Strathalbyn teenager Hannah Munyard proved she was worthy of her invite to the 2019 AFLW draft combine, placing in the top five of three tests future footballing prospects were put through.
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Munyard, who plays for South Adelaide in the SANFLW, headed to Melbourne to take part in the draft combine at the MCG and Margaret Court Arena earlier this month.
Munyard said she was "pretty surprised" to even receive an invite to the combine, which in turn brought both excitement and nerves.
"Heading into it I was quite nervous, but I had put a lot of training into preparing for the testing," she said.
"I was feeling a bit of pressure to perform well, but really, I just wanted to enjoy the experience as much as I could."
She said the first day of the combine included medical screenings and taking measurements like skin folds, height and weight.
"That was where there was a bit of downtime and I really enjoyed meeting new girls and having some fun exploring the MCG. We also had some interviews and media shoots," she said.
The second day was when the physical tests were run.
Munyard and 46 other participants, including three other South Australians, were put through their paces in five different fitness and skills tests.
She said they lasted a few hours, then a two kilometre time trial was held in the afternoon.
Her best result was in the agility test, placing fourth in 8.668 seconds. The top placegetter completed the test in 8.535 seconds.
She came fifth in the 20-metre sprint with a time of 3.307 seconds, 0.097 seconds behind first place.
In the standing vertical jump she finished fifth after reaching 51 centimetres, eight centimetres shorter than the best in that category.
Munyard was the only South Australian to reach the top five of any of the tests.
"I think out of the five tests my sprint would be my strength; although I may have placed higher in the agility, I think my 5-10m acceleration is a strength that I do have," she said.
"The biggest challenge for me was just remembering to enjoy every minute of it - especially when I was running the yo-yo (test), knowing I could pull out at any time, continuing to remember that this is what I had been training for over the last three months and that I needed to keep pushing myself to reach the next level."
She said being involved in such a high-calibre event was unbelievable and she enjoyed meeting some of the best young talent from across Australia.
"The biggest highlight for me was definitely meeting new girls from around the country, as well as having some really great conversations with the girls that came across from Ireland," she said.
"Sometimes I would stop and look around the room and take some deep breaths in to realise how fortunate I was to be in a room filled with the best young female talent in the country."
Participating in the draft combine is another achievement to add to her run of success in 2019, which included playing in South Adelaide's premiership-winning side, playing for the Central Allies team at the AFLW under 18s championships, and being named vice-captain of the SA under 18s team.
Fellow South Adelaide player Montana McKinnon, Madison Newman (West Adelaide) and Jaimi Tabb (Woodville-West Torrens) also took part in the draft combine.
"I don't feel too differently about the draft now after the combine; obviously I am pretty stoked with my results but also know that it comes back to the game itself, and if I get to be on a list and develop myself as a footballer and as a person next year, I would be absolutely ecstatic, wherever that might be "
The AFLW draft will be held in Melbourne on Tuesday, October 22.