Sturt's Tom Rischbieth completed a super 2005 NAB AFL Draft Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on Friday.
Since its inception in 1994, the NAB AFL Draft Camp has recorded some outstanding records.But in the shuttle run - widely known as the 'beep test' - no player had gone past level 15.06 and in the 3km time-trail, a run under 10 minutes had not been achieved… until now.Sturt's Tom Rischbieth completed a super 2005 NAB AFL Draft Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on Friday.As the final event of the 2005 NAB AFL Draft Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport drew to a close, Rischbieth had secured two camp records to eclipse the marks set by Sydney's Jarrad McVeigh.In 2002, McVeigh notched up a beep test level of 15.06 (equalling the record set by Sydney team-mate David Spriggs in 1999) and a 3km time-trail of 10min 2secs.This year, Rischbieth lifted the beep test mark to 15.08 and, on back of his shuttle run on Thursday, ran a blistering 9min 30secs to slash McVeigh's record.But Rischbieth put his achievements into perspective."Records probably don't mean anything - I just really, really want to get drafted," Rischbieth told afl.com.au after he broke the 3km time-trial."It doesn't matter what times you run. I just want to play footy. I'd swap them today (the records to get drafted) with no hesitation, so that's what we're all aiming towards and if I've given myself a chance, then that's great."Interestingly, Rischbieth said he gained more interviews after his beep test run on Thursday."That night Freo (Fremantle) asked for an interview. They said, 'we didn't realise you could run that well' - so that was a bit of a plus," Rischbieth said.A fine all-round sportsman, Rischbieth's background includes athletics (1500m, 800m and 2km steeplechase), while he also played D-grade cricket for Kensington in South Australia's premier competition."I've run a few meets with the South Australian team. (Sturt teammate and fellow NAB AFL Draft Camp attendee) Jace Bode and I have run in the state team together, but he's more of a sprinter," Rischbieth said."Last year that was at under-18 level in Sydney - I had two years at under 18s - and the year before that I had my first year at athletics in the under 16s team."I actually played a lot more cricket as a junior and I did alright at the school sports' days and I was an OK runner, but nothing out of the ordinary.""But then a mate from school asked me to do some training with him and athletics took off - I trained six to eight weeks with this bloke - and then all of a sudden I was in the state team."I played school cricket with the first XI, but last summer when I was out of school, it was the first year I hadn't played cricket and I just concentrated on athletics and footy and now footy is the one that I want to concentrate on, obviously. I think the athletics complements that."South Australian under-18 coach Darren Trevena said he was not surprised to see Rischbieth, a forward, produce the results he did at the camp."I thought he'd do well because he's an athlete, but to break the records was a good challenge for him and considering the pressure they've had so far, like the interviews, it was a good get for him and it puts his name back up there again," Trevena said."But can he push into the midfield? He's got the engine to do it, but can he play the game a bit - that's what it is all about."Trevena said Rischbieth's development, purely as a footballer, was the key area he now needed to focus on improving."He's played centre half-back and centre half-forward at junior level. His game development is the next part of his game, because he's definitely got the engine to play at AFL level," Trevena said."He's hard on himself and he sets high standards and goals, but he was disappointed in his carnival, so this is a good get for him, so most definitely (it'll lift his rating). He can run, so definitely some clubs will be interested in him."
I once met you as you walked to the Whitten Oval to play Fitzroy in their last game at that ground. You stopped and took the time to sign an autograph for my d
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