Calder Cannons midfielder Tom Wallis heads to Essendon as father-son rookie pick

TOM Wallis left Essendon with little choice but to select him in Friday’s rookie draft after a scintillating finish to the TAC Cup campaign.

TAC Cup football: Calder Cannons versus Northern Knights at Rams Arena Craigieburn. Michael Ercolano,11 for Northern Knights kicks the ball ahead of Calder Cannons' Tom Wallis,48. Pictures:Angie Basdekis

TOM Wallis left Essendon with little choice but to select him in Friday’s rookie draft after a scintillating finish to the TAC Cup campaign.

The Bombers snapped up the son of dual Essendon premiership player Dean with pick no. 54, having committed to selecting him before the draft.

Calder coach Andrew Johnson said the feisty on-baller firmed for draft selection over the second half of 2015, taking his game to another level.

“There’s plenty of guys that are father-son that don’t get picked up,” Johnston said.

“They’re just like anyone else. They’ve got to work hard and show what they can do, they can’t just (rely) on the name.

“At the end of the day they’ve got to work hard and show just as much, if not more, than the guys that haven’t got the name behind them.

“Tom realised that probably half way through the year, did some really hard yards and has got the reward for it.”

Wallis roared home in the Cannons’ best-and-fairest count to finish just behind another Essendon Doutta Stars junior — dashing defender Bruno Laguda.

Dean Wallis played in two premierships for Essendon. Picture: Michael Dodge.

He also made his debut in the red and black in Essendon’s VFL side this year, impressing across half back.

“(Being drafted is) reward for all the hard effort that he put in during the second half of the year,” Johnston said.

“Now the hard work really starts. If he thought he worked hard during the second half of the year, he’s got to step it up another 15-20 per cent now he’s on a list to potentially play good VFL football and push himself up to play senior football.”

Dean Wallis played 127 games for Essendon, featuring in the club’s 1993 and 2000 premiership teams.

Tom Wallis was one of three Calder players chosen in the rookie draft, with Nick O’Kearney (St Kilda) and Callum Moore (St Kilda) also joining the AFL ranks.

Johnston said he would urge the club’s players who missed out — headline by livewire forward Hisham Kerbatieh — to take heart from the career path of Gold Coast defender Adam Saad and new Richmond midfielder Adam Marcon.

After several solid years in the VFL with Northern Blues and Williamstown, Marcon was picked by the Tigers on Friday.

Forward Karl Brown, who was invited to the AFL State Combine, will return to the Cannons as a 19-year-old next year.

Originally published as Calder Cannons midfielder Tom Wallis heads to Essendon as father-son rookie pick