Brisbane Lions Senior Coach Michael Voss has noticed a significant change in the way young players are screened now compared to when he was initially drafted to the Brisbane Bears 20 years ago.

Speaking at the AFL Draft Combine in Melbourne, Voss said the process has become more thorough than ever to ensure that clubs know almost every intimate detail about their potential draftees.

“These guys are poked and prodded and are really on show,” Voss said.

“It’s like herding cattle out here. They just roll in and roll out while we’re all sitting in the stands.”

“It’s sort of like watching horses in the mounting yard, and we just want to see what their shape and form looks like.”

The interview process, in particular, was something that Voss believed could be quite daunting for some teenagers.

“They have the formidable task of sitting in front of 18 clubs and getting interviewed by them. They experience all sorts of different questions and different interview techniques,” Voss said.

“To put yourself in their shoes, imagine having to replicate your first ever job interview over and over and over again - 18 times. That’s pretty tough when you’re doing that at 18 years of age.”

Voss said it was markedly different back in the early 1990s when he was a teenage hopeful himself.

“They did have a camp back in those days, but I didn’t attend because I was fortunate enough to go straight to the Brisbane Bears as a Queensland Priority Pick,” he recalled.

“Luckily, I didn’t have to go through all those testing procedures because I was already part of a training squad with the Bears, and I had the opportunity to train with them over the summer.”

“But the way I eventually found out I was on their list was through the newspaper. No one at the Club told me. I picked up a paper in February and saw my name on it - that’s how I found out.”