Bendigo Pioneers hopefuls have been exposed to elite physical testing in a bid to enhance their development.
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Just under 250 players from the Pioneers' under-16 and under-18 boys and girls programs took part in the testing, which was conducted by Rookie Me - the company that runs the national and state AFL combine testing.
"It gave our players a really good range of results where they can compare where they sit at state level,'' Bendigo Pioneers regional talent and operations lead Rick Coburn said.
"It gives them something really solid to work on for the rest of their pre-season.
"The purpose of it is to expose our players to testing and then to give them data, so that they have time to work on some areas for the rest of pre-season.
"Generally, we were happy with the results, but there's certainly some growth areas for many players, which is really valuable information to get at this time of year."
The players were put through the standing double foot jump, the running jump off the left and right feet, the 20m agility test and the yo-yo test.
The yo-yo test involves running between markers placed 20 metres apart, at increasing speeds, following audio cues which dictate the running speed required.
Gone are the days where the most common running test for footballers was the beep test.
"The tests very much follow the trend of the modern game which is speed and speed endurance,'' Coburn said.
"The beep test is about endurance whereas the yo-yo test is a much more dynamic, fast test.
"It's similar in that you have turn and repeat elements, but the yo-yo test is more similar to the efforts required in our game."
Players have individual training programs to complete over the Christmas-New Year break. Pre-season training resumes in late January.
"We'll do 2km time-trials on our Super Sunday training day in Swan Hill on February 4,'' Coburn said.
"The whole group will do it on the same day and that will give us an apples for apples comparison. That will finish our testing and we'll be in a position to reduce our squads.
"It's been a good phase one of our pre-season. To finish the testing with every player at this level is something we haven't done before.
"To have the results we did in the AFLW Draft it's been a terrific week for the program.
"It's a great reward for effort for our staff and the whole program. Everyone contributes to the development of the players - none more so than the players themselves and their families."
