Corey Ellis (born 9 October 1996) is a former professional
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
player for the
Gold Coast Football Club
The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara.
The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...
in the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
(AFL). He previously played 27 matches over four years at after being drafted there with the 12th overall pick in the
2014 AFL National Draft.
Early life and junior football
Ellis played junior football at
Keilor
Keilor is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank and Hume local government areas. Keilor recorded a population of 5,906 at the 2021 census.
Whi ...
in the
Essendon District Football League
The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competition c ...
.
He played alongside fellow future AFL player
Jayden Laverde
Jayden Laverde ( ; born 12 April 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with the 20th overall selection in the 2014 national draft.
Early ...
in eight consecutive premierships, and was awarded best on ground honours on four occasions.
He moved on to play
TAC Cup
The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...
football for the
Western Jets
The Western Jets is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Victorian premier U19 competition, the NAB League, since its inception in 1992. The club have developmental squads in the U16, however much of the attention is towards its U ...
.
In 2014 he played eight games for the club, averaging totals of 22 disposals and 5 clearances.
His best game for the year came against the Northern Territory Thunder, where he recorded 35 disposals, 11 marks and 2 goals.
Ellis missed the final match of the season however, when he suffered a stress fracture in his foot.
Prior to the injury Ellis had represented the Victorian Metropolitan side at the
2014 AFL Under 18 Championships.
There he recorded averages of 16 disposals and four tackles in four games for the side.
Though he missed the national combine in his draft year as a result of the foot injury, he remained a highly ranked prospect.
He was particularly praised for his positional versatility, ball use and decision-making skills.
AFL career
Richmond (2015–2018)
Ellis was drafted by the
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...
with their first selection and 12th overall in the 2014 National Draft.
Ellis missed a large share of the club's 2015 pre-season training as he recovered from the foot injury that restricted his draft testing. He made his league debut against in round 5 of the
2015 season where he recorded 13 disposals and kicked a goal. Ellis was ruled out following the club's round 12 loss against , suffering a foot injury that would require surgery.
It was later revealed that this injury had been caused by a genetic anomaly being that Ellis was born with an extra bone fragment on the outside of each of his feet. Subsequent surgeries removed the fragments from both feet.
He did not return to the club's AFL side for the remainder of the 2015 season and finished it having played six games with an average of nine disposals per game.
Despite a limited pre-season training schedule Ellis returned to the club's senior side for round 1 of the 2016 season. He played 11 of the first 12 matches of the season including a round 6 match against where he recorded a then career-best 23 disposals.
Ellis played primarily across half-back in these matches, filling the void left by the injured
Bachar Houli
Bachar Houli ( ar, بشار حولي, born 12 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 232 games over a 15-year career with and in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player with Richmond ...
. He missed the club's round 14 clash with the however, after suffering a groin injury in the week prior. He spent six weeks rehabbing the injury before making his way back to the club's reserves team in August 2016. Ellis did not return to the club's senior team in 2016 despite being available for the last three matches of the season.
He finished the season having played 11 matches at an average of 15 disposals and 3.3 tackles per game.
In the early stages of his 2017 pre-season, Ellis saw the continuing effects of the previous year's groin injury. By mid January however, he was back to a full training load. Though he did not start the 2017 season in Richmond's senior side, Ellis made his way into the team by round 7, for the club's match-up with the at
Etihad Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...
.
He was dropped from the side after two weeks, following just 12 disposals and no tackles in the club's round 8 loss to . It was ten rounds later before he had another taste of senior football, returning in round 18 against the
GWS Giants
The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...
. Though his contributions were minimal that week, his following fortnight was significant, putting up 14 disposals and goal against and 10 disposals and two goals against in rounds 19 and 20 respectively.
He played just one more senior match that season as he was dropped following the round 21 match against Geelong. Ellis' year did not end there however, as he joined Richmond's reserves side in their VFL finals run. This period included playing in three winning finals and in the club's losing grand final against
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...
. The following week he was named as an emergency, but did not play, in Richmond's
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...
team. Despite having no significant injury troubles, he finished the 2017 season having played just six AFL matches.
For the first time in his young career Ellis would complete a full slate of pre-season training leading into the 2018 AFL season.
This work saw him play in both of the club's official
pre-season matches before being selected to play in round 1's season opener against . Ellis was relatively ineffectual over the season's first two matches however, recording 23 disposals and five tackles in total before being subsequently dropped from Richmond's round 3 side. Despite his inability to impact at senior level, Ellis was immediately impressive in his first reserves match of the season, recording 32 disposals and nine tackles in Richmond's VFL win over
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...
. He remained in a wing and half back role at the lower level for a further six weeks, before transitioning to play predominantly as an inside midfielder. A strong vein of form in that role, including a team-high 27 disposals in a VFL match in late June, saw Ellis earn a second chance at AFL football that year. He would again fail to convert his form to the top level however, managing only 23 combined disposals in his two matches across rounds 16 and 17.
Ellis was forced to return to VFL football, where he remained for the rest of the regular season and finals series. He played a contributing role across the club's two losing finals, including gathering 23 disposals in a knock-out semi-final loss to the reserves side. Ellis finished the season having played four matches at AFL level and a further 18 with the club's reserves side in the VFL.
During the final days of Richmond's 2018 AFL finals series, media reports began to emerge linking Ellis to a trade deal with . Within a week, ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' reported that he had agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Suns and would be traded there alongside teammate
Anthony Miles pending an agreement between the two clubs in the
forthcoming player exchange period. Richmond football boss
Neil Balme
Neil Allen Balme (born 15 January 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), as well as for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australian National Footba ...
publicly confirmed the reports just three days out from the start of the trade period and suggested the club would seek little in return for the pair's departure.
Gold Coast (2019–2020)
On the opening day of the
2018 trade period Ellis was traded to Gold Coast along with Miles in exchange for a swap of future 3rd round picks.
After 4 games with the Gold Coast, Ellis was dropped at the end of the 2020 season.
VFL career
Coburg (2021–''Present'')
Ellis signed for Coburg for the 2021 season.
Statistics
: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season''
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
,
, 32 , , 6 , , 3 , , 1 , , 20 , , 28 , , 48 , , 11 , , 10 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 3.3 , , 4.7 , , 8.0 , , 1.8 , , 1.7
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
,
, 32 , , 11 , , 1 , , 3 , , 97 , , 71 , , 168 , , 33 , , 33 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 8.8 , , 6.5 , , 15.3 , , 3.0 , , 3.0
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
,
, 32 , , 6 , , 3 , , 0 , , 30 , , 30 , , 60 , , 14 , , 13 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , , 5.0 , , 10.0 , , 2.3 , , 2.2
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
, 32 , , 4 , , 0 , , 0 , , 15 , , 31 , , 46 , , 9 , , 11 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 3.8 , , 7.8 , , 11.5 , , 2.3 , , 2.8
, - class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3, Career
! 27
! 7
! 5
! 162
! 160
! 322
! 67
! 67
! 0.3
! 0.2
! 6.0
! 5.9
! 11.9
! 2.5
! 2.5
Honours and achievements
Team
*
McClelland Trophy
The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...
():
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
References
External links
*
*
*
Corey Ellis' statisticsfrom Footy Wire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Corey
1996 births
Living people
Richmond Football Club players
Western Jets players
Coburg Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
People educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School