South-west youngsters sharpen skills ahead of 2019 AFL Draft Combine

South Warrnambool product Jay Rantall and Camperdown talent Toby Mahony are excited to be preparing for their AFL draft combines in the first week of October.

Rantall, an athletic midfielder, will be attending the four-day national combine.

"I'm stoked, I can't wait," he said.

"I've been training hard over the past two to three weeks since footy has finished."

Terang Mortlake teenager Isaac Wareham, who is recovering from a knee injury, will also be attending the national combine.

Mahony, a tall midfielder, will be put his best foot forward at the state combine on Friday October 4.

"I'm pretty excited, I suppose it's where you want to be at the end of the year," he said.

Rantall and Mahony, both 18, were put through their paces at Warrnambool College on Monday under the guidance of Dr Warren Young and Greater Western Victoria Rebels high performance manager Russell Rayner.

Young is the coordinator of the masters of strength and conditioning at Federation University in Ballarat.

Rayner, a PhD student at the same university, said Mahony was progressing well.

"He's been making the effort to come down to Ballarat twice a week for the past three weeks now," he said.

"He's shown a fair bit of improvement in that time."

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Rayner said one of Rantall's strengths was his elite fitness.

Rantall said he was grateful to the mentors for coming to Warrnambool to share tips and hint for the tests.

Mahony said he was focusing on his running posture during the sessions.

"Just looking up more rather than looking at the ground," he said.

Rantall, who will begin his four-day combine on Tuesday October 1, said he was looking forward to the club interviews.

Mahony said he was looking forward to the jumping tests at his combine.

Both players said the yo-yo run was one test they'd like to get over and done with.

Rayner has created a program the players will follow in lead-up to the combines.

Rebels talent manager Phil Partington said it was invaluable to have Young and Rayner guide the youngsters.

"If we can improve their speed by point five of a second or their vertical jump by five centimetres by technique, that's beneficial for the players," he said.

Partington said Wareham was doing his best to recover from a knee complaint.

He said he wasn't sure if Wareham would test at the national combine.

"He's doing everything he possibly can to get himself right for the test which is fantastic but we'll make that decision the week of the draft combine," Partington said.

The combine, which has traditionally been held at Marvel Stadium, will be held at the MCG, Margaret Court Arena and Rod Laver Arena this year.

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