THE GAME'S next batch of stars will be eyeing new records when they test at this week's NAB AFL Draft Combine. 

More than 100 draft hopefuls will gather at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday for the screening, which ends on Friday. 

And a number of them will have new benchmarks in their sights.

Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Billy Hartung, renowned for his endurance and speed, could give Bradley Hill's 'shuttle run' record a shake. 
Hill, who played in Saturday's premiership for Hawthorn, ran 16.1 in the beep test in 2011 before he was drafted. 

He beat a strong group of runners, with Will Hoskin-Elliott (15.12), Tom Sheridan (15.7) and Sam Kerridge (15.5) all recording runs inside the top five of the combine's history.  

Hartung, who played a key role in the Stingrays' push to the TAC Cup Grand Final, ran a 16.6 beep test during his time with the AIS-AFL Academy. 


Tim Houlihan's three-kilometre time trial record, set in 2006, seems likely to hold another year, but he will face stiff competition from Victorian midfielder Josh Kelly.

Kelly won the long-distance run last year (recording a time of nine minutes and 48 seconds) when he was 17 and vying for a position on an AFL list through the Greater Western Sydney mini-draft. 

After another strong season, Kelly is ranked as one of the top prospects of this year's draft. His foot skills, combined with his elite endurance, place him as a possible top-three selection. 

The Sandringham Dragon will be keen to better his 2012 effort, and will be primed for the run having had more than a month off since the Dragons' season ended. 

Another Dragon, Nathan Freeman, will contend for honours in the 20-metre sprint. 

This year's draft is full of midfielders but the top end has few who possess real foot speed. One of those is Freeman, whose biggest trait is his ability to win the ball at a clearance and then burst away. 

The agility test is often a tightly run contest at the combine, but a player who could impress in this area is South Australian half-forward Orazio Fantasia. 

Fantasia has had an impressive season for Norwood and South Australia at under-18 level, and is a quick, smart player who roams through the forward line and midfield. 

A number of highly rated draft hopefuls will sit out testing this week as they recover from injury. 

Clubs won't get to see Matt Scharenberg (foot), Jack Billings (knee) and Lewis Taylor (foot) test, but they will still complete psychomotor testing and be available for interviews with recruiters. 

On Tuesday, all players will undergo fitness assessments and medical tests. 

Wednesday will see the sprint and agility tests take place, and on Thursday morning the group will undergo the kicking, goalkicking and handball tests on the Etihad Stadium turf. 

On Thursday afternoon all groups will do the beep test, before the screening will close on Friday afternoon with the three-kilometre time trial.