ONE SMALL centimetre has kept Mason McGroder up at nights this year.

As the powerful Sydney Academy prospect weighed up whether to nominate for the AFL draft, where clubs believe he could rocket into top 25 considerations, an experience in athletics – the sport that has competed alongside footy for his attentions this year – left him both proud and gutted.

McGroder, considered one of Australia's best athletics prospects, represented his country in August's World Under-20 Championships in Oregon. In his pet event, the long jump, he leapt a personal best 7.96m. Normally, it would have been enough to ensure gold. This year, he fell short by one solitary centimetre.

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"One centimetre," McGroder told AFL.com.au at last month's draft combine.

"It was absolutely brutal. It wasn't too bad in the moment, being over there and you've just come second in the world. But now it's just so painful to think about. There's a photo of me with the board and I'm literally 0.01 back. I couldn't have asked for much else.

"It was basically a perfect jump. Maybe my landing might have been average, but I couldn't have got much more out of myself on the day. I thought I'd jumped something crazy. I felt so bad.

"One centimetre, last jump. He jumped 7.97 and not much else. If I'd jumped 7.97, I would've won on countback. It was brutal, but that's what athletics is. It comes down to centimetres."

At just 17 years of age, the jump still helped McGroder catapult to No.80 in the world rankings. His silver medal also added to the bronze he won at the 2024 Under-20 World Championships in Lima, when he was only 15.

Having gone undefeated in long jump at nationals level in every age category bar one since he was just 10, and still a national record holder in the triple jump as well, it's easy to see why Australia's athletics team was desperate for McGroder to ignore footy and focus on upcoming Olympics campaigns in 2028 and 2032.

That won't be the case. Having long leaned towards electing for football as his preferred career path, McGroder made it official last month. That's not to say it was an easy decision. The prospect of a home Olympics, in Brisbane in six years' time, came close to swaying him.

"You hear stories about Sydney 2000," McGroder said.

"Not only being able to go, but being able to potentially compete and compete for a medal. It's been a lot to think about. As a person, I feel like it would be very fulfilling to go to the Olympics. It's quite a niche thing. But, at the same time, for athletics one small injury can ruin four years of hard work."

McGroder's athletic traits were on show at last month's draft combine, where he finished first in the 20m sprint with a time of 2.827 seconds and finished second in the vertical jump (85cm) and running vertical jump (107cm).

It's put the dynamic 195cm half-back into top 25 contention ahead of next week's national draft, with Sydney – who holds picks No.6, 38, 39, 47 and 54 – likely to face a decision on whether it matches an early bid on its Academy product.

But the Swans, and McGroder, are used to dealing with such uncertainty around his future. His call in choosing footy came after months of deliberation, and around 10 to 15 college scholarship offers in the United States, with most of those featuring lucrative NIL deals.

"I've probably changed perspective about a million times this year," McGroder said.

"You do one athletics competition and you're all-in on athletics, then you play a good game of footy and you're footy. Coming back from the worlds, having such a great experience over there made me very biased to athletics.

"But, settling back home and getting back into the footy after not touching a ball for eight or nine weeks, it made it super hard again. There's been a lot to think about. But I have good support. It just makes my decision a lot easier."

McGroder's footy, at least for now, is all about the upside. After a campaign that featured his normal chopping and changing between sports – he did athletics over the summer, played a few games of footy, went to the world championships, before returning to football for the national carnival – he's ready to finally soak up life as a pure footballer.

Clubs love his size, speed and penetration off half back, having seen it in glimpses this season across three Coates Talent League games for the Sydney Academy and one appearance for the Allies, and believe he'll flourish in a full-time footy environment with his first real pre-season.

"The year's been super chaotic," McGroder said. "I've been trying to juggle footy, school, then also the athletics. It's been quite overwhelming. But I'm pretty proud of what I've been able to achieve in all three realms."