About 100 young footballers – two thirds under-18 and the rest under-16 – were tested on agility, vertical leaping and sprinting at the Silverdome.

State talent manager Jy Bond said the day marked the start of a whole year of testing for the state’s academy players. 

“There was a lot of AFL interest, there were about eight AFL clubs interviewing the boys throughout the day but this is the start of the journey, it’s the start of the year and it’s a long process for these boys,” Bond said.

“They’ve got a whole year to perform well so this is one part of the journey.”

Bond said Launceston young gun Chayce Jones and Tigers’ Lachlan Gadomski had both impressed in the yo-yo testing. 

“Jones ran about a 21.1 yo-yo test which is a great result, we had a really even spread of boys.

“Lachlan Gadomski scored over 21 in the yo-yo test as well and that’s elite level so I was happy with that for sure.”