Rupert Wills (born 20 May 1993) is an

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 ...

er who played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

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).

Early life and state football

Wills was born in New Zealand, but moved to Australia with his family when he was seven. He was educated at Scotch College in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, playing football with the third team in

Year 11 Year 11 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is the eleventh or twelfth year of core education. For some Year 11 students it is their final year ...

and then alternating between the second and first team in

Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory educa ...

. After graduating, he travelled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to work at

Harrow College Harrow College is a further education college in the London Borough of Harrow, England, with two campuses in Harrow and Harrow Weald.http://www.educationuk.org/pls/hot_bc/bc_profile.page_pls_profile_details?x=133784075207&y=0&a=0&z=869&p_prof_i ...

. A year later, upon his return from England, Wills joined Old Scotch in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

(VAFA) in 2013. In 2013, he played 5 senior games and 15 reserves games, and in 2014 played 11 senior games and a single reserve game, totalling 32 games played for the club. He was named among the best in six of his senior games in 2014. In 2015, Collingwood's

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) manager, Luke Gatti, invited Wills to trial for their top-up squad. He played six senior games for them before being drafted to their

(AFL) side. A series of injuries, including a

hamstring injury Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are ...

, sidelined him and prevented him from making any more appearances that season.

AFL career

Wills was drafted by the

with their third selection and sixty-third overall in the 2015 national draft. He made his debut in a nineteen point victory against

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

in the 19th round of the 2016 season at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

, laying 11

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

. These 11 tackles, at the time put Rupert as the VFL/AFL record-holder for most tackles laid in a game on debut. After his debut, he played another four games, totalling five games played in his debut season, in which he averaged 17 disposals and 8.6 tackles per game. In the 2017 season, Wills made only one senior appearance, after suffering a quad muscle injury in the pre-season and a

calf muscle The triceps surae consists of two muscles located at the calf – the two-headed gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles both insert into the calcaneus, the bone of the heel of the human foot, and form the major part of the muscle of the pos ...

injury in April. Despite the lack of games, Wills signed a two-year contract extension at the end of the season. In the 2018 season, Wills didn't feature at all at the senior level. In the 2019 season, Wills made only three appearances in the first half of the season, before resurging with the last four games of the regular season, which were among the best games of his career, averaging 18.8 disposals, 9 contested possessions, and 6.8 tackles. At the end of the season, he signed a one-year contract extension. In November 2020, Wills was delisted by Collingwood.

Personal life

Wills is currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season'' , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! 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 ...

, , 33 , , 5 , , 1 , , 1 , , 37 , , 51 , , 88 , , 14 , , 43 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 7.4 , , 10.2 , , 17.6 , , 2.8 , , 8.6 , - ! 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 ...

, , 33 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , , 7 , , 8 , , 15 , , 2 , , 5 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , 7.0 , , 8.0 , , 15.0 , , 2.0 , , 5.0 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! 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 ...

, , 33 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , 33 , , 9 , , 0 , , 1 , , 48 , , 93 , , 141 , , 23 , , 67 , , 0 , , 0.1 , , 5.3 , , 10.3 , , 15.7 , , 2.6 , , 7.4 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, , 33 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 43 , , 82 , , 125 , , 10 , , 38 , , 0 , , 0 , , 5.4 , , 10.3 , , 15.6 , , 1.3 , , 4.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 23 ! 1 ! 3 ! 135 ! 234 ! 369 ! 49 ! 153 ! 0.04 ! 0.1 ! 5.9 ! 10.2 ! 16.0 ! 2.1 ! 6.7

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Rupert 1993 births Living people Collingwood Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)