If you told any debutant they would be a part of a 100-plus point win, you wouldn’t see many turning that down. That was the case for Casey Demons debutant Corey Ellison, who was over the moon with kicking off his career in a 107-point win over North Melbourne last week.
“The game was awesome. I can't really fault the boy’s performance from a 107-point victory, however, we are always looking for ways to improve,” Ellison said when speaking with Melbourne Media.
“We tried to focus on the first five minutes of the game and come out hard and we didn't really do that as well as we could have.
“However, our ability to turn that around and get the ball rolling our way I think was massive for us.
“Even the last few weeks before that, being able to play the four quarters of footy is something we focused on and we were as close to that as we’ve been on the weekend.”
It was a solid performance for the defender on debut, the stat sheet showing nine disposals at the end of the game, which included five kicks, four handballs, three marks and four tackles.
“I was satisfied (with my game),” Ellison said.
“I didn't set the house on fire, but I think I played my role as good as I could have in most scenarios.
“I think for the defenders on the night, the way the game was played out, the ball didn't really come down our end too much and all we could do at the end of the day was win our critical contest, which is something we talked about a lot.”
Being his first game for a VFL club and playing on Marvel Stadium in primetime Thursday night football, Ellison could be forgiven for having a few nerves - but that wasn’t the case.
“They named me in the squad on Wednesday night, as they had the last few weeks,” he said.
“However, I got the call from H (senior coach Mark Corrigan) after training to say I’d been selected to play in the backline which was awesome to hear.
“Leading into the game I wasn't really that nervous as I’d played quite a lot of the practice matches, so I was pretty comfortable with the group.
“All the defensive group have been really welcoming and making me feel comfortable in my new role. I felt at home playing with those guys down there.”
A local boy, Ellison’s home club is Cranbourne Football Netball Club and was recruited from the Dandenong Stingrays in 2020.
“I played a lot of senior footy down at Cranbourne whilst playing in and out of the Stingrays team,” Ellison said.
“Then 2019 in my under top age year at the Stingrays (U19s), I got to play one game at Frankston VFL - which was a good experience at the time.”
Whilst still finding his spot in the current side, the twenty-year-old certainly hasn’t put any limits on what the possibilities the future could hold, still aiming to play at the highest level.
“Obviously, I still have the aspiration to play at AFL level,” Ellison said.
“My goal this year is to play as much VFL footy this year then see what happens.”
