The 197cm, 18-year-old, who was Richmond’s second selection (No. 26 overall) in the 2011 AFL National Draft, has made huge strides in his football development since arriving at the Club from TAC Cup team Dandenong Stingrays.
“It’s been pretty full-on, a big step up from TAC Cup into pre-season, but they’ve been very exciting times,” Elton said on the ‘Sportsday’ radio show.
“The game plan’s obviously pretty difficult because we’re getting a fair bit put at us that we have to revise.
“But we’ve got Greg (Mellor), our development coach, who’s taken our first and second-years (players) through all game set-ups, making sure we understand it, which has been good.
“It’s been a massive change with pre-season, though, from Dandenong to Richmond . . .
“We’re doing more running, and it’s a lot more involved. There’s been more personal, one-on-one development, too, which has helped my game improve massively over the last three months that I’ve been down at Richmond.”
Elton, who produced some eye-catching efforts for the Tigers in the opening round of the NAB Cup a couple of weeks ago, is being mentored at the Club by another promising tall, young player in David Astbury, who is only two years older than him.
“I’ve been working fairly closely with him and getting a bit of advice from him,” Elton said.
“Jack Riewoldt’s also been one of the biggest helps for me, helping me out in the forward line, and Mark Williams, the forward line coach, has helped me, big-time, develop my game.”
It hasn’t taken Elton long to develop a strong rapport with his fellow 2011 Tiger National Draft selections Brandon Ellis and Matthew Arnot, and he’s genuinely excited about forging something special in the future with them at Tigerland . . .
“Brandon and Matty . . . we’ve all become pretty close since joining the Club,” he said.
“I knew Brandon at draft camp and got on with him pretty well.
“We’re all really keen to get an opportunity and take it with both hands and give it a red-hot crack.”blog comments powered by Disqus
