The Recruit Episode Rating Graph

The second series of The Recruit kicks off with a new Head Coach – Michael Malthouse. After coaching more AFL games than anyone else, Mick has turned focus to finding new talent and pushing them to their best. Joining Assistant Coach Ben Dixon, High Performance Coach Darren Burgess and Mind Coach Leigh Russell, the Executive Team have found the best 15 players from across the country who have missed their chance at being drafted to an AFL club. They have 10 weeks to eat, sleep and breathe AFL – with one Recruit winning the opportunity of a lifetime – an AFL contract.

‘Dedication’ is put to the test, as 8 remain in the running for their dream prize – a contract with an AFL club. After a tough training session at the home of the Western Bulldogs, the Recruits are shocked by an early morning wakeup from Barry Hall. All fly to Newcastle to compete in the Captain’s ‘Raw Challenge’, and winner Jayden runs the Recruits out for a battle on the SCG against the Sydney Swans Academy. It’s a strategic delist but things don’t go to everyone’s plan and a favourite says goodbye.

This week is all about ‘facing fears’. The 14 Recruits head to Tasmania for a Captains Challenge at the highest commercial abseil in the Southern Hemisphere – The Gordon Dam. For Justin and Jackson, this terrifying challenge pushes them to their limits. That evening, camping with Coach Michael Malthouse on the edge of Lake Pedder, the boys open up and learn more about their team mates. The Hobart City Demons host this week’s game at a ground steeped in history, but could injury end the AFL dream for one of our Recruits?

Fifty footballers from across Australia converge in the hope of gaining an AFL contract. A competitive game takes its toll on several players, leaving the Executive Team with tough decisions on who will move forward.

As the Recruits hit the road again, “Giving Back” is the theme of the week and the boys put this in to practice as they hold a kids AFL clinic in Darwin. In conditions most have never played in before, the team head to the Tiwi Islands for a game against Rio Tinto’s Top Indigenous Players from the ‘Footy Means Business’ program. The sweltering heat proves too much for some and Coach Malthouse has no patience for a couple of Recruits who snuck out for a few beers in Darwin.

Week 5 kicks off with a beach recovery session at St Kilda, then a Captain’s Challenge with the Jetstar Little Athletics, who teach our Recruits that they must listen if they want to improve – even if that advice is coming from kids. Cathy Freeman chats to the Recruits about making it at an elite level and shares with the boys some thoughts from her time in the spotlight. This week’s game takes the Recruits to Coach Mick’s old stomping ground – the Collingwood FC Training Centre, and the team face an opposition who know exactly what they are going through: it’s the last series Recruits, including the previous winner, Johann Wagner. Their coach is also someone familiar to the Recruit family – Michael Voss, who is impressed with a few of the current crop. At the half way point it’s a brutal delist, as the coaches move forward in finding who can have a career in the AFL.

A bungee jump challenge tests the boy's courage, before taking on their toughest test yet - a footy game against prisoners. A shock twist after the game changes the competition.

The boys tackle each other head on in the Captains Challenge, as some rivalries get heated. Later, the team challenge leaves a few of the recruits shipwrecked, and an emotional delisting ends in tears.