The rise and rise of Oli Wiltshire from track star to Geelong Cat
Seven years ago, there was “no limit” to what a Barwon Heads product could achieve in the world of track and field. Now, he’s set to make his AFL debut.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
To Barwon Heads senior coach Sam Schaller’s eye, he looked like a lot of surfie kids who played a bit of footy on the side mostly for fun.
But first impressions can sometimes be totally deceptive, and they certainly were with the Seagulls’ slick goalkicker Oliver Wiltshire, who had also come from a background in track and field.
The 22-year-old forward has been in the frame for AFL selection for numerous weeks, with Shaun Mannagh – who was also taken by the Cats in the same national draft 18 months ago – believing he will be picked sooner rather than later.
And on Anzac Day it was announced he would be making his debut on Sunday against Carlton.
But who is Oli Wiltshire, and how did he go from talented steeplechaser runner and freakish Seagull who kicked 12 goals in a game against Modewarre in April, 2023 to be on Geelong’s list seven months later?
For Schaller, who was an assistant under Dan Donati when the Seagulls won the 2022 BFNL premiership over Torquay, an easy going facade may have masked an extremely competitive streak for some.
A fun-loving, inclusive guy that had respect for older players, Wiltshire had only played five senior games coming into that title-winning season — plus seven the previous year with the Geelong Falcons.
Schaller could see why some may have underestimated Wiltshire’s talents.
“The funny thing about him is, we’d come to footy training and Oli would rock up in pretty much in board shorts, his footy boots and a training top,” Schaller said, who remains in regular contact with the 22-year-old.
“You’d think he was down there just a bit of a drifter with his mates, down for a bit of fun, which he always was.
“And if you just walked in that night and watched the start of training, you’d go ‘Who’s this bloke walking off the bench?’
“But as soon as it got a little bit competitive or anything skill-wise, it was like: ‘You boys watch this, I’m pretty good at this and I know I am and let’s do it’.
“You’d go: ‘Oh my god, he is just tearing it apart’.”
There was also his ability to move, with Wiltshire, a former Athletics Chilwell member, competing at the State Track and Field Championships in 2016 where he finished in the top 10 in the 800m and 1500m at Casey Fields.
Two years later, Geelong Athletics nominated the then 16-year-old as an athlete to watch for the future in various disciplines including 3000m and steeplechase, and there was “definitely no limit to what he can achieve”.
How right they were, even if they had picked the wrong sport.
While prodigiously talented, Schaller stressed that the unpretentious kid was always a team player at Howard Harmer Oval.
“He’s just super humble, he’d never let anything get to him, he just did his craft and just happened to be a lot better than everyone else,” he said.
“He was the ultimate team player as well which was even more impressive to be honest.
“He was also more than happy to do what he had to do to help the team.
“For his size as well, he always had a lot of tricks, but he’s actually super tough and super competitive.”
Schaller said Wiltshire 20-game season in 2022 was the breakout year, but he wasn’t convinced he had the chops to get on an AFL list.
“That was probably the year where everyone (was like): ‘This kid’s got something special’,” he said.
However, Schaller said Wiltshire, who came through the Seagulls junior system, began to seriously turn heads after he bagged 12 majors against the Warriors in Round 4 of the following season.
With Cats great Matthew Scarlett also a defensive coach at Howard Harmer Oval, he had a direct link to Cats talent spotters and they began turning up to Seagulls matches.
“That first half of the year was unreal,” Schaller said of 2023.
“He had probably 40-odd goals by the halfway mark playing as a genuine mid, he was doing some pretty crazy stuff to be honest.
“He’d read the ball so well (in the air) ... he’d know if he had to run and jump and sit on someone’s shoulders, or if he had to nudge them a little bit, everything he did was at flat out pace and he was so clean.
“Guys go flat out in local footy and they fumble or make mistakes, but he just didn’t do that at all.
“And just his kicking, he was a beautiful kick.
“It was very rarely he’d kick 2.4, it was always five straight or 5.1, he was a beautiful kick as well.”
Schaller said Wiltshire was doing things that April afternoon against the Warriors you couldn’t really teach, but it was his cleanliness with the ball which stood out.
“There was no fumble to let the opposition in, it was just clean and go catch him if you could, which nobody could,” he said.
As the hype grew, Schaller recalled Scarlett having conversations with Wiltshire about how far he was prepared to take things.
By the end of November, he was a Cats player, taken with pick 61.
His under-19s coach at the Seagulls, Joel Kearney, said a young Wiltshire did some “special things” and was a “very good runner”.
He felt a later move to be an inside midfielder at Barwon Heads allowed his career to flourish.
“It was huge, I think,” Kearney said.
“He’s just a really good kid, he works really hard but I think he’s got a good balance of being that local kid and having his local mates as well.
“He didn’t have a great Falcons year in his top age, he was in and out of the team a little bit, his body was probably developing a bit at that stage.
“He’s a very relaxed character, but I think that Falcons experience probably sharpened up his professional a little bit, but he was still a pretty laid-back and casual type of kid.
“That’s still him today I think.”
Wiltshire’s junior track coach at Athletics Chilwell, Graeme Watkins, told this masthead that his protege ultimately had to chose between running and footy, and opted for the latter.
One of Wiltshire’s former Barwon Heads teammates, and co-coach through 2022 and 23, Mitch Herbison, who is now in charge of the Cats’ offensive line in the VFL, has overseen the youngster’s role as a high half forward.
Despite a slow start to the pre-season, with Wiltshire’s 2024 restricted to just seven games with injury, Herbison has been impressed by his running ability, versatility, decision making and delivery inside forward 50.
“Once the practice matches came around and we got into Round 1, he really hit the ground running and he’s been playing some great footy,” Herbison said.
“At the moment he’s looking really fit and strong and moving really well.
“He’s starting to look really comfortable in relation to the way Geelong want to play.”
However, Herbison said Wiltshire’s hardness at the contest, and ability to do what the team needed, was underrated.
“It’s certainly been great to see him evolve his year,” he said.
“It’s good to have open conversations with him about how he’s feeling out on the field.
“It’s been great for me to slot into that role already knowing the way he goes about it.
“He’s certainly playing footy the right way and giving himself a good chance if an opportunity does come up, hopefully it’s sooner rather than latter.”
Originally published as The rise and rise of Oli Wiltshire from track star to Geelong Cat
‘Wasn’t controversial’: Panthers coach on disputed final kick
Bell Post Hill’s coach says an umpire’s decision to disallow a final shot for goal, that would have given Werribee a one-point win, was correct.
150+ pics: Local footy, netball galleries from Anzac round
There was plenty of exciting action in Geelong and Bellarine, and our photographers were there to capture it. See more than 150 pics from GFNL, BFNL and GDFNL action.