Calder Cannons forward Matthew Allison put plenty of hard work in over the COVID-19 lockdown and the results showed at the AFL combine testing.
With no football due to the coronavirus, Allison spent plenty of time working on his fitness combining running, skills and weights sessions.
The hard work was on show as he tested with the other Victorians invited to the combine earlier this month.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself, particularly the two kilometres time trial, to do really well,” he said.
“The thing that surprised me was my 20 metre sprint. I had never broken under three seconds before, so I was absolutely stoked with that.
“Not sure what my vertical jump was, but I was pretty pleased with that result too.
“It has been quite nice, to know all that hard work has paid off.”
His strong form at the combine comes after two good trial games for the Cannons earlier this year.
It would be the only two games of football he would get to play this year.
“I wanted to perform well in those two games. I wanted to earn my selection for the round one team.
“I didn’t play round one as a bottom-ager, so a big reason was that I had that goal of playing round one.”
Allison, who is related to North Melbourne premiership player Brett Allison, is a North Melbourne supporter.
And it’s a former North forward who he moulds his game off.
“Drew Petrie is someone who I kept a close eye on,” he said.
“Also Nick Riewoldt…. The reason why I sort of model my game on those two, is just the work rate and being able to get up the ground.
“Both those guys had elite endurance… It’s one of my biggest assets I pride myself on and something that I really have been working on as well.”
With only two pre-season games under his belt, he knows that heading into this year’s AFL draft has a lot more unknowns than usual.
He has spoken with about a dozen AFL clubs and said the experience had been a good one as he looks to achieve the dream he’s had since a kid.
“It’s a bit of the unknown, not knowing what is going on is going to bring a little bit of anxiety, but I suppose I’m pretty excited as well to see what might happen, I’m prepared for either scenario.
“Not even having any control over that [no football] is quite challenging having to deal with. For me it was about trying to keep a positive attitude … and stick to my training routine to help me going forward.”
If he doesn’t get drafted, Allison said he was prepared for that as well.
He’s studying a bachelor of sports management at university. He will look at returning to the Cannons next year to play football, with the competition moving to an under-19 competition.
