MELBOURNE'S top Next Generation Academy talent Mac Andrew has taken part in a secret training session at a Victorian bayside oval with AFL stars from multiple clubs.
Names such as Harry McKay, Andrew McGrath and Taylor Adams were all involved in the Sunday session that included a game of skins versus tops.
Andrew - from the Dandenong Stingrays - is the highest-rated NGA prospect in the pool and is expected to be selected within the first 10 picks of the NAB AFL Draft.
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That means the Demons will not be able to match a bid on the athletic 200cm ruckman who was born in Egypt but whose parents are South Sudanese.
The cross-club session also included Collingwood high-flyer Jeremy Howe and Essendon's 2020 B&F winner Jordan Ridley, who played on 2021's Coleman medallist McKay in the scratch match.
Unheard of a few years, Howe said such combined sessions were likely to stay. "I don't think footy has ... felt so communal before," Howe told Channel Seven.
Players first got a taste of it last year in Queensland's 'Transition Hub' where they were forced to train with the opposition during their stint in quarantine.
"You've got two choices: you do your own thing, or you all come together and train. There's guys from Essendon, Carlton, Hawthorn, Collingwood, like we all just came together. 17-18 of us … that wouldn't have happened five years ago."
Jordan Ridley said there were plenty of benefits from training with the enemy.
"We learnt a lot off each other. Obviously good to have blokes from different clubs and getting different perspectives. It's been really enjoyable.
"(McKay) is a super player. The more I can do it now, the more tricks I will sort of learn for in the season."
First-to-fourth year players will return to their clubs for the official pre-season on November 22, and senior players will be back on December 6.
