Archive for October, 2011

The 2011 NAB AFL Draft Combine finished up at Etihad Stadium on Friday with West Australian youngster Brad Hill providing another highlight with his win in the 3km time trial.

Hill, the younger brother of Fremantle’s Stephen, backed up his combine record score of 16.1 in the shuttle run on Thursday with a winning time of 9m52s in the gruelling test of endurance.

AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan was confident Hill’s performances had significantly boosted his chances of selection at November’s NAB AFL Draft.

“For a young guy to do that, there will be even more improvement in him in an AFL environment,” Sheehan said.

“Like all of these young men, he’s just developing as a player and getting the confidence that they can mix it among the best.

“Brad is following the pathway that Stephen showed when he just grew in confidence in his 18th year. They all mature at different rates as footballers, as athletes and as young men, so I think this will give Brad great confidence that he can follow his brother into the AFL.

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You support Carlton and you hate Collingwood.

It has been five losses straight by your Blues to the dreaded Magpies and you watch with thinly-veiled disgust after the final siren as the players from both sides happily mill around, catching up like long lost mates.

The reason for that is because in many cases, that’s precisely what they are.

Footballers are like a brotherhood and at Etihad Stadium on Friday, the ties that bind a new brotherhood were cast in stone at the final day of the 2011 NAB AFL Draft Combine.

It is why Bradley Hill, the winner of both the beep test and the time trial at the Combine, could walk off Etihad for the final time chatting animatedly to Ahmed Saad as though he was his best buddy.

Hill, the younger brother of Fremantle jet Stephen, is 18 and from Joondalup in the boom northern suburbs of Perth. Saad is four years older and played his footy at Roxburgh Park, a new northern suburb in Melbourne. And he grew up in Egypt.

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Western Australian Brad Hill produced a stunning feat of endurance on day three of the NAB AFL Draft Combine to set a new record with his score of 16.1 in the 20m shuttle run.

The dreaded beep test, as it is commonly known, was eagerly watched by a crowd of AFL recruiters who saw Sydney Swan Jarrad McVeigh’s 2002 mark of 15.5 equalled or bettered by four players at Etihad Stadium.

The Western Jets’ Will Hoskin-Elliott was next with 15.12 followed by the Calder Cannons’ Tom Sheridan (15.7) and Bendigo Pioneer Sam Kerridge.

Hill, who is the brother of Fremantle speed machine Stephen, gave his chances of being selected at the NAB AFL Draft a shot in the arm with the impressive run.

“Stephen Hill holds the record for the agility test and Brad has now smashed the beep test record with a magnificent 16.1,” AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said.

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