FANS will get their first chance for 2016 to see the cream of this year's draft crop in action when the NAB AFL Academy faces Werribee's VFL team in a curtain raiser on Friday night.
The match at the MCG will be streamed live on AFL.com.au from 4.30pm AEDT ahead of Richmond's meeting with Collingwood.
The Academy squad, coached by Brenton Sanderson, features prospects pushing to be drafted this year and will come up against many AFL-listed players from North Melbourne playing for its VFL affiliate.
"It's the best opportunity for the majority of the squad to measure themselves against senior opposition and AFL players," Sanderson told AFL.com.au.
"They will get their chance to assess where they're at from a football point of view against AFL-listed players. We're challenging them to get a real gauge on where they're at heading into their draft year."
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The MCG game is the start of an 11-day camp in Melbourne for the Academy squad, which travelled to America for a high-performance training program in January.
The Academy will train at Richmond and Collingwood next week before their second game against a VFL team, when they face Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Saturday, April 9.
Where last year's draft saw eight talls selected in the first 16 picks, this year's pool looks likely to be dominated by midfielders and smaller types in the early stages.
Victorians Ben Ainsworth and Jarrod Berry and West Australian midfielder Sam Petrevski-Seton are early candidates as this year's No.1 choice, with Jy Simpkin and Will Brodie others to have already impressed.
Many will enter Friday's game in strong form, with Ainsworth (22 disposals and two goals), Berry (15 disposals, two goals), Simpkin (4.3 from 18 disposals) and Brodie (27 disposals, eight clearances) performing well at TAC Cup level last week.
"The boys just can't afford to flirt with their form and every time they take to the field they've got to put in a really strong performance," Sanderson said.
"With the AFL world and 18 clubs watching every move they make, it's imperative they put their best performance on display every chance they get.
"And these are probably the two most important games of the season because they'll be assessed against real quality opposition."
In previous years the games against VFL opposition have proved to be a strong indicator for top-end talent, with Jacob Weitering, Darcy Parish, Jacob Hopper, Callum Ah Chee and Aaron Francis all starring in last year's encounters.
All five of those players ended the season as top-10 picks at the 2015 NAB AFL Draft.
In 2014, Melbourne midfielder Angus Brayshaw was awarded the MCC Chairman's Medal as best player for the Academy on his way to being a top-three draft pick, while 2013 No.1 selection Tom Boyd starred against Collingwood's VFL team in the corresponding contest.
