Australian Rules Football
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Fitness Testing for AFL
Fitness is a very important component of success in modern AFL football. Most senior players are in great physical condition. The attributes required for AFL include good physical size, running speed and agility and aerobic capacity. At each year end the AFL conducts a draft camp in which prospective players are put through a battery of fitness, physical and psychomotor tests. More details of these tests and the results can be followed on the AFL Draft Camp. In summary, the physical tests performed are:
- anthropometric measures: height, hand span, arm length, body mass and skinfolds
- shuttle run (beep) test and the three kilometer time-trial
- vertical jump test (there is also a AFL specific running vertical jump test)
- 20 meter sprint
- anaerobic sprint-recovery test
- agility test
- sit and reach test
Physical Demands of AFL
Aerobic fitness is a very important component of fitness for AFL, with many players (depending on the playing position) running over 10 km throughout the duration of a game (100+ minutes). On the other hand, running speed is crucial for getting first to the ball and agility and reaction time are important for evading opposition players. Speed and acceleration is important for breaking away from the opposition player, and a good top running speed is advantageous for longer sprints such as when making a lead. Body strength and size is important in winning the ball in this high contact sport. Leg strength and jumping ability is important for any leaping for marks, and particularly important for the rucks when contesting a bounce down.
Example
| Fitness Test | Result |
|---|---|
| body mass (kg) | 87.5 |
| height (cm) | 187.9 |
| Skinfolds, sum of 7 sites (mm) | 39.6 |
| Grip Strength (kg) | 67 |
| 1RM Bench Press (kg) | 145 |
| Vertical Jump (cm) | 76 |
| Sit and Reach (cm) | +14 |
| VO2max (ml/kg/min) | 60 |
A fitness testing regimen for AFL would include a wide range of physical tests, based on the demands of the game. Brett Deledio, a senior Richmond footy player was tested in 2009 (as detailed in the Herald Sun Newspaper). A summary of his results are in the adjacent table.
His body strength for his size is very good (he can lift 1.66 x his body weight), which is important in AFL as players need to have strength without too much bulk. He is a good all round player, with a high VO2max endurance score, but still very good leg power (vertical jump).
Overall Football Ability
An article form 2005 listed these 14 key performance indicators that AFL talent scouts used to rank players. Some of these are physical abilities, but there are also many other non-measurable aspects of the game. This list may or may not be used today by the talent scouts, but either way they provide an insight into what the AFL considers the important characteristics of the elite AFL players.
- Kicking ability
- Marking ability
- Handpassing/vision-awareness
- Clean hands
- Ball-winning ability
- Pace
- Endurance
- Recovery and agility
- Durability
- Leadership and self-discipline
- Aggression, intensity and second efforts
- Football character
- Competitiveness
- Football smarts
Related Pages
- About the AFL draft camp, and results from previous years
- Fitness Testing for sports
- sport specific fitness testing
- draft camp testing for the NBA, NFL and NHL
- about Testing for Intermittent Sports
