| Brandon Ellis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Ellis playing for Richmond in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Brandon Ellis | ||
| Nickname(s) | Beavis, Brando[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1993-08-03)3 August 1993 (age 31) | ||
| Original team(s) | Calder Cannons (TAC Cup) West Coburg (EDFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 15,2011 AFL national draft | ||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder /defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2012–2019 | Richmond | 176 (58) | |
| 2020–2024 | Gold Coast | 75 (27) | |
| Total | 251 (85) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Brandon Ellis (born 3 August 1993) is a former professionalAustralian rules footballer who played for theRichmond Football Club andGold Coast Suns in theAustralian Football League (AFL). He previously played 176 matches over eight seasons atRichmond, including in the 2017 and 2019 premierships.
Ellis was raised in the inner-suburb ofCarlton North, four kilometres north ofMelbourne.[2]
He first played football in the Auskick program inBrunswick at the age of four.[3] At age seven he began playing with the under 10s side atWest Coburg, winning the best-and-fairest award despite being many years younger than most of his teammates.[3]
Ellis quit football temporarily in year 10 in the aftermath of his father's terminal cancer diagnoses.[4]
He later played representative football with theCalder Cannons in theTAC Cup where he played 29 games across his bottom and top aged seasons.[5][6][7]
He was part of West Coburg's under-18s premiership in 2010, where he was coached byPhil Cleary.[8]
Ellis represented the Victorian Metro side at the 2010 Under 18 national championships. He recorded a 76 per cent disposal efficiency and the most score involvements of any defender in the competition. He earned All-Australian selection for his performances.[9]
Ellis attended high school atPrinces Hill Secondary College in the Melbourne suburb of North Carlton.[7]
Ellis was drafted to Richmond with the 15th selection in2011 National Draft.[6]
He debuted on Round 1 the following season, in a 44-point loss to traditional rivalsCarlton.[10]He was nominated for the2012 AFL Rising Star award in Round 17 after recording 21 disposals and 5 marks in Richmond's close loss toNorth Melbourne.[11]
In Round 8,2013 Ellis recorded a career-best 39 disposals in Richmond's 34-point victory overMelbourne.[12] Ellis placed equal fifth at the club in theBrownlow Medal tally that year, recording 5 votes. The same year he was selected in the inauguralAFL Players Association22under22 team, as one of the best young players in the league.[13]
Ellis received the Jack Titus medal in 2014, for finishing second in the Richmond Best-and-Fairest count.[14] He led the club in disposals and rebound 50s and placed fourth in the club at the Brownlow Medal.[15] He was also nominated to theAll-Australian squad of 40 but was ultimately not selected to the final side.[16] That same year he earned his second selection to theAFLPA's22under22 team.[17]
Ellis had another strong season in 2015, relishing his role as the club's number one outside midfielder.[citation needed] He topped the club for uncontested possessions and ranked second for total disposals.[18] He failed to make an impact in Richmond's losing elimination final however, recording only 10 disposals on the day.[10]
Between round 4 2014 and round 18 2015, Ellis recorded a club record streak of 27 straight matches with 20 or more disposals.[19]
He played his 100th AFL game in Round 12, 2016, against theGold Coast Suns at theMelbourne Cricket Ground.[20] He finished the season ranked 3rd at the club for disposals in 2016.
In 2017 he changed roles, shifting from the wing and into Richmond's half back line.[21]
After 111 consecutive matches played at AFL level, Ellis was omitted from the Richmond side to faceCollingwood in round 6, 2018. It was his first missed match since round 12, 2013.[22] He returned to senior football in round 10, after spending four weeks with the club's reserves side at VFL level.[10] Ellis played the 150th AFL match of his career in round 20's win overGeelong at the MCG.[10] After playing in each of the final 13 matches of the season, Ellis was dropped from the club's side for the Qualifying final againstHawthorn in order to make way from the injury return of All-Australian squad memberKane Lambert.[23]
In 2019 Ellis returned to a role on the wing. He finished the 2019 season by playing in a winning grand final, his second premiership in three seasons at Richmond.
He had played 176 games over eight seasons at Richmond.[10]
On the opening day of the 2019 free agency period, Ellis signed a five-year contract withGold Coast, officially moving when Richmond declined to match the Suns offer despite his status as a restricted free agent.[24]
Ellis played in 16 of a possible 17 games in his COVID-19 pandemic affected first season at Gold Coast, placing fifth in the club's best and fairest award.[25]
In July 2024, Ellis retired effective immediately.[26]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2012 | Richmond | 42 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 183 | 147 | 330 | 80 | 36 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 8.7 | 7.0 | 15.7 | 3.8 | 1.7 | 0 |
| 2013 | Richmond | 5 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 246 | 144 | 390 | 124 | 45 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 11.7 | 6.9 | 18.6 | 5.9 | 2.1 | 5 |
| 2014 | Richmond | 5 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 355 | 246 | 601 | 126 | 56 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 15.4 | 10.7 | 26.1 | 5.5 | 2.4 | 9 |
| 2015 | Richmond | 5 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 342 | 252 | 594 | 146 | 77 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 14.9 | 11.0 | 25.8 | 6.3 | 3.3 | 7 |
| 2016 | Richmond | 5 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 290 | 230 | 520 | 134 | 56 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 13.2 | 10.5 | 23.6 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 3 |
| 2017# | Richmond | 5 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 331 | 226 | 557 | 126 | 51 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 13.2 | 9.0 | 22.3 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 1 |
| 2018 | Richmond | 5 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 202 | 154 | 356 | 87 | 38 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 11.2 | 8.6 | 19.8 | 4.8 | 2.1 | 0 |
| 2019# | Richmond | 5 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 269 | 216 | 485 | 116 | 57 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 11.7 | 9.4 | 21.1 | 5.0 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2020[a] | Gold Coast | 4 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 194 | 99 | 293 | 68 | 42 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 12.1 | 6.2 | 18.3 | 4.3 | 2.6 | 0 |
| 2021 | Gold Coast | 4 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 273 | 150 | 423 | 130 | 47 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 15.2 | 8.3 | 23.5 | 7.2 | 2.6 | 5 |
| 2022 | Gold Coast | 4 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 314 | 146 | 460 | 115 | 47 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 15.0 | 7.0 | 21.9 | 5.5 | 2.2 | 5 |
| 2023 | Gold Coast | 4 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 195 | 93 | 288 | 86 | 37 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 12.2 | 5.8 | 18.0 | 5.4 | 2.3 | 0 |
| 2024 | Gold Coast | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 14 | 42 | 9 | 5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 7.0 | 3.5 | 10.5 | 2.3 | 1.3 | |
| Career | 251 | 85 | 78 | 3222 | 2117 | 5339 | 1347 | 593 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 12.9 | 8.4 | 21.3 | 5.4 | 2.4 | 35 | ||
Notes
Team
Individual
His father was treated for kidney cancer when Ellis was a child and in 2009, also received a terminal throat cancer diagnoses but overcame the illness through six months of extensiveradiation andchemotherapy.[4]
As a child, Ellis grew up and lived in ahousing commission flat in Melbourne's inner north.[2] As a teenager he was frequently exposed to the crime prevalent in the area including regular incidents of his clothes being stolen from the flat's shared clothesline, himself thieving clothes from city retailers and watching friends stabbed and assaulted in front of him.[3]
