Reach and Follow Ruck
Ruck · 203cm · Claremont
AFL: October rucks and tall forwards ↗ · Website details checked 26 October 2026.
Benji van Rooyen is the 2026 draft’s premier "reach-and-follow" ruckman. Standing a towering 203cm (already 10cm taller than his brother, Melbourne’s Jacob van Rooyen), the Claremont product is a wiry, high-IQ tall who dominates the air with "clean hands" and elite tap craft. Unlike many rucks who finish their work at the hit-out, Benji is renowned for his "extra midfielder" mentality, consistently hunting the ball on the deck and providing a reliable marking outlet across the ground.
Van Rooyen's appeal goes beyond reaching the ruck contest if he can continue to help his midfield once the ball hits the ground. A clean follow-up or a useful marking outlet gives his team another way to move forward. We would look for his ruck craft to become increasingly repeatable against stronger opponents, so his involvement around the ground complements a dependable contribution at stoppages.
Rowan Marshall
Van Rooyen mirrors Marshall’s "workhorse" archetype; he uses his massive 203cm frame to win first use but separates himself through elite follow-up work and the ability to act as a genuine target in the air when resting forward.
Scouting text, projected ranges and comparisons are SotaramAFL editorial assessments, rather than confirmed club decisions or predictions of career achievements.
The simulator currently places Benji van Rooyen in the Top 50 group. Compare the role and scouting assessment with the players available at your club’s selection, then test an alternative in your own mock draft.
The scouting view is written for this website. Published measurements and their sources appear in the athletic profile below where available; a missing result is not a zero or proof of non-participation.
PROSPECT INTELLIGENCE / 2026
The numbers. The draft context. The bigger picture.
SOTARAMAFL SCOUTING VIEW
10 profiles share this band · editorial snapshot, 19 October 2026
Highlighted span: picks 1–50. A range, not an exact ranking or consensus score.
Dots show known results from the same event and protocol. Higher on the bar means faster or higher. This leader-biased sample does not represent the whole draft class.
Compare with a named historical mark. These are benchmark gaps, not all-time rankings or percentiles. National and state conditions can differ.
2026 national combine
17 / 17 published results in this event
0.330s from benchmark
Joel Wilkinson · 2010 · 2.75s
AFL published historical benchmark · AFL: combine records and test protocols ↗
2026 national combine
15 / 15 published results in this event
0.68s from benchmark
Darcy Jones · 2022 · 7.70s
National historical benchmark · AFL: combine records and test protocols ↗
2026 national combine
Awaiting verification · excluded from ranked comparisons
Historical comparison awaits verified results.
No published figure in this collection: Standing vertical jump · Running vertical jump.
Rankings use only published results collected for the same test and event, with competition ranking for ties. The denominator is the number of known results, not all participants. Preliminary and unofficial figures are shown without ranks or historical comparisons. Reaching-hand, side-specific and counter-movement protocols stay separate.
Scouting bands are the site's existing editorial view; no numerical skill ratings have been inferred from prose. Historical marks use the AFL's records reference. The 2km event began in 2017; no 3km, beep-test or Yo-Yo conversion is used. Harry Sharp's 2020 mark is a historical reference across differing event conditions. Finlay Yeo's WA agility result may surpass the national benchmark without changing that benchmark's event scope.
Research reviewed 26 October 2026. Read coverage and source discrepancies →
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Listed measurements and club connections come from the public simulator pool. See sources, methodology and corrections.