| Eddie Betts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Betts playing with Adelaide in June 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Edward Robert Betts III | ||
| Born | (1986-11-26)26 November 1986 (age 38) Port Lincoln,South Australia, Australia | ||
| Original teams | Calder Cannons (TAC Cup) Templestowe (EFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 3,2004 pre-season draft | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 2005,Carlton vs.Kangaroos, atTelstra Dome | ||
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) | ||
| Position | Small Forward | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2005–2013 | Carlton | 184 (290) | |
| 2014–2019 | Adelaide | 132 (310) | |
| 2020–2021 | Carlton | 34(40) | |
| Total | 350 (640) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2007-2013 | Indigenous All-Stars | 2 (2) | |
| 2020 | All Stars | 1 (0) | |
| International team honours | |||
| 2010–2017 | Australia | 7 (2) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2021. 2 Representative statistics correct as of 2020. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Edward Robert Betts III (born 26 November 1986) is a formerAustralian rules football player who played as a forward forCarlton andAdelaide in theAustralian Football League between 2005 and 2021. As of 2024[update] he is an educator and mentor toIndigenous Australian youth, heading up the Eddie Betts Foundation.
Betts was originally drafted by Carlton with pick No. 3 in the2004 Pre-Season Draft, where he played for nine years before Adelaide signed him as a free agent at the end of 2013. He moved back to Carlton at the conclusion of the2019 season, where he would finish his career at the end of the2021 season, having played a total of 350 games and kicked 640 goals. By the time of his retirement in 2021, Betts held the record forgoal assists in the AFL, with a total of 318.
Following retirement, Betts worked as a part-time development coach at theGeelong Football Club before departing in November 2022 to focus onhis foundation supporting youngIndigenous Australians in sport. He is also ananti-racism advocate.
Edward Robert Betts III[1] was born on born 26 November 1986[2][3] inPort Lincoln,South Australia, and raised by his mother, Cindy,[4] inKalgoorlie,Western Australia.[5] He is ofWirangu,Kokatha (both of the far west coast of SA) and Guburn people (of theWestern Australian Goldfields region), and describes himself as having been a shy child. He grew up surrounded by a large extended family, on both his mother's and father's side, in which everyone was very caring and loving.[4]
He played junior football for theMines Rovers Football Club,[6] before moving back to Port Lincoln, where his father lived, to play for theMallee Park Peckers.[5] During this time, he found that he was the only Aboriginal child in the class, and the only one who could not read and write, and received no help from the school.[4] His off-field behaviour became a problem, including smoking, drinking, drugs, and truancy. As a result, his mother arranged for the 15-year-old Betts to move toMelbourne and begin a TAFE program run byIndigenous former footballerPhil Krakouer.[5]
Moving to Melbourne, a large city where he was separated from extended family and community, was a huge cultural shock for the teenage Betts, and he credits the move by his mother Cindy and Aunt Tessa to Melbourne to support him as crucial to his later success. He later wrote about his lack ofliteracy skills at this time, and how he struggled with understanding what was written on the boards about football. It was only during his second year at Carlton FC that he realised that he needed a better education and enrolled in literacy andnumeracy classes.[4]
In Melbourne, Betts played football forTemplestowe, where he won theEFL Division 3 league best and fairest in 2002,[7] andTAC Cup football for theCalder Cannons. He represented Vic Metro as a 16-year-old in the 2003AFL Under 18 Championships and was selected in the Under 18 All-Australian team that season. He was too young to be selected in the AFL draft at the end of 2003, and he played another season with the Cannons, but was hindered byosteitis pubis. He was overlooked in the2004 National Draft as a result.[5]
After being overlooked in the National Draft, Betts was recruited to the AFL with pick 3 in the2004 Pre-Season Draft by the Carlton Football Club.[5][8] He attracted attention as a lively small forward during the 2005 pre-season, and made his AFL debut in round 1 against theKangaroos. He kicked 19 goals in 19 games in 2006, playing as a permanent small forward and becoming a fan favourite.[6] The next year, Betts won theGoal of the Year for his goal in round 21 againstCollingwood, abanana kick from the boundary under pressure.[9]
Throughout his first four seasons, Betts had a consistent output of roughly a goal per game. From 2009, Betts' goalkicking output increased, kicking 38 goals in 2009, then 42 in 2010 to top Carlton's goal kicking for the first time, while also making the top 10 in the club best and fairest.[6][10] Betts started slowly in 2011, being on the cusp of being dropped early in the season,[11] but rebounded to kick 50 goals for the season,[10] including a career-best eight goals against Essendon in round 18.[12]
Betts kicked 48 goals in 2012,[10] stepping up in the absence of several of the Blues' key forwards to become their major forward target.[13] In that year he led the club's goalkicking, was runner-up in the club best and fairest count and was named in the 40 manAll-Australian shortlist for the second year in a row.[14]
Betts kicked 27 goals in 18 games in a 2013 season interrupted by a suspension and a fractured jaw, including five goals in Carlton's two finals.[15] At the end of the season, Betts entered the market as a restricted free agent, and in October he notified Carlton he had accepted a four-year contract understood to be worth about $2 million (AUS) to join theAdelaide Crows.[16] Carlton had 72 hours to match the Crows offer but declined to do so, allowing the confirmation of Betts' switch to occur on 4 October, the first day of the free agency period.[15]
In his first season at Adelaide, Betts played all 22 games and kicked a career-best 51 goals, leading Adelaide's goalkicking table and finishing eighth in theColeman Medal. He also had more goal assists than anyone else in the AFL and was ranked third in the league for tackles inside the forward 50. Betts played his 200th AFL game againstHawthorn atAdelaide Oval in round 17.[17]
On 26 May 2015, the AFL launched an inquiry into Betts' signing with Adelaide after the outgoing Carlton coach,Mick Malthouse, claimed to have been told by the current Carlton and former Adelaide CEO Steven Trigg that Adelaide had illegally signed Betts 18 months prior to him departing Carlton.[18] Adelaide categorically denied the claim, as did Carlton and Betts' manager.[19] Betts and all other parties were subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing in the affair.[20] Following on from this controversy, Betts improved on his stellar 2014 season by kicking 63 goals in 2015, finishing third in theColeman Medal, and finally achievingAll-Australian honours.[17] Betts also was awarded theGoal of the Year in 2015 for the second time in his career; againstFremantle in wet conditions, he managed to control the ball near the boundary at half-forward and kicked a left-foottorpedo punt from 50 metres out on the boundary line, which dribbled through for a goal.[21]
In aShowdown in round 3, 2017, Betts was racially abused by aPort Adelaide club member. The offender was evicted from the ground and had his membership suspended indefinitely.[22] In the Crows' next match, Betts was given the honour of tossing the coin before the match along withEssendon playerAnthony McDonald-Tipungwuti before kicking 6 goals, taking the lead in theColeman Medal in the Crows' 65-point win.[23] This included 5 first-half goals, and he and McDonald-Tipungwuti kicked 10 goals between them for the match.[24] In round 7, he kicked his 500th career goal againstNorth Melbourne in the second quarter, before being flattened by defenderScott Thompson and immediately getting a set shot to kick his second goal in a row. Overall he got three goals for the match in spite of the Crows losing by 59 points.[25] Betts had another good performance in 2017's SirDouglas Nicholls Indigenous Round, kicking three goals in the Crows' 100-point win overFremantle.[26] In August 2017, Betts was admitted to hospital with appendicitis and missedAdelaide's round 19 draw againstCollingwood but returned the following week for the Showdown and kicked 4 goals, pushing up to second place on the overall Showdown leading goal-kickers list, only behind captainTaylor Walker. Betts was a part of Adelaide's losing Grand Final team that year, kicking one goal in the match.
In 2018, Betts kicked only 29 goals for the year, making it his worst return in 5 years at the Crows. Also in 2018, Betts missed four matches due to hamstring injuries, having missed only one match in his previous four seasons at Adelaide.
On Round 5 of the 2019 season, he played in his 300th AFL game, against theGold Coast Suns. In front of a roaring crowd and with 6 minutes left in what turned out to be an easy win, he scored a classic left-footed banana that won him an unparalleled 4th AFL Goal of the Year award.[27]
At the conclusion of the2019 season, Betts was traded back to Carlton.[28]
On 19 November 2019, Betts was given his previous jumper number at Carlton, no. 19, once again.
On 16 August 2021, Betts announced via Instagram he would be playing his 350th and final AFL match againstGreater Western Sydney on 21 August 2021.[29] Betts was chaired off the ground following the match.[30]
After his retirement, Betts began his job as a developmental coach at Geelong in October 2021,[31] also bringing in former Adelaide teammate and delisted playerTyson Stengle and turned him into a member of the2022 All-Australian roster.[citation needed] He resigned from the role in November 2022.[32]
While playing for Carlton, Betts worked as ateacher's aide atAssumption College inKilmore, Victoria. During this time he also studied sport recreation, intending to become a primary school teacher.[5]
After leaving his coaching role at the Cats in November 2022, Betts turned his attention to his foundation, the Eddie Betts Foundation, which supports youngIndigenous Australians in sport.[32][33] The foundation, a registered charity, runs a football academy and basketball program, as well as education, community, and mentoring programs.[34]
When Betts entered the AFL at 17 years of age, he had the reading and writing ability of a six- to seven-year-old, and knows the challenges and disadvantage this can cause young people, leading him to create a series of educational books for children.[citation needed] HisLil' Homies book series aim to help kids read with confidence and enjoyment and give them the chance to express their own personality into the story.[35]
His first book,My Kind: Rap Yourself and Others in Kindness with Eddie and the Lil' Homies (2018), is about spreading kindness and helping kids understand acceptance and equality.[36]
My People (2019), Betts' second book for children, is about sharing and educating kids onAboriginal culture and Australia's First Nations peoples. Betts is often asked to visit schools to share his knowledge and experience.[35][37]
TheLil' Homies series has been adapted for television, with a ten-part series released onNITV andNetflix (the first co-commission between the two) in early 2024. The series starsHunter Page-Lochard as Eddie,Miah Madden as Lottie, Andrew Dang as Tal, and Billy Betts (Eddie Betts' eight-year-old son) as Junior.[38]
Betts' memoir,The Boy from Boomerang Crescent, was published in August 2022.[39] Part of Betts' motivation for writing it was to help educate non-Indigenous Australians "how we live as Aboriginal people, within the communities. What we face in our life," and the challenges faced by Aboriginal children.[4]
It won the Social Impact Book of the Year at the 2023Australian Book Industry Awards.[40]
In 2014, Betts' first year atAdelaide, he converted a series of difficult shots at goal from the right forward pocket at the northern end ofAdelaide Oval. Then-coachBrenton Sanderson dubbed that area of the ground "Eddie's Pocket", and the name has caught on with fans and commentators.[41] Betts' 2015, 2016, and 2019 goal-of-the-year-winning goals were from the opposite pocket, the left forward pocket at the same end.[42][43]
Betts features in the 2021fly-on-the-wall documentary TV seriesMaking Their Mark, which showed the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on several AFL clubs, players, and staff.[44][45]
In September 2021 Australian musicianPaul Kelly released a song inspired by Betts and his battle with racism, titledEvery Step of the Way.[46][47]
Betts married his long-term partner, Anna Scullie, in a surprise wedding in August 2015, after several years' engagement.[48] They have five children, three boys and twin daughters.[49][50][51][52]
Betts has a lot of pride in hisAboriginal heritage and culture. He cites his favourite moment was the goal that he kicked in theSir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round while wearing a jersey designed by his AuntSusie Betts, which became his third Goal of the Year.[4]
Betts has faced racism in his life and during his football career, and has become "a prominent voice against racism in Australia". In 2016, a spectator threw abanana at him as he was playing for the Crows againstPort Adelaide,as a form of racial abuse,[53][a] and the incident still haunts him, and taints his enjoyment of the fruit. After watching the 2019 filmThe Australian Dream about the abuse suffered by fellow AFL footballerAdam Goodes when he played for theSydney Swans, he and many other Indigenous became aware of the extent of the problem for the first time. He felt a responsibility as a leader for taking a stand, and to continue to call out racism whenever it occurred.[4]
In 2022 he and his children were asked by a lifeguard to leave a public swimming pool, because "an elderly white couple had said I was making their little grandchild uncomfortable".[4]
On the evening of 28 March 2024, a group of people drove past the Betts family home and racially abused his children, who were playing basketball in the front yard. Betts posted video of the incident from his security camera onInstagram, writing "Aboriginal kids deserve to be able to play safely, free from racism and abuse over the fence. We are not even safe in our own homes. If you know who this is please let them know that I'm open to having a chat about how much this hurts our kids."Victoria Police were called to investigate the incident, andTanya Hosch andAndrew Dillon put out a statement on behalf of the AFL offering support to the Betts family.[58]
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 | |||||
| 2005 | Carlton | 19 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 86 | 36 | 122 | 17 | 42 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 1.9 | 6.4 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 0 |
| 2006 | Carlton | 19 | 21 | 20 | 10 | 128 | 100 | 228 | 58 | 70 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 6.1 | 4.8 | 10.9 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 0 |
| 2007 | Carlton | 19 | 17 | 21 | 11 | 108 | 94 | 202 | 44 | 66 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 6.4 | 5.5 | 11.9 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 0 |
| 2008 | Carlton | 19 | 18 | 25 | 10 | 143 | 90 | 233 | 62 | 33 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 7.9 | 5.0 | 12.9 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2009 | Carlton | 19 | 22 | 38 | 21 | 156 | 109 | 265 | 55 | 78 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 7.1 | 5.0 | 12.1 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 2 |
| 2010 | Carlton | 19 | 23 | 42 | 29 | 178 | 140 | 318 | 91 | 76 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 7.7 | 6.1 | 13.8 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3 |
| 2011 | Carlton | 19 | 24 | 50 | 22 | 176 | 121 | 297 | 90 | 84 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 7.3 | 5.0 | 12.4 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 4 |
| 2012 | Carlton | 19 | 22 | 48 | 30 | 182 | 103 | 285 | 72 | 62 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 8.3 | 4.7 | 13.0 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1 |
| 2013 | Carlton | 19 | 18 | 27 | 15 | 125 | 85 | 210 | 49 | 61 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 6.9 | 4.7 | 11.7 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 0 |
| 2014 | Adelaide | 18 | 22 | 51 | 22 | 167 | 123 | 290 | 53 | 74 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 7.6 | 5.6 | 13.2 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 4 |
| 2015 | Adelaide | 18 | 23 | 63 | 25 | 213 | 99 | 312 | 84 | 65 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 9.3 | 4.3 | 13.6 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 7 |
| 2016 | Adelaide | 18 | 24 | 75 | 31 | 231 | 89 | 320 | 79 | 85 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 9.6 | 3.7 | 13.3 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 10 |
| 2017 | Adelaide | 18 | 24 | 55 | 34 | 210 | 108 | 318 | 78 | 80 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 8.8 | 4.5 | 13.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 5 |
| 2018 | Adelaide | 18 | 18 | 29 | 20 | 143 | 96 | 239 | 43 | 50 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 7.9 | 5.3 | 13.3 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1 |
| 2019 | Adelaide | 18 | 21 | 37 | 21 | 155 | 96 | 251 | 49 | 52 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 7.4 | 4.6 | 12.0 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 5 |
| 2020 | Carlton | 19 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 89 | 44 | 133 | 24 | 41 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 5.9 | 2.9 | 8.8 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 3 |
| 2021 | Carlton | 19 | 19 | 27 | 16 | 121 | 59 | 180 | 42 | 31 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 6.4 | 3.1 | 9.5 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 0 |
| Career | 350 | 640 | 342 | 2611 | 1592 | 4203 | 990 | 1050 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 4.6 | 12.0 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 45 | ||
In an exclusive one-on-one interview for Living Black, Betts spoke to Karla Grant
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Coach:Malthouse | ||
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Coach:O'Loughlin | ||
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Coach:Clarkson | ||