.
“…and they hound around you, they poke and prod and ask questions and it’s quite intense for these kids – 17 and 18 years old, no shirt on, arm in a sling – it’s pretty brutal,” he recalled.
“[The kids] all try to avoid that as much as possible, you don’t want to be injured for those combines – it’s a real meat market.”
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