By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne local and 2022 Casey premiership player Corey Ellison has made a seamless transition to his new VFL club, Williamstown.
Ellison moved seeking opportunity, with Seagulls coach Justin Plapp, who himself has coached at Casey in the past, selling him the vision of playing him forward.
It’s where the 194 centimetre talent played his junior footy before honing his craft as a key defender for the Dees to get a chance to play state league level.
Casey’s 2022 premiership coach Mark Corrigan said following last season’s flag win that he sees AFL attributes in Ellison, just 22-years-old.
“While I’m still semi-young, I want to see if I can push myself to go to the highest level,” Ellison said of the move.
“I felt like in the few years at Casey, it hadn’t happened yet and I thought ‘if I’m serious about it I don’t want to look back in 5-10 years and think oh should I have moved or tried something different’ so I thought I would try my luck at Williamstown where I have the opportunity to play a different position.
“It’s hard at Casey being an aligned club where you have to slide in around the AFL boys, which is the way it works.
“It has been good to be at a club where you train with the same boys all week and I can play where the coaches see me as a best fit, rather than fitting in around other people.”
Ellison scored multiple goals in each of his first five games before being held to just one behind in torrid conditions at Willy’s blustery home ground on a wintry Sunday against Collingwood.
As well as kicking 12.4, he has averaged more than three marks a game, transferring the good hands and competitiveness which he showed in defence last year inside 50 for Williamstown.
Speed and agility were the focuses of an interrupted preseason, to demonstrate his mobility given he is slightly undersized compared to some others gunning for similar positions.
The training habits he learned at Casey is something Ellison has looked to carry into his footy at the new club, but divorcing himself from having AFL-listed teammates allows him to express himself on the field.
“For me, it is about trying to play as if I’m an AFL footballer,” Ellison, who has played locally at the Eagles for several seasons, said.
“I’m a VFL footballer, but I want to have that mindset that I’m capable of going out there and playing with confidence.
“I think last year I would sometimes go into my shell a little bit being surrounded by so many AFL players, it’s easy to take a back seat and let them do it.
“But I need to make sure I can be versatile and confident enough to back myself in to do what the AFL boys I’m playing against are capable of doing as well.”
