Will Elliott, the son of Test cricketer Matthew, stands at 203cm tall and has come into contention for the AFL’s mid-season draft, writes PAUL AMY.
Former Test cricketer Matthew Elliott makes no great claims for his footballing ability.
He did have some senior games for Kyabram in the Goulburn Valley league, but he jokes that he “played very, very wide’’ at half forward, didn’t tackle and was slow.
His 18-year-old son Will, however, is showing promise as a 203cm player for the Oakleigh Chargers in the Coates Talent League.
Talk about his prospects for the AFL mid-season draft has increased after he was invited to have a medical.
He also featured in the Young Gun series.
Elliott says it’s exciting for his son and the family, but Will, an over-age player in the Talent League, is trying to avoid “the noise’’ and focus on football after missing so much of it in the past three years.
Will came through the juniors at Kew Rovers and linked with the Chargers’ under 16 program.
But, with Covid claiming a large piece of fixtures, he played no games in 2020 and a handful in 2021 as a 16-year-old in the-then NAB League.
After being named captain, he had two matches for Oakleigh early last season, struggling through a knee problem.
Scans showed he needed surgery and he had to sit out the rest of the year.
“He’s just trying to make his way back into playing a bit more consistently, having missed a lot of footy,’’ Elliott says.
“I think we worked out he’s played 12 games in three years, taking into account Covid and injury.
“He had the surgery last year on his right knee. It was a development sort of injury, pretty serious, like a bone fracture you can get from growing and developing. He actually got injured in a warm-up in a practice game.’’
He says Will thinks of himself more as a forward-ruckman than a ruckman-forward.
Matthew Elliott says AFL clubs showed interest in his son last year despite seeing little of him.
He says he’s unsure how clubs view Will eight months later.
“We don’t know if anyone is going to take a bit of a punt on him (at the mid-season draft) or wait and see how his year plays out.
“Will is loving playing. At the moment he trains with Box Hill Hawks, he’s been training with Hawthorn’s AFL team, he sometimes trains with Oakleigh, he sometimes plays with Oakleigh, he played in the Young Guns … he’s just trying to make sure he gets out there and plays.’’
Will, who turns 19 in June, played junior cricket, but stopped when he was 14.
“He came to me and said he didn’t want to play anymore. My wife (Megan) gave me the heads up so I stirred him right up. I said, ‘Mate, can’t believe you don’t want to play!’ But in the end I said as long as he was happy doing what he was doing,’’ Elliott says.
“He’s always loved playing footy.’’
Matthew Elliott played 21 Test matches and is regarded as one of Victoria’s greatest Sheffield Shield cricketers.
His middle son Sam is a pace bowler in the Victorian squad, and his eldest boy Zac is an accomplished Premier cricketer.
Will will play for the Chargers against the Dandenong Stingrays tonight at Kinetic Stadium in Frankston.