Do you think if you really tried hard enough, you could make it to the AFL?

[Engimal v3]

I'm Caleb Daniel's height with none of his skills. Probably not.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Can we get that poster in here who reckons Kouta was sent to tag him in juniors?

 

[La Dispute]

I’m former Carlton fringe player Luke Blackwell ask me anything

 

[Breretonisahood]

Might have had a shot in the 1920s. When the VFL added Haw, Bullies and North in 1925 the population of MELBOURNE was only about 750,000. Blokes who today would be decent suburban players in the EFL, EDFL etc would have easily played VFL back then.

 

[Aussie_boy]

I'm 6 foot 5 so probably. Did some pre-seasons at SANFL underage level and it's just not for me.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Maybe if i could stay in one position of the ground but having to run 10km+ a game no way not enough fitness.

 

[Channels]

No. Think you have to have the ability from a young age.

An early 2000's premiership player joined my schools 1st team in the early 90's. As a 17 year old, he could handball further than I could kick.

That same year, a future Brownlow medallist was probably 13 or 14 years old. He was already better than nearly every player at the school.

Coaching over the years would have helped but natural athletic ability is a big factor.

 

[Aussie_boy]

No. Think you have to have the ability from a young age.

An early 2000's premiership player joined my schools 1st team in the early 90's. As a 17 year old, he could handball further than I could kick.

That same year, a future Brownlow medallist was probably 13 or 14 years old. He was already better than nearly every player at the school.

Coaching over the years would have helped but natural athletic ability is a big factor.

Yeah no doubt the elite players are just naturally good. List cloggers though it comes down to effort I reckon, and hey if you're over 200cm you can survive 5+ years on a list without showing a great deal.

 

[RonnieRaven]

No chance in hell
Skills were there
Dedication went when I met the btl and ganja
I’ve never met professionalism and physical fitness that people speak of

 

[citizen-erased]

Boooooooooooo!
Were they elite runners back then too?

The OP's question could easily be reframed to "Do you think if you really tried hard enough, you could make it to the AFL as an umpire?". For many people the answer is no based on the running requirements. They're probably fitter than 98% of the population.

hmm. he seemed pretty fit (FT work, 5 kids, umpired weekends).
but this was long before i was born

given his opinions on current day umpires late in life.....i dont think he had much regard for the modern magg....umpire

 

[Minka Beaver]

Boooooooooooo!
Were they elite runners back then too?

The OP's question could easily be reframed to "Do you think if you really tried hard enough, you could make it to the AFL as an umpire?". For many people the answer is no based on the running requirements. They're probably fitter than 98% of the population.

They're easily fitter than 98 per cent of schmos on the street.

My boss' son last year made it onto the AFL boundary umpire list. The kid's VO2 max is astonishing.

The fitness required to be an umpire is one thing, but I've also admired that footy asks our officials to perform an actual skill. I hope for that reason that the bounce never gets canned.

Mind you, they are all maggots.

 

[robbos13]

I dedicated myself to trying to make AFL when I was younger. trained/dieted could play both sides of my body , won b and F's etc etc

Got as far as playing Sanfl and made the under 18 SA state squad ( team mates including jared petrenko, Bryce gibbs, james sellar, ben mason and others)

Never quite got there and back then if you didn't get drafted by 20 which I hadn't you were 99.99% chance of never getting drafted. ( mature age recruiting now is a good thing)

so after not making it eventually went back to amateur footy as I couldn't work full time and commit 5 days a week to football .

played a season in amatuers and cleaned up , following season round 1 did my ACL and now im 30 years old and have had 4 ACL and don't resemble anything like a foot player haha.

anyway, the answer to your question is NO, you wouldn't make it by trying really hard. you need an incredible amount of effort/luck/natural talent and a leg up along the way.

Even then allit takes is 1 bad injury and your ****ed.

 

[Power Raid]

A good chance given guys like Ablett's Sn, Carey and Lethal made the cut

 

[Supercoach Bargain]

If I tried so hard I could turn back time 30 years, maybe.

 

[Goomba1973]

Maybe ....... if taking water out to the players counts

 

[LuvtheKangas]

No.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I’m still pissed off I didn’t get drafted lasted year, I’m super fit, great skills, only just turned 53..
WTF.??

That's the problem with having a draft. Well, one of them. It forces clubs to focus on youth rather than proven talent such as yourself.

 

[Lavender Bushranger]

I've had to battle train line closures and tram strikes and building works to make it to the AFL on many an occasion. I reckon I already do try hard enough to make it to the AFL.

The real tragedy here is that 98% of people in here don't know who Rusty Brookes was.

 

[Lavender Bushranger]

I'm 6 foot 5 so probably. Did some pre-seasons at SANFL underage level and it's just not for me.

Anyone who states their height in feet and inches is way too old to offer an objective view of their football abilities.

 

[Aussie_boy]

Anyone who states their height in feet and inches is way too old to offer an objective view of their football abilities.

195cm for you young chaps.

 

[ep2018]

My dad was a WAFL champ decades ago, he kicked bag after bag, he made routine fools of some of the best in his day (he made Brad Hardie his bitch) he had several VFL teams try to court him over east, however his complete lack of respect for authority, his two pack a day smoking habit and his girlfriend (who later on became my mother) hypochondria at his risk of being injuried playing his rough style of play and her insistence that he stop playing, and an unfortunate ACL injury whilst playing cricket with his work mates made him quit altogether. I often wonder how far he'd have gone had he been 100% committed to footy.

 

[Furn2]

I coulda been the GOAT but I just didn't wanna.

 

[tonygeeks]

I could mark , jump , fight , run and bump with the best of them but something just went horribly wrong from the time I dropped the ball till it hit my foot

Plus all the bongs probably didn't help

 

[Taylor]

Nope. Too slight.

But if I could run the wings and have zero contact then I'd be the highest paid player in the league with all the third party sponsorship deals.

 

[TalkingFootyNow1223]

If Ollie Wines can make it, anyone can..