The average height of the draft prospects is about 188cm. Almost all those players have broad shoulders, suggesting plenty of filling out in coming years. Almost all would fit into a category that one agent describes as the "Scott Clayton prototype" - that is, rangy and athletic.
And yet you only have to consider the Collingwood premiership team to see that Australian football's historic boast that it is a code for all shapes and sizes still holds true.
While Scott Pendlebury is lean, athletic and possessed of effortless poise, his offsider Dane Swan is one of the most damaging players in the competition despite the fact he waddles like a duck.
While Dale Thomas is lean and athletic in the modern mould, the other young player who demanded to be noticed during the finals was sturdy, low-to-the-ground Steele Sidebottom. Their builds differ, but both can play when the heat's on.
So, amid all the tall, rangy types at the draft combine, it was heartening to see at least a few of the 100 prospects who were less than 180cm, the mark that is now considered to separate short players from medium-sized players.
Dion Prestia is a 175cm dynamo from TAC Cup club Calder Cannons who saw no problem in being the shortest player at the draft combine.
"The ball's on the ground most of the time," he said.
Prestia catches the eye as an inside midfielder who can use his strength to burst out of trouble.
He's also an outside midfielder who can carry the ball 10 or 20 metres and kick 60. He models himself on David Rodan.
"He's got the same frame," Prestia says. "He takes players on using his strong core and strong legs."
Prestia was expected to be a star for Vic Metro in the national under-18 championships, only to be struck by a hamstring tear halfway through the carnival.
His fellow undersized midfielder, Tom Schneider, covered the loss of Prestia so well that he won Vic Metro's best-and-fairest award.
"It was a massive honour," says Schneider, who plays for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup.
Schneider (no relation to Adam) is 178cm and slight. He models himself on Hawthorn midfielder Sam Mitchell, who was overlooked in the first draft in which he was eligible and spent the following season playing at VFL club Box Hill.
Schneider missed out on all the physical testing at the draft combine because of osteitis pubis. He's determined to keep pressing to be drafted if clubs overlook him this year.
Josh Green is a 179cm midfielder who was captain of the Tasmanian team that won the division-two title at the under-18 national championships. He's fast and agile, and possessed of lightning reflexes and the ability to get the ball to his boot in a nanosecond.
His ability at senior level was confirmed in September when, having just turned 18, he played in his second successive Tasmanian state league premiership with Clarence.
Green says he gets around his lack of height by playing to his strengths - and by preparing. When being interviewed by AFL clubs at the draft combine, he was aggressive in dealing with the issue of his height. He asked every club what they thought of it.
"None of them said they had an issue," he said. "They said to just keep doing what I'm doing."
Follow our complete coverage of the 2010 NAB AFL Draft on November 18. Join the AFL draft conversation on Twitter: use #AFLdraft in your tweets.
