Brandon Ellis flourishing in Richmond wonderland
RICHMOND defender Brendon Ellis opens up in his form slump, his father’s battle with cancer, that bone-jarring clash with Patrick Dangerfield and the mighty voice of the Tiger army.
Richmond
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BRANDON Ellis watched last year’s preliminary finals from a beach bar in Seminyak, Bali — far from the madding AFL crowds, wishing he was a part of the action.
Twelve months on, the Richmond defender finds himself preparing for the biggest game of his life — and he hopes an even more significant one might come the week after.
Richmond’s stunning turnaround in the space of a year has been one of the stories of the AFL season, and it has mirrored Ellis’s own revival as a player after a couple of “average” years.
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“It’s been an interesting ride,” Ellis told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“Who would have thought 12 months ago we would have been in this position?
“We haven’t shied away from the media. We have been able to soak it up, and make the most of the opportunities. That’s what ‘Dimma’ (coach Damien Hardwick) has said to us, and he has obviously played in premierships before, and was (an assistant coach) at Hawthorn in 2008.
“We’re feeding off him at the moment, and he knows what he is doing.”
Ellis, 24, pinpointed several reasons behind Richmond’s rise from 13th last year to winning the club’s first final in 16 years, demolishing Geelong in last week’s qualifying final.
Part of that has been sheer hard work, mixed in with some “honesty” sessions, as well as some coaching, tactical and philosophical modifications to the Tigers’ operations.
“We did a lot of work in the pre-season,” Ellis said. “We brought in some new faces and some new coaches, and obviously a new game plan.
“The biggest thing was that Dimma took us back to having fun again. There haven’t been as many rules we have to follow.
“We are just playing on instinct, where you don’t have to think too much about it.
“If you think too much about things you tend to hesitate, and when you don’t hesitate you just get to play with more freedom. That’s when people play their best footy.”
THIS change in philosophy — plus a positional role change — has had an impact on Ellis, too.
He has had his most consistent season since his breakthrough 2014, when he finished second in the Jack Dyer Medal as a 21-year-old.
That level of performance three years ago — as good as it was — became a bit of a millstone around his neck when he failed to recapture the same form in 2015-16, when he was playing predominantly as an outside wingman.
Ellis, who loves the Tigers’ connection to their largely loyal but long-suffering fan base, admitted he did cop some criticism from a portion of the faithful.
“Ninety per cent of the fans are always good and backing you up, but I had a few quiet years and I did cope some s--t from some of the supporters,” he said.
“I probably set some high expectations in 2014, and they probably expected a bit more.”
A meeting with Hardwick during his first week back at pre-season training late last year gave Ellis not just greater clarity about his role within the team, but also confidence in a quick rebound.
“Dimma just pulled me in and said, ‘Mate, I want you to play in the backline, I want you to nail that spot,’” he said.
“I felt confident he was going to back me in. I got together a plan with (defensive coach) Ben Rutten and we nailed it step by step.
“Obviously, there have been some highs and lows, but I feel as if I have had a pretty good year and hopefully I can now finish it off with a good finals series.”
Part of that was improving the contested component to his game, while maintaining his obvious strengths, including his rebounding speed, his run-and-carry ability, his strong use of the ball and his incredible durability.
ELLIS has missed only three games since his debut season, and has played 104 games consecutively.
That harder edge was on display last week against the Cats when he crashed into Patrick Dangerfield in the second quarter, after which both players got up gingerly.
“I wish it hadn’t been Dangerfield,” Ellis joked.
“He is like a brick wall.
“I just saw the ball and had to press forward and get to the contest because if I hadn’t, they (Geelong) were out.
“I didn’t even know it was him. I just went down and tried to pick the ball up, and felt this big truck coming in. It sort of stunned me a bit; it bloody hurt.”
But seeing Ellis get to his feet, several teammates including captain Trent Cotchin got around him to congratulate him for his attack on the ball.
“Four or five blokes came over and picked me up, which made me feel good about myself,” he said.
“I would have done it at the next contest, because you know they have your back.”
Ellis said the connection between the 2017 Richmond players was difficult to express in words, but acknowledged that closeness had played a big role in the season.
“We have never been so connected before,” he said.
“We trust each other like we never have before. Throughout the pre-season, we just did these sessions where we opened up in front of the whole group. We spoke about where we grew up, and the hardships we had been through in our lives. We talked about the highlights of our careers and who our heroes were.”
Ellis would not go into detail about his own “honesty” sessions, saying he wanted to keep that within the group.
But there is no doubt part of it centred on his father Dale’s two cancer battles, which he won.
Dale lost one of his kidneys to cancer when Ellis was young, and two years later found he had cancer in his oesophagus.
During one of those periods Brandon decided to quit his pathway through the Calder Cannons — he had started footy at Auskick as a four-year-old — before his father and coaches convinced him to return.
“It definitely shapes you,” he said of his father’s health battles.
“It makes you not take life for granted. Dad said, ‘Don’t give up footy, just take it up and do it for me again.’
“I got a lot of motivation out of that, and the support I got from my family (his father, his mother, Nancy, and his siblings Sean and Kate) and from the Cannons was awesome.
“Dad is all good now, and the only times he ever missed a game or a training session is when he was going through his treatment. He loves his footy.”
Having initially been a Collingwood supporter, following his dad’s lead, Ellis switched to North Melbourne in the early days when his cousin’s nanna, Judy Francis, offered to take him into the Kangaroos’ rooms. She was the club’s cook.
He got to meet North stars like Wayne Carey, Anthony Stevens, Glenn Archer and Brent Harvey — and even got to play against “Boomer”.
Understandably, his family is staunchly Richmond now.
They will be there en masse to see him play in a preliminary final at the MCG next Saturday. Ellis has never been to a preliminary final, but now gets to play in one.
If the Tigers win, he will also attend his first AFL Grand Final — as a participant.
“We believe our best is good enough,” he said. “It is just going to come down to whether we can perform to our best on game day.”
Whatever happens, Ellis knows the crowd will be there to support him, just as it was so vocal against the Cats.
“I played in the final against Carlton (in 2013), and that was unbelievable,” he said.
“I live with ‘Broady’ (Nathan Broad) and last week was his first final. I said to him, ‘Wait until you run through the banner and hear the noise.’
“We both looked at each other when we ran out and smiled at each other. It was massive.
“Then Geelong ran out and they got the loudest boo.
“That gave us so much confidence.”
A tongue-in-cheek Brandon on ...
Trent Cotchin: “He has the hairiest back.”
Dustin Martin: “He plays the shy card, but he isn’t (shy).”
Alex Rance: “He’s an absolute clown (off the field).”
Jack Riewoldt: “Me, me and me.”
Dion Prestia: “He’s the human meatball.”
Housemate Nathan Broad: “I’ve never met a bloke who spends more time in front of the mirror.”
Originally published as Brandon Ellis flourishing in Richmond wonderland
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