MEMBERS of the NAB AFL Academy will ramp up preparations for their tour of America by spending this week embedded at AFL clubs across the country.
Ahead of their 10-day high performance camp, which begins on Saturday when the squad flies to Tampa in Florida, the 2015 draft hopefuls will train with AFL clubs.
It is the second stint the 35 level-two players have had at respective clubs, after all of them trained at an AFL club for a week in December.
The players have been sent to different clubs this week in what continues to be an important aspect of the academy's program, allowing the prospects to get an insight into the top level and recruiters a first-hand look at the players in an elite environment.
Having travelled to Europe for the past several years as part of the international component of their partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport, the AFL will head to the US for the first time with the academy, which no longer is affiliated with the AIS.
The team will spend a week of intense training at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, a private institute for amateur and professional athletes.
It runs tennis, American football, soccer, baseball, basketball, golf and other development programs, and will host the emerging AFL players for the first time.
After Tampa, the squad will travel to Orlando for the recovery phase of the camp, including attending an NBA game.
In a restructure of the academy program, the international tour was brought forward from April to January so that the players' seasons were not interrupted.
Instead, in April the academy group will meet in Melbourne for a camp, where it's expected they will play two games against VFL teams.
2015 draft hopefuls training at your club this week:
Adelaide
Luke Partington, Aaron Francis, Tim Sullivan
Brisbane Lions
Jacob Weitering
Carlton
Aidyn Johnson, Jake Sushames
Collingwood
Rhys Mathieson, Charlie Curnow
Essendon
Nick O'Kearney
Fremantle
Kade Stewart, Greg Clark
Geelong
Darcy Parish, Tom Cole
Gold Coast
Ben Keays, Eric Hipwood
GWS Giants
Dylan McDonald, Callum Mills
Hawthorn
Josh Dunkley, Sam Weideman
Melbourne
Kieran Collins, Josh Schache
North Melbourne
Liam Jeffs
Port Adelaide
Stephen Tahana, Ryan Burton, Keiran Agius
Richmond
Darcy Tucker
St Kilda
Harley Balic, Ben Crocker
Sydney Swans
Jacob Hopper
West Coast
Callum Ah Chee, Yestin Eades, Jordan Snadden
Western Bulldogs
James Parsons, Sam Skinner
*Gach Nyoun will complete his second club placements at a later date
