From the outside looking in, Metricon Stadium casts a forlorn figure at this time of year. The goalposts have been dug up on the main deck with the maintenance work of another off-season well and truly underway.

As the sun sets, a small group of young men pushes themselves to the limits on the training field behind the stadium. In the fading light of day, sweat drips from their faces with exhaustion on the brink of taking over their bodies.

For them, this is the busiest time of year.

Five will represent the SUNS Academy in the upcoming state screening or national draft combine in Melbourne, dreaming of their names being read out by an AFL club at Sydney’s Hordern Pavillion on Friday, November 25.

“Everything is dying down from an AFL point of view but the Academy keep pushing through. So we’ve got five guys nominated for either the state screening or the national combine, which is obviously the draft camp in Melbourne,” Academy Head Coach Andrew Raines told SUNS TV.

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“We keep training them all the way up to the first week of October, which is after the grand final. It starts on the Thursday and will go through for about three or four days and they test them pretty much based on their athleticism, mental tests and obviously the skill component.

“So we’re training four times a week in the afternoons and some morning sessions just to keep them fit, we’ve already got a pretty good base throughout the footy season with their fitness but just training them up in a few areas so they can impress.”

In addition to the five pushing for this year’s drafts, three talents of the future will live every young kid’s dream of playing on the MCG on Grand Final Day.

Harry Simington, Brayden Crossley and Kwaby Boakye will all play ahead of the main game on the first Saturday in October in an under 17 showcase game, as they look to strut their stuff in front of recruiters looking ahead to the 2017 draft.

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“Jack Bowes will play in the pre-game there, the grand final eve at Punt Road, so he’ll represent 50 to 60 best kids in the Under 18s in Australia,” Raines said.

“More of a presentation type of a game just to showcase the talent around before the draft so he’ll play in that and then we’ve got three others the next day.

“We’ve got Kwaby who has come down from Rockhampton, originally from Melbourne, he’s got a multicultural background and he shows a fantastic athleticism and powerful athlete.

“Then we’ve got Harry Simington and Brayden Crossley who will play in that game also who are Gold Coast boys and represent really well.”