THREE North Ballarat Rebels are primed to give the AFL draft combine their best shot.
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Jacob Hopper (Leeton, NSW), Daniel Rioli (East Point/Northern Territory) and Darcy Tucker (Horsham Saints) will spend four days being put their paces in front of AFL club recruiting staff at Etihad Stadium from Thursday.
Another five Rebels – Yestin Eades (Swan Districts, WA), Tom Templeton (Portland), Matthew Johnston (North Ballarat), Jacob Wheelahan (Bacchus Marsh) and Ben Simpson (East Ballarat) – will get an opportunity to impress AFL clubs in Sunday’s state combine at the same venue in readiness for the national and rookie drafts later this year.
Rebels talent manager Phil Partington said all had continued to train on since the end of the TAC Cup under-18 season to ensure they were in the best possible physical condition for the combines.
Partington said they had been training three days a week – working closely with Federation University Australia and Rebels physical conditioning staff to ensure they were in peak shape.
Some 80 young hopefuls from across Australia will attend the draft combine.
They were selected by AFL clubs, which each nominating 50 prospects they wanted to see attend.
Players needed five nominations to be invited.
Rioli was among the better players in a curtain-raiser to the AFL grand final on Saturday which pitted the AFL Academy (under-17) against an “Allies” combination. Rioli, who is originally from the Northern Territory) played with the Allies.
The national draft will be in Adelaide on Tuesday, November 24.
MEANWHILE, applications for the Rebels head coaching role close on Thursday.
Partington said the role remained part-time. but had been increased from a two-day to a three-day a week position.
The Ballarat-based head coach will work with an extensive support network, which features other match-day coaching staff, and development officers covering regional training bases.
The Rebels are set to launch their pre-season in mid-November.
The Rebels are seeking a replacement for David Loader, who has accepted a development coaching job with North Melbourne after five years as head coach with North Ballarat.
