Will Elliott, the son of former Australian Test cricketer Matthew Elliott, has lit up the VFL with a contender for mark of the year.
The 19-year-old ruck-forward had the perfect sit under a long kick into the Northern Bullants’ forward 50 on Sunday and gave AFL recruiters something to ponder with an extraordinary highlight.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Will Elliott takes massive screamer in the VFL.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Elliott jumped onto the shoulder of Carlton reserves defender Logan Prout and pulled down a massive hanger.
“Elliott out the back, he’ll get a fly here… OHH! He’ll get a fly alright!” Nigel Carmody said on commentary.
Campbell Brown has already been impressed with what he’s seen from the prodigious young talent.
“He has got so much potential,” Brown said after he took the incredible mark.
“He’s been brilliant this afternoon. In the air, on the ground. That’s a nice ride.”
The youngster then took another high mark — albeit not quite as impressive as the first — late in the game to help set-up the match-sealing goal for the Bullants.
“He’s played the sort of game this afternoon that just gets you drafted,” Brown said.
“He’s put together some good games, but this has been the standout.”
A third pack mark for the day soon after had Brown convinced: “We won’t be seeing him playing on a VFL list again next year”.
He kicked two goals from five shots at goal from his 15 disposals for the day.
Elliott was on AFL draft radars as a star in the Coates Talent League for the Oakleigh Chargers in 2022 and 2023.
After being overlooked as an 18-year-old in 2022, Elliott was invited back to the Chargers as an over-ager last year.
Clubs continued to monitor the 203cm forward-ruck in his 19th year, and again considered taking him at the mid-season draft in May last year.
But while the once-touted first-round pick didn’t do enough to entice an AFL club to take a punt on him, Elliott did catch the eye of VFL outfit Northern Bullants, who snapped him up for 2024.
Dad Matthew played 21 Tests for Australia and was known as a technically sound, stylish, left-handed batter who scored over 17,000 first-class runs.
His other son, Sam, is a budding state cricketer for Victoria who made his debut for the Melbourne Stars in 2021-2022.
But while Matthew may have passed on some sporting talent through the bloodlines to Sam, he joked ahead of last year’s AFL draft that Will’s talent with the oval-shaped ball must have come from elsewhere.
“I try and guide him through my Kyabram reserves footy days as a crafty half-forward,” Elliott told 7NEWS last year.
“I never laid an effective tackle in my whole footy playing days, so he has got me covered in that respect.”
Will said his dad loved to reminisce about his halcyon days in cricket, having watched the brilliant 112 Matthew made at Lord’s during the second Test of the 1997 Ashes tour a number of times.
“He loves to chuck on YouTube once in a while and show us how it’s done,” Will said.
Sunday’s game between the Blues and Bullants also featured a 37-year-old former St Kilda star Sam Gilbert, who was making his first appearance on a footy field since retiring.
Gilbert played 208 games for the Saints, including three grand finals, between 2006 and 2018, but has not played at any level since then.
The key defender has been keeping fit by running triathlons since AFL retirement.
