Athletic Benchmarks to Get Drafted at 18: A Sport-by-Sport Breakdown

Most young athletes who don't get drafted aren't unfit. They just don't know what elite actually looks like — and in your draft year, knowing exactly what you're chasing is a huge advantage.

So, in Part 1, I'm laying out the numbers an 18-year-old needs to be producing across AFL, cricket and netball to be in the conversation at the highest level. This is built off the 2024 AFL Draft Combine results, international cricket benchmarks, and elite netball standards.

Over the last ten years, athleticism has become the entry ticket. The AFL prototype has shifted — clubs now want athletes who can run, jump, sprint and be powerful at the contest, across both AFL and AFLW. If you're relatively athletic, tall, or both, that can be your ticket to the big time.

AFL & AFLW
Here's what topped the 2024 men's national combine:
2km time trial: 6:05 (Joel Cochran)
20m sprint: 2.82 seconds (Gabriel Stumpf)
Standing vertical jump: 76cm (Stumpf again)
Running vertical jump: 94cm (Alix Tauru)
Agility test: 7.81 seconds (Leo Lombard)

And on the AFLW side, Oakleigh's Sarah Poustie set a record in the girls' 2km time trial — 7:02, taking seven seconds off the previous best. Back that up with a 3.13-second 20m sprint (Tatyana Perry) and an 8.39-second agility run (Zippy Fish) at the top end.

These are the best in the country.

But here's the point: if you're anywhere near these, with the right guidance you can sharpen those numbers — and it could be your ticket to the AFL or AFLW.

Cricket
Cricket's a little different. You still must be very skilful — you need at least one (if not two!) discipline you can be trusted with, whether that's batting, bowling, keeping or fielding.
But being powerful, strong and athletic is a tick-box for selectors. It tells them they can trust your body to hold up out there, keep up with the group, and match it in a game that keeps evolving toward the shorter, more explosive formats.

The international markers give you a sense of the bar:
2km time trial: fast bowlers around 8:15, other players around 8:30 (BCCI standard)
Yo-Yo Test: fast bowlers aiming for level 17+ (some nations set the bar as high as 19)

Now here's something worth knowing. At Cricket Victoria, once you're around 7:30 for the 2km, they're happy — and their focus shifts to power.
So if you're already a good runner, don't just keep grinding out laps. Bank your time, then put your energy into repeat-sprint ability, power and overall athleticism.

That's what gets you noticed — whether you're holding your pace deep into a bowling spell, hitting the ball harder, or just staying fit and healthy enough to keep playing week after week.
At the top level, that can be the difference between earning the next contract — even an IPL deal — and watching from the sidelines.

Netball
Netball is a game of short, sharp accelerations, which is exactly why the 10m sprint matters more here than the 20m. That's the distance recruiters care about, because it mirrors how the game is actually played.

At the elite end:
10m sprint: the quickest are just above 1.9 seconds
Yo-Yo Test: Suncorp Super Netball mid-courters regularly push to level 18 and above
Double-leg vertical jump: 60cm+
5-0-5 agility is the standard change-of-direction test

So where does that leave you?
Parents — those are the main things recruiters are looking at. And if you're an aspiring athlete, whether you're already athletic or you know you need to elevate it, now you've got actual numbers to chase.

If you're already in that conversation, this is your chance to take it to the next level and be an outlier. Be the quickest. Be the fastest. Jump the highest.

Want to go deeper? Head over to Episode 47 of the Your Athlete Hub podcast. And stay tuned for Part 2, where we get into what AFL recruiters actually look at beyond the testing numbers — because that's the other half of this conversation.