ALLEN Christensen didn’t participate in any of the physical testing at last month’s NAB AFL Draft Camp in Canberra yet still managed to top one list.

As a result, the Geelong Falcon has spent the past seven weeks working his backside off, just in case that result left any AFL clubs doubting whether he was worthy of a spot on their list.

Christensen, a prolific and skilful player, had a higher skinfold reading than any other player in Canberra.

And he admitted he was left a little shaken after receiving a few choice words from some AFL clubs.

“They weren’t flash,” Christensen said of his skinfold results.

“I got a couple of sprays from a couple of teams, and I just decided after I got back that I had to pull my finger out.

“A couple of recruiting guys said they’d seen talent go through and be wasted; it was just a player’s discipline that made the difference.

“I probably didn’t expect [my skinfolds] to be that high or I didn’t think that I was over-weight or anything.

“I was just like ‘well, there’s not too much I can say about that’. I just had to go back and work really hard.”

And work hard he has.

While foot and hip injuries prevented Christensen from his normal training load late in the season, he knows he had put on weight.

But, with the words of some clubs ringing in his ears, he has shed seven kilos in as many weeks. The 177cm utility is now down to around 70kgs.

“I had to get a better balance with my eating,” he said.

“I was probably eating too much crap food, so I decided that I eat pretty much all natural food now and I exercise a lot more.

“I do core work with my uncle or I do some running with Dad, so that’s helped heaps.”

Christensen loomed as a likely first-round draft pick early in the TAC Cup season but, as others surged, he is likely to have slipped a little in the pecking order.

But clubs are still circling, and monitoring his progress. A couple of clubs have recently inquired about his weight-loss program while another - perhaps eager for hard evidence of his hard yards - asked him to take off his shirt and took photos of his new, leaner physique.

While he has erased the doubts over his body and attitude, there is no questioning his ability.

One of the indigenous players in this year’s draft, he is both clever with the ball in his hands and beautifully skilled.

There is also a strong family connection to League football.

Christensen’s uncles, Marty and Damien, both played VFL football for Geelong, while his mother Helen is a first cousin of former Essendon champion Michael Long.

There is also a connection to the Riolis, which prompted Falcons’ regional manager Michael Turner to use a horseracing analogy.

“He’s beautifully bred,” Turner said. “He’s by a Christensen sire out of a Rioli-Long mare.

“He wins a lot of the ball and is just an outstanding player … I think he’ll go in the 20s, somewhere around there.”

Log on to afl.com.au on D-day, Thursday, November 26, for the most comprehensive coverage of the 2009 NAB AFL Draft. We’ll have live chats, live audio streams, in-depth player profiles, club reaction and our famous afl.com.au Draft Tracker.