FITNESS manager Joel Hocking says Kieren Harper and Cameron Johnston are two of the standout runners at this year’s NAB AFL Draft Combine.

Hocking is part of the Melbourne contingent at this year’s Combine in Canberra. After watching the players go through their paces at the sprint, agility and vertical jump tests on Tuesday, he nominated Harper (Eastern Ranges) and Johnston (Geelong Falcons) as two to watch in this year’s pool.

“They are two kids that stand out,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“They’re nice smooth runners and we know that we don’t have to do a lot of technical work with them.

“When they go to a club or if they came to our club, it’s really about working on their general fitness and general strength.

“From a running perspective, they’re both really, really sound runners.”
Hocking said one of the key things he assesses is how the players run - not necessarily their speed.

“The most important thing for us is not so much the times the players run, but how they run,” he said.

“[National recruiting manager] Barry [Prendergast] identifies the players we need to look at and then we get a bit of a heads up on the technique that these guys have.

“We look at the improvements we can make in the kids.”

Hocking said the repeat sprint test is one skill he finds most beneficial.

“It tests the technique under fatigue, rather than how long they can run for,” he said.

“The way the game is played at the moment, the repeat sprint test is one of the most important at the camp.”

Hocking said assessing power results was also critical.

“If they’ve got power and you can really harness it, then it can be dangerous, when you put them in the team,” he said.

Advising Prendergast and the coaching staff on players’ running ability is another piece of the recruiting puzzle, according to Hocking.

“Barry and the coaches want to get my view on how long these kids are going to take,” he said.

“Obviously their football ability is number one … but I can give them a good view of how long it’s going to take them to fix their problems.

“Then we go from there.”