Brandon Ellis

Brandon Ellis (born 3 August 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played 176 matches over eight seasons at Richmond, including in the 2017 and 2019 premierships.

Brandon Ellis
Ellis playing for Richmond in 2018
Personal information
Full name Brandon Ellis
Nickname(s) Beavis, Brando[1]
Date of birth (1993-08-03) 3 August 1993
Original team(s) Calder Cannons (TAC Cup)
West Coburg (EDFL)
Draft No. 15, 2011 AFL national draft
Height 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / defender
Club information
Current club Gold Coast
Number 4
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2012–2019 Richmond 176 (58)
2020– Gold Coast 65 (23)
Total 241 (81)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 20, 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life and junior football

Ellis was raised in the inner-suburb of Carlton North, four kilometres north of Melbourne.[2]

He first played football in the Auskick program in Brunswick at the age of four.[3] At age seven he began playing with the under 10s side at West Coburg where he won the best and fairest award despite being many years younger than most of his teammates.[3]

Ellis quit football temporarily in year 10 in the aftermath of his father's terminal cancer diagnoses.[4]

He later played representative football with the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup where he played 29 games across his bottom and top aged seasons.[5][6][7]

Ellis represented the Victorian Metro side at the 2010 Under 18 national championships. He recorded a 76 per cent disposal efficiency and the most score involvements of any defender in the competition. He earned All-Australian selection for his performances.[8]

He attended high school at Princes Hill Secondary College in the Melbourne suburb of North Carlton.[7]

AFL career

Richmond (2012–2019)

Ellis was drafted to Richmond with the 15th selection in 2011 National Draft.[6]

He debuted on Round 1 the following season, in a 44-point loss to traditional rivals Carlton.[9] He was nominated for the 2012 AFL Rising Star award in Round 17 after recording 21 disposals and 5 marks in Richmond's close loss to North Melbourne.[10]

In Round 8, 2013 Ellis recorded a career-best 39 disposals in Richmond's 34-point victory over Melbourne.[11] Ellis placed equal fifth at the club in the Brownlow Medal tally that year, recording 5 votes. The same year he was selected in the inaugural AFL Players Association 22under22 team, as one of the best young players in the league.[12]

Ellis received the Jack Titus medal in 2014, for finishing second in the Richmond Best-and-Fairest count.[13] He led the club in disposals and rebound 50s and placed fourth in the club at the Brownlow Medal.[14] He was also nominated to the All-Australian squad of 40 but was ultimately not selected to the final side.[15] That same year he earned his second selection to the AFLPA's 22under22 team.[16]

Ellis had another strong season in 2015, relishing his role as the club's number one outside midfielder. He topped the club for uncontested possessions and ranked second for total disposals.[17] He failed to make an impact in Richmond's losing elimination final however, recording only 10 disposals on the day.[9]

Between round 4 2014 and round 18 2015, Ellis recorded a club record streak of 27 straight matches with 20 or more disposals.[18]

He played his 100th AFL game in Round 12, 2016, against the Gold Coast Suns at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[19] He finished the season ranked 3rd at the club for disposals in 2016.

In 2017 he changed roles, shifting from the wing and into Richmond's half back line.[20]

After 111 consecutive matches played at AFL level, Ellis was omitted from the Richmond side to face Collingwood in round 6, 2018. It was his first missed match since round 12, 2013.[21] He returned to senior football in round 10, after spending four weeks with the club's reserves side at VFL level.[9] Ellis played the 150th AFL match of his career in round 20's win over Geelong at the MCG.[9] After playing in each of the final 13 matches of the season, Ellis was dropped from the club's side for the Qualifying final against Hawthorn in order to make way from the injury return of All-Australian squad member Kane Lambert.[22]

In 2019 Ellis returned to a role on the wing. He finished the 2019 season by playing in a winning grand final, his second premiership in three seasons at Richmond.

He had played 176 games over eight seasons at Richmond.[9]

Gold Coast (2020–)

On the opening day of the 2019 free agency period, Ellis signed a five-year contract with Gold Coast, officially moving when Richmond declined to match the Suns offer despite his status as a restricted free agent.[23]

Ellis played in 16 of a possible 17 games in his COVID-19 pandemic affected first season at Gold Coast, placing fifth in the club's best and fairest award.[24]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2022 season[25]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2012 Richmond 42212818314733080360.10.48.77.015.73.81.70
2013 Richmond 521147246144390124450.70.311.76.918.65.92.15
2014 Richmond 5231011355246601126560.40.515.410.726.15.52.49
2015 Richmond 523811342252594146770.40.514.911.025.86.33.37
2016 Richmond 52259290230520134560.20.413.210.523.66.12.53
2017# Richmond 52574331226557126510.30.213.29.022.35.02.01
2018 Richmond 5183420215435687380.20.211.28.619.84.82.10
2019# Richmond 52393269216485116570.40.111.79.421.15.02.50
2020[lower-alpha 1] Gold Coast 416531949929368420.30.212.16.218.34.32.60
2021 Gold Coast 41852273150423130470.30.115.28.323.57.22.65
2022 Gold Coast 42196314146460115470.40.315.07.021.95.52.25
Career 231 77 68 2999 2010 5009 1252 552 0.3 0.3 13.0 8.7 21.7 5.4 2.4 35

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

Personal life

His father was treated for kidney cancer when Ellis was a child and in 2009, also received a terminal throat cancer diagnoses but overcame the illness through six months of extensive radiation and chemotherapy.[4]

As a child, Ellis grew up and lived in a housing commission flat in Melbourne's inner north.[2] As a teenager he was frequently exposed to the crime prevalent in the area including regular incidents of his clothes being stolen from the flat's shared clothesline, himself thieving clothes from city retailers and watching friends stabbed and assaulted in front of him.[3]

References
  1. Marshall, Konrad (15 November 2016). Yellow & Black: A Season with Richmond. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Slattery Media Group. p. 283. ISBN 9780987342898.
  2. Marshall, Konrad (15 November 2016). Yellow & Black: A Season with Richmond. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Slattery Media Group. p. 285. ISBN 9780987342898.
  3. Marshall, Konrad (15 November 2016). Yellow & Black: A Season with Richmond. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Slattery Media Group. p. 286. ISBN 9780987342898.
  4. Marshall, Konrad (15 November 2016). Yellow & Black: A Season with Richmond. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Slattery Media Group. p. 284. ISBN 9780987342898.
  5. "Ellis A Rising Star Nomination". SportsTF. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. Warner, Michael (9 December 2011). "Tiger recruit Brandon Ellis aiming to sting the Blues". Herald Sun.
  7. Twomey, Callum (28 November 2011). "A boy called Ellis". Richmond FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  8. Clark, Jay (29 October 2011). "Cannon Brandon Ellis on target for AFL draft". Hereld Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  9. "Brandon Ellis". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  10. "Richmond defender Brandon Ellis earns NAB Rising Star nomination for round 17 outing against Roos".
  11. "Round 8, 2013 - Richmond v Melbourne". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  12. McInerney, Sam. "22under22 Team Announced". AFL Players' Association. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  13. Greenberg, Tony (30 September 2014). "Cotchin's Jack Dyer Medal treble". Richmond FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  14. "2014 Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  15. Nathan Schmook and Adam McNicol (2 September 2014). "Fresh faces aplenty as AFL names 40-man All Australian squad". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  16. McInerney, Sam (9 September 2014). "22UNDER22 TEAM ANNOUNCED!". AFLPA. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  17. "2015 Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  18. "Misc. Records". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  19. Schmook, Nathan (13 June 2016). "Ellis soaks up the pressure in his 100th". Australian Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  20. Marshall, Konrad (15 November 2016). Yellow & Black: A Season with Richmond. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Slattery Media Group. p. 287. ISBN 9780987342898.
  21. Greenberg, Tony (27 April 2018). "Tigers regain premiership trio". Richmond FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  22. Pierik, Jon (5 September 2018). "Ellis dropped: Tigers pull selection shock as Hawks recall three". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  23. Whiting, Michael (5 October 2019). "UPDATE: Frustrated Tigers fume after Ellis compo pick shock". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  24. Cheadle, Josh (26 September 2020). "2020 Club Champion – Sam Collins". Gold Coast FC. Telstra Media. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  25. "Brandon Ellis". AFL Tables. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
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