MORE than 60 of the country's leading draft hopefuls have been invited to test at this year's Draft Combine, with Vic Metro representing more than a quarter of the group.
The AFL has announced its list of 61 draft prospects to be invited to the Combine, which will take place from Friday, October 6 through to Sunday, October 8.
As reported in Inside Trading last week, the Combine will shift back to being the weekend following this year's AFL Grand Final, with the players to undergo physical testing, such as the vertical jump, 20-metre sprint and 2km time trial, as well as medical screenings and club interviews with recruiters.
Selection to the Combine is based on the number of nominations provided by the clubs, with the AFL this year also announcing the further 20 players who have received enough nominations to attend one of the three State Draft Combines.
Vic Metro has had the most players nominated, with likely early pick Nick Watson, exciting forward Nate Caddy, tall defender Ollie Murphy and Western Bulldogs father-son prospect Jordan Croft leading that group.
Vic Country was next best with 13 players, including likely No.1 pick Harley Reid and possible top-five selection Zane Duursma, while the Allies – split across Queensland, Tasmania, New South Wales-ACT and the Northern Territory – also combined to have 13 players selected to attend the Combine.
It includes top Tasmanian pair Colby McKercher and Ryley Sanders as well as Gold Coast Academy quartet Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers and Will Graham.
Hawthorn father-son talent Will McCabe is one of seven South Australians to be heading to the national Combine, while Western Australia has had 12 players invited, including expected early pick Daniel Curtin.
The state-based Combines will be staged in October as well (Victoria's on October 8, South Australia's on October 14 and Western Australia's on October 15), with more prospects to be added to the state Combine lists after further consultation with clubs. The final list will be announced later in August.
Sam van Rooyen, the younger brother of Melbourne's Jacob, and Charlie McCormack, who is tied to Greater Western Sydney's Academy, are among the 20 players to have so far been nominated to attend state Combines.
2023 NATIONAL DRAFT COMBINE LIST
VIC METRO
Nate Caddy (Northern Knights)
Matthew Carroll (Sandringham Dragons)
Jordan Croft (Calder Cannons)
Will Green (Northern Knights)
Harvey Johnston (Sandringham Dragons)
Luke Lloyd (Sandringham Dragons)
Will Lorenz (Oakleigh Chargers)
Logan Morris (Western Jets)
Oliver Murphy (Sandringham Dragons)
Cameron Nyko (Eastern Ranges)
Tarkyn O'Leary (Sandringham Dragons)
Nathan Philactides (Oakleigh Chargers)
Archie Roberts (Sandringham Dragons)
Vigo Visentini (Sandringham Dragons)
Nick Watson (Eastern Ranges)
Caleb Windsor (Eastern Ranges)
VIC COUNTRY
Wil Dawson (Gippsland Power)
Kade De La Rue (Dandenong Stingrays)
Harry DeMattia (Dandenong Stingrays)
Zane Duursma (Gippsland Power)
Joel Freijah (Greater Western Victoria Rebels)
Angus Hastie (Geelong Falcons)
Luamon Lual (Greater Western Victoria Rebels)
Archer Reid (Gippsland Power)
Harley Reid (Bendigo Pioneers)
Oscar Ryan (Murray Bushrangers)
Cooper Simpson (Dandenong Stingrays)
George Stevens (Greater Western Victoria Rebels)
Darcy Wilson (Murray Bushrangers)
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Jack Delean (South Adelaide)
Taylor Goad (South Adelaide)
Kane McAuliffe (North Adelaide)
Will McCabe (Central District)
Ashton Moir (Glenelg)
Will Patton (West Adelaide)
Bodie Ryan (Glenelg)
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Lance Collard (Subiaco)
Daniel Curtin (Claremont)
Mitch Edwards (Peel Thunder)
Clay Hall (Peel Thunder)
Riley Hardeman (Swan Districts)
Aiden O'Driscoll (Perth)
Koen Sanchez (East Fremantle)
Evan Smith (Swan Districts)
Koltyn Tholstrup (Subiaco)
Reece Torrent (Peel Thunder)
Xavier Walsh (East Perth)
Zane Zakostelsky (Claremont)
NSW-ACT
Caiden Cleary (Sydney Academy)
Phoenix Gothard (Murray Bushrangers)
Connor O'Sullivan (Murray Bushrangers)
QUEENSLAND
Will Graham (Gold Coast Academy)
Ethan Read (Gold Coast Academy)
Jake Rogers (Gold Coast Academy)
Jed Walter (Gold Coast Academy)
TASMANIA
Jack Callinan (Clarence)
James Leake (Launceston)
Colby McKercher (Launceston)
Ryley Sanders (Sandringham Dragons/North Launceston)
Arie Schoenmaker (Launceston)
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Will Rowlands (NT Academy/Norwood/Southern Districts)
2023 CURRENT STATE DRAFT COMBINE LIST
Tom Anastasopoulos (Geelong Falcons)
Will Brown (Sandringham Dragons)
Lachlan Cabor (Sydney Academy)
Jed Dignan (North Adelaide)
Logan Evans (Norwood)
Liam Fawcett (Central District)
Joe Fonti (Claremont)
Charlton Harrop (Sandringham Dragons)
Oscar Hine-Baston (Perth)
Tew Jiath (Gippsland Power)
Coen Livingstone (Perth)
Charlie McCormack (Greater Western Sydney Academy)
Heath Ollington (Tasmania Devils)
Loch Rawlinson (Sturt)
Patrick Snell (Brisbane Academy)
Harvey Thomas (Greater Western Sydney Academy/Oakleigh Chargers)
Orlando Turner (NT Academy/Norwood)
Sam van Rooyen (Claremont)
Nick Williams (Gold Coast Academy)
Billy Wilson (Dandenong Stingrays)
