12 WA Players Invited to AFL Draft CombineFriday, August 4, 2023 - 12:00 PM

The West Australian Football Commission congratulates the 12 WA players invited by the AFL to attend the 2023 AFL Draft Combine. 

The WA invites make up 20 per cent of the country’s most talented draft-age footballers invited to the three-day event held in Melbourne from Friday 6 October to Sunday 8 October. 

The 61 players will take part in club interviews and medical screenings at the MCG on Friday and Saturday with physical testing to be held at Margaret Court Arena on Sunday.  

Physical testing will include vertical jump, running vertical jump, 20-metre sprint, agility test and 2km time trial. 

The invite list includes all 20 draft-age players recently selected in the 2023 AFL National Championships U18 Boys All-Australian team. 

Selection to attend the AFL Draft Combine was based on the number of nominations provided by AFL recruiters, with all 18 clubs submitting a list of preferred Combine attendees. 

WAFC State Talent Manager Adam Jones said this is a great result for WA football. 

“Following four All-Australian selections in the U18 National Championships, this is another great step forward for the WA Talent Pathway,” Jones said. 

“Over the past five years, from the State Academy alone, WA has 15.8 per cent of the total draft for newly drafted players. 

“With the amount of interest in this year’s group of talent, we are really optimistic of achieving this level again.” 

AFL Talent Ambassador Kevin Sheehan said the 2023 AFL Draft Combine provided another opportunity for players to showcase their ability ahead of this year’s AFL Draft. 

“The players invited to the 2023 AFL Draft Combine are considered by AFL club recruiters to be among the top prospects in this year’s draft pool,” Sheehan said. 

“The Combine will provide these young stars another opportunity to display their physical attributes during athletic testing. It also gives AFL clubs the opportunity to gain a better insight into each player during interviews. 

“In many ways the Combine is the final piece of the puzzle ahead of the upcoming AFL Draft.” 

The State Combine numbers will be increased by another 30-40 players in the coming weeks via a separate AFL club nomination process following the National Combine players being finalised today. 

The current players selected in the State Combine are an overflow of players who received National Combine invites from some clubs but not quite enough to get a national invite. 

In what is a good sign for the 2023 National Combine invitees, in 2022 12 WA players attended the National AFL Draft Combine of which 11 were selected by an AFL club in the draft. 

The WAFC are currently in discussions with the AFL for a revised funding model for the WA talent pathway for boys and girls which will see a further enhanced centralised State Academy model and increased investment in the talent pathway for WAFL Clubs. The WAFC is hoping to finalise and announce this in the coming months. 

Continue below to see the list of WA players invited to attend the 2023 AFL Draft Combine. 

2023 AFL State Draft Combines 
  
The AFL has also announced a further list of 20 players who will be invited to attend one of this year’s AFL State Draft Combines, which will be held in Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia throughout October.  

The state Combines list will be added to after further consultation with AFL clubs with the final list to be announced later this month.   

Details for the WA Combine is listed below: 
 
WESTERN AUSTRALIA 
Date: Sunday, October 15 
Venue: Curtin University 
  
Continue below to see the list of the first WA players invited to attend 2023 AFL State Draft Combine.