AFL Draft: Darcy Wilson shines in physical testing at National Combine in Melbourne

The 17-year-old, from Wangaratta, produced the best running vertical jump (98cm) at the AFL Draft Combine in Melbourne on the weekend and almost made it a double as he finished second in the 2km time trial.

Wilson clocked 5min 52sec, just four seconds behind Sandringham Dragons' Tarkyn O'Leary, whose time of 5:48 was the second-fastest ever recorded at the Combine.

"It's pretty cool going in with the best talent in the country and being able to compete in some testing with them," Wilson said.

"You get to chat to them about what they've been doing leading up to the draft and what they've been doing outside of footy and school so it was awesome to catch up with them and chat about what the next upcoming months are going to look like.

"Overall, I was pretty happy with my results.

"I would like to have won the 2k but all the other stuff was pretty good. I won the running vertical jump, so it was nice to win something."

When Wilson wasn't running and jumping, he was either in front of the cameras or AFL coaches and recruiters.

"Everyone's weekend looked a bit different but my Friday included a few club interviews and some media pieces," he said.

"I guess, over the years, you get bits of media here and there so you learn to be yourself and soak it up a bit because it's a pretty unique experience.

"I did some filming for Fox Footy and that stuff is pretty cool.

"The club interviews can be intense or they can be pretty relaxed, it depends what they want to get out of you!

"Some of them are a bit harsher with their questions but I guess it's a big investment for them to draft a player so they try to ask you as many things as possible.

"I think I had 14 clubs interviews all up across the weekend, so I talked to most clubs.

"I had already met with most of them at home, too, they've all come up to the house, so you get used to that side of it."

Wilson, who was part of the AFL Academy in 2022/23, claimed the John Byrne Medal as Murray Bushrangers best and fairest this season.

He represented Vic Country in the AFL National Championships and also played one game of senior football for Wangaratta Rovers in the Ovens and Murray.

So has the year gone to plan?

"That's a question clubs ask you," Wilson said.

"I set a goal at the start of the year to be consistent throughout the year, whether that's in games or training and looking back now, I feel I've had a pretty consistent year so I think I've achieved that goal pretty successfully.

"Some games I would like to have played a bit better but that's footy.

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"I think I've put the work in to hopefully get my name called out on draft night.

"I think I'm ready now.

"I trained with an AFL club in the pre-season and got some experience of what it's like so I feel like I've put the work in to be ready as an AFL player."

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