Adelaide Crows utility Cam Ellis-Yolmen has improved after a year on the outer

WHY Cam Ellis-Yolmen can see something good to come out of being long-term injured last season.

Cam Ellis-Yolmen gets away from Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

IT was meant to be Cam Ellis-Yolmen’s year in 2017. It was, but not for the reasons that had been predicted.

Ellis-Yolmen was in his sixth year at the club after being drafted back in 2011 but like many times before, his summer of training and pre-season form had led to him against being talked about as the next big thing.

He had played an outstanding season in the SANFL in 2016, finished second in the Magarey Medal count and head of football Brett Burton said he had been pushing for selection for the AFL season opener.

At the time, in the post-Patrick Dangerfield era of the Crows, it seemed his timing was right; he had returned from a training camp in the US and looked as strong as ever.

Ellen-Yolmen was also in the last year of his contract, which meant it seemed like make-or-break time for his AFL career.

But just as all ducks seemed to line-up for Ellis-Yolmen his world came crashing down when his knee gave away in the first 10 minutes of the club’s first practice match against Richmond. He strapped up and continued but the worst verdict was returned that week. It was a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, meaning he needed a knee reconstruction. Season over.

Ellis-Yolmen remembers the feeling of disbelief as he cast his mind back.

“I was shattered,” he said. “It was pretty tough, actually.

“I had done some stuff in America with Hugh Greenwood and felt like I was flying.

“It was the last year of my contract and my head was running over whether I was going to be around again.

“It would have been pretty sad to end it like that.”

But Ellis-Yolmen, supported by the family, club and teammates, toiled on.

He found it particularly valuable to seek out others – such as captain Taylor Walker – for tips on how to best recover from the injury.

“I put my head down and did all I could to show the club that I still wanted to be around and could still play some good footy,” Ellis-Yolmen said. “I was pretty worried but I had some good advice, which was just to worry about what I could control, which was rehabbing my knee.

“That’s all I did, focused on each day rather than what could happen at the end of the year or what had happened.

“The players were amazing in giving me support.

“All the guys who had done knees at the club before — Andy Otten, Taylor Walker ... they all gave me little tips here and there, like making sure I was walking straight and not limping.”

At the end of the year, the club delisted him.

But he was assured that he would be re-signed on a rookie deal, meaning he would have another life at West Lakes.

A year on from the knee injury, it again looks like Ellis-Yolmen’s year.

He has brought up his 20th game after playing the first six matches of the season and is looking comfortable in the Crows’ midfield. As much as last year was a struggle, it also helped shape Ellis-Yolmen and add to his resolve.

“I definitely grew as a person,” he said.

“It’s a massive thing to go through and I definitely got stronger as a person dealing with setbacks and coming out on the other side of it. I’m definitely a better person.”