Tara Murray
Calder Cannons’ Rye Penny made his mark at the recent AFL state combine.
After an interrupted season through injury, the Gisborne-product used the combine as his chance to remind AFL recruiters what he can do.
Penny was a standout on the day topping the field in the standing vertical jump and running vertical jump, as well as the 20 metre sprint.
Penny said for him it was the chance to show the hard work he had done during the season had paid off.
“I was really happy with the outcome,” he said. “I had a big ankle injury in the middle of the year.
“I got similar results to when I tested earlier in the year, which I’m pretty happy about.
“There’s only so much you can do when you aren’t playing. To come back after struggling throughout the year, testing day was my time to shine.”
Penny said after only playing five games, he didn’t think he would get invited to the national draft combine, but was excited to get the opportunity to test at the state combine.
He said this year he was prepared for a big season after putting in hard work.
“I played the first four games which was good and I thought I put a good foot forward,” he said.
“I had wanted to show something different this pre-season which had been really good. It was painful to get the injury.”
As well as putting him out for the Cannons, the injury ended Perry’s hopes of making the Vic Metro squad.
He had found out about the trials for Vic metro just hours before he was injured.
“There’s only so much you can do when you aren’t playing,” he said.
“I was able to come back, but struggled a little bit. I was able to come back and play the last game. It was the best moment of my life.”
Penny played a number of sports growing up including Basketball, volleyball and athletics, but football was always at the top of the table.
The 18-year-old said he models his game on Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe and his ability to take intercept marks down back.
Penny is the latest Gisborne player to be on the draft radar, with a number of players coming out of the club.
He said players like Harry Jones and Sam Ramsay, who played with his brother, were a couple he looked up to.
Penny is planning to take a week off, before getting into pre-season and continue to build his game and fitness forever he may play.
While hopeful he will be on an AFL list, he already has some back up plans.
“This year I found a lot of areas that I can improve on,” he said.
“I’ve been talking to VFL clubs as a backup for next year. I might be lucky enough to get an exemption to come back to the Cannons as a 19-year-old.”
