Making up a contingent of 23 players invited from regional Victoria, the pair was put through its paces in a series of tests ranging from endurance running to vertical jumping.
Brown was one of the standout performers, winning the standing vertical jump with a height of 71cm and finishing second in the 20m sprint with a time of 2.983.
Murray Bushrangers regional talent operations lead Mick Wilson said it was fantastic to see the duo be given the chance to put its best foot forward in front of recruiters.
“It is reward for effort, those boys have done it pretty hard over the past couple of years with the lockdowns,” Wilson said.
“Tom has just worked really hard and developed enormously over the last couple of years since he first came into the team and his testing was really strong at the combine which is a testament to that work.
“Josh was around 6:30 for the 2km time trial and performed really strongly in the vertical jump which was great, there wasn’t a chance to show off his agility which is a major strength, but I still think the recruiters will be very happy with what he put up.”
With the national draft fast approaching Wilson gave some insight into where he sees the two boys landing.
“From the interest that has come from AFL clubs and having had interviews with every club in the league that tends to float towards Josh potentially going in the top 10,” he said.
“With Tom we don’t expect him to fall much below the high 20s, so there is a lot of interest there for him as well.”
The Murray Bushrangers were also excited to see two of their products in Rachele and Aurora Smith be named in the NAB League Team of the Year announced last week.
Smith, who was recently selected by the Western Bulldogs with pick 25 in the AFLW draft, enjoyed an excellent season at NAB League level and takes her place on the wing.
While Rachele was a live-wire for the Bushrangers kicking 11 goals in four matches and averaging 7.5 score involvements a game to be named in the forward pocket.
Wilson said the entire program was incredibly proud to see the pair recognised.
“It is fantastic for both kids considering the past two years have been heavily impacted by COVID, normally players in their age group would have had exposure of up to 20 or more NAB League games, but unfortunately due to the restrictions they have only managed to play a handful of games,” he said.
“When you think about it, there are 13 NAB League teams with 40-50 players on their list, so to be recognised in this regard is a fantastic effort and is a reflection of the impact they have had with very limited opportunities.”
He praised their willingness to work hard and is excited to see what they can produce at the elite level.
“The skill set for both Josh and Aurora has been based on their ability to work really hard in games,” he said.
“Aurora is an elite runner and covers the ground as well as anyone we have seen come through our female football program and her decision making and competitiveness is also at an elite level, so we believe she will do really well in the AFLW.
“Josh is a real competitor, hates losing one-on-one contests, gets really disappointed when the team loses and has that really intrinsic drive to do as well as he can for the team, so we are all excited what he can do at AFL level.”
