Before the Gold Coast SUNS acquired midfielder Josh Schoenfeld with pick No. 34 in Tuesday night’s National Draft, the Peel Thunder product blew recruiters, media analysts and onlookers away at October’s draft combine. And not once, but twice.
On day two of the annual testing camp, the lightly framed West Australian entered rare territory, recording a 16.2 in the infamous Beep Test - only Hawthorn endurance beast Billy Hartung has registered a better score in the event’s history.
The following day, he backed up his impressive effort by breaking the 3km time trial record, registering a stunning 9:15 to finish more than 30 seconds clear of the next best in the test.
In the aftermath of securing the running machine, Gold Coast list manager Scott Clayton revealed the club wanted to obtain a manic trainer via the draft and that’s precisely what they have secured in the form of Schoenfeld.
“He’s probably the cornerstone of this draft to be honest,” Clayton told SUNS TV in his post-draft analysis on Tuesday night.
“We were very, very keen to get a manic running trainer in. His GPS stuff in games is freakish; his metres per minute and other measures that we look at are great.
“He’s very team orientated, loves footy, he’s a good kick, but he’s certainly going to sharpen our group up in regards to any of the endurance testing.
“He blew them away at the combine (he recorded) the best 3k’er ever and killed the beep with a 16. But its more than that, we like his footy.”
Clayton revealed the SUNS recruiting team weren’t surprised by Schoenfeld’s breathtaking performances at the combine, with his efforts confirming what they already knew about his athletic capacity. One thing was for sure; they weren’t going to let him slip past their third pick in the second round.
“We knew what we were going to get and that just confirmed it. We thought that might bring him forward in the draft and we certainly weren’t prepared to miss him at all. So at that pick, we were always going there,” Clayton said.
The arrival of Schoenfeld will provide a new adversary for current running king at Metricon Stadium – Kade Kolodjashnij – and the clique breathing down his neck – Touk Miller, Alex Sexton and Dion Prestia once he returns to full fitness.
Pick 34
Joshua Schoenfeld
Height: 187cm
Weight: 75kg
Junior Club: Peel Thunder FC
Endurance king lands at Metricon Stadium
New Gold Coast SUNS recruit Josh Schoenfeld tore the endurance testing to pieces at the draft combine, and his engine was exactly what Scott Clayton was after at Tuesday night's draft.
