Richmond’s first pick in last year’s National Draft, Corey Ellis, was a special guest on this week’s episode of the Club’s official podcast ‘Talking Tigers’. He discussed a wide range of subjects associated with his debut league season at Tigerland. Here’s an edited version of the Ellis interview . . .
On playing in the ‘Dreamtime’ game: “The lead-up’s always a big one, with the on-field stuff beforehand and a massive crowd in . . . It was really exciting to play.”
On being the ‘sub’: “It’s a pretty weird one because you’ve got to be ready to go, but you don’t want to be too pumped up otherwise you’ll come on flat. So, you just watch the game and try and get into it mentally . . . You’ve got to be ready to go whenever your time comes.”
On his inspirational last quarter goal v Essendon: “I remember getting it from ‘Lidsy’ (Brett Deledio), and I looked up and there was a lot of space in front of me, and I thought, I have to kick this . . . What happened just came to me, and (I was) lucky to put it through.”
On his Round 5 AFL debut v Geelong: “That was a pretty exciting and nervous time. I found out pretty early on the Thursday and told the family to keep it quiet until that night. Then I just had to prepare as I normally would for a game coming into Saturday. I was more excited than anything . . . I wasn’t too nervous. Running onto the ground, I was kind of thinking, this isn’t real . . . I’m in someone else’s body here. But once the game got going, I got a couple of touches and it was pretty normal from then on.”
On his form so far this season: “The first game’s a bit of an eye-opener. You play VFL and you think that’s quick, and then you come into the AFL and it’s just another step up. You’ve got to really be switched on at all times. But after a couple of games now I feel like I’ve got the tempo and I’ve settled in pretty well. I think I’ve held my own, which probably shows with me getting games back-to-back. I was pretty quiet against Port Adelaide the week before last, which probably showed with me getting the sub vest before the Essendon game. I’ll take some confidence out of last weekend and look for a big one this week.”
On his Tigerland mentor: “My mentor Dustin (Martin) has done a lot of things for me and I really appreciate that kind of thing. He hasn’t given me a hell of a lot of footy advice. But in terms of life, settling into the Club, the routine and that kind of thing, I can go to him for anything and he’ll help me out whatever it is . . . He loves the Club. A lot of the other players have been really helpful, too.”
On being compared to Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury: “He was probably one of my idols growing up, so to be compared to him was a bit of an eye-opener. If I could be half the player he is, I’d be pretty happy.”
On striving for improvement in his game: “I think going up against players at the Club like ‘Milesy’ (Anthony Miles), ‘Cotch’ (Trent Cotchin) and ‘Dust’ (Dustin Martin), that’s where the improvement’s going to come . . . just training with them and really working on that inside game.”
On his relationship with other Tiger cubs: “Me and Connor (Menadue) and Liam (McBean), we all get along really well. So, to be sharing the same experience at the same time, it’s comforting. You can share how you’re feeling with them, and they’ll do the same with you . . . It helps a lot.”
On his interrupted pre-season due to foot surgery: “Coming into a club, you really want to impress, and to be kind of put behind like that, having a bit of surgery, it doesn’t really help. So, after it happened, I just thought, I have to put my head down and get the work done. Haven’t had any problems with it since, so it’s come out well.”
On his aims for the rest of this season: “I’d love to keep playing in the senior side and just play my role. That’s No. 1. And, to keep learning off the track with ‘Dusty’ and that kind of thing.”
On his family’s conversion to Richmond supporters: “They are now. Dad and my older brothers, they took a while to come across. But the day after I got drafted, my little brother had a Bulldogs flag in his room and he pulled it out and said, ‘Mum, what do I do with this now’? So, he was pretty quick to come across and so was mum. But they’ve all converted now, which is good.”
