The AFL pathway, and the physical side of getting picked
Skill gets you noticed. The physical side decides whether you are on the ground, still running in the last quarter, and still standing up in contests when a recruiter is watching. This page is about that second part.
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The AFL talent pathway runs from community and school footy, through state under-18 talent competitions such as Victoria's Talent League, to the AFL Under-18 National Championships and the AFL Draft Combine. Recruiters draft footballers, not test scores — but the Combine's 2km time trial, 20m sprint and vertical jumps are the physical language every club speaks.
The athletes who get seen are the ones who are available all year. A soft-tissue injury in a draft year costs more than a slow 2km.
The AFL pathway, step by step
Ages are approximate and details vary by state and year. Check your state body for this season’s trial dates and eligibility.
Community & school footy
All ages. Club and school football. Almost nobody is physically tested here, which is exactly why the athletes who train properly from 15 arrive at the next level ahead.
Representative & academy programs
Around 14–16. Inter-league and regional representative teams, state under-16 squads, and the AFL club academies in the northern states. The first time many players are tested on a battery.
State under-18 talent competitions
16–18. The Talent League in Victoria, and the under-age competitions run through the SANFL, the WAFL and the northern academies — boys and girls. This is where recruiters build their lists.
AFL Under-18 National Championships
Draft year. State teams playing each other over the middle of the year. The biggest stage in junior football, and where many Combine invitations are earned.
AFL Draft Combine
Nominated players. National and state combines for invited players: medicals, interviews with clubs, and the physical testing battery.
Drafted — or state league
18+. The AFL and AFLW drafts. The VFL, SANFL and WAFL are the senior route in, including for mature-age recruits who were missed at 18.
What separates the athletes who move up
Selectors pick on skill and game sense. These are the physical qualities that decide whether that skill is on show — every week, and late in the game.
An engine that lasts four quarters
Australian football asks for roughly 12km a game of on-off running. The 2km time trial is the headline aerobic number at every level of the pathway, and it is built over months of volume — not in the four weeks before a test.
Acceleration over 20 metres
Most contests are won in the first few steps. Acceleration is trainable with heavy strength work and short, fresh sprints — the two things most junior programs leave out because they look less like "fitness".
One-foot power for the marking contest
The running vertical jump off one foot is the Combine test that looks most like the game. It moves with lower-body strength and plyometrics, and the gap between your running and standing jump tells you which one to train.
Hamstrings that survive a draft year
Australian football has the highest hamstring-strain rate of any sport played here. Eccentric hamstring strength — the Nordic curl — is the best-evidenced way to reduce that risk, which is why it is in nearly every week of the program.
What the program measures
The AFL battery in Train Smart: five tests, re-run every four weeks, chosen to match what AFL programs actually measure. Each linked test page has the protocol and, where honest published ranges exist, indicative bands to see roughly where you sit.
| Test | Measures | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| 2km time trial | The aerobic benchmark your program is built around. | mm:ss |
| Bench press 1RM | Upper-body pressing strength: the fend, the tackle, holding a bigger body off. | kg |
| Max pull-ups | Relative pulling strength — the best upper-body number there is for a field athlete. | reps |
| Trap-bar deadlift 1RM | Whole-body pulling strength — the lift that carries over to acceleration. | kg |
| Running vertical jump | What a marking or rebounding contest actually asks for. | cm |
The number that matters most is your own previous one. A selector sees one testing day; the program sees every four weeks of your trend.
The year before selection
Community footy and the under-18 competitions both run through winter, so the physical work that shows up in a draft year is done over the summer before it.
- October
- Off-season. Rest, then rebuild general strength and fix the niggles the season left behind.
- November – February
- Pre-season. Build the aerobic base first, then maximal strength, then convert it to speed and power. Test at the start and retest after four weeks.
- March – September
- In-season. Volume comes down, prescribed weights hold, and the job is being available every week. The engine and the speed you built are maintained, not chased.
- Combine window
- Jumps and sprints are tested fresh. If you are invited, the last weeks are about arriving rested — not about a late fitness block.
Where Train Smart fits, and where it does not
What it does: builds the physical side of the pathway — an AFL-specific week around your team nights and games, a weight in kilos on every working set, prehab for the injuries AFL causes, conditioning with a working pace, and a testing battery that tells you whether it is working.
What it does not do: coach your skills, watch your technique, or get you picked. No app can, and a page that tells you otherwise is selling something. It gives you the part of an elite program you can do on your own — so the time with your coach goes on the part you cannot.
AFL pathway questions
What does the AFL Draft Combine test?
What age do you get drafted in the AFL?
How do I get noticed by AFL recruiters?
Should a 16-year-old footballer be lifting weights?
Related
AFL training program
The sessions, the season plan, the prehab and the full testing battery.
OpenWhere you play: footy by region
The club your address is zoned to and the leagues around you, in 7 states and territories.
OpenAFL Draft Combine tests
Every test in the Combine battery, what it measures and how to improve it.
OpenStart building before the trial
Pick AFL, answer a few questions, and your testing session is ready on day one — so the next time you are measured, you already know your numbers.
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