From ‘pretty dark days’ to the biggest AFL stage: Jamie Elliott’s journey

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While Craig McRae exhorts his Collingwood players to remain in the moment, Jamie Elliott finds it hard not to imagine what it would be like to become a premiership player on Saturday.

“I definitely think about it,” Elliott said, of the prospect of Collingwood winning the grand final and securing his first flag.

“It’s hard not to project to what could be … Craig (McRae) has been massive about keeping us in the moment and making us present and enjoy what’s now rather than projecting forward. But at the same time, believe that we can achieve it, speak it into existence.”

Jamie Elliott.Credit: AFL Photos

Elliott missed the whole of the 2018 season, when Collingwood made and narrowly lost a grand final that he and his good friend Darcy Moore missed, the latter’s absence one that Nathan Buckley has been wistful about lately (Moore had trained freely beforehand).

It was a period of Elliott’s career that he called “pretty dark days”, given that he missed all of both 2016 and 2018 due to a broken back (2016) that required screws against his vertebrae, a frustrating hamstring pestilence (2018), plus a syndesmosis injury that he carried, with injections, during 2017.

“The more I look back at that, there’s no point,” Elliott said of his absence from the 2018 grand final and season. “May as well not dwell on it.”

Elliott, who could have been a Brisbane Lions player on Saturday (he considered a tempting Brisbane offer after the 2019 season), says that he’s happy with what he’s achieved in his dozen years with Collingwood, given where he came from, and he wouldn’t consider his career a failure if the Magpies don’t get up.

Elliott (right) with Nick Daicos after Collingwood’s preliminary final win.Credit: AFL Photos

But, as with many older players, his craving to be a premiership player has grown with the passage of seasons, knowing that there mightn’t be another shot at it.

“I’ll retire. Cut my contract short,” Elliott, 31, jested, when I asked him whether a flag would bring career fulfilment.

“Obviously, yeah, it’s the pinnacle, winning a premiership. And the older you get – you could speak to anyone in the system … the more you want a flag and the ultimate success.

“I wouldn’t say it’d be a failure because I feel my career, in terms of where I’ve come from, basically started from nothing and here I am, 170-odd games. I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done, but then I’d love to cap it off.”

Elliott shapes as a critical player for the grand final, more so given the Magpies have lost Daniel McStay, their primary key forward, after managing nine and eight goals in their previous two finals. Elliott has not kicked multiple goals yet in the finals.

“Yeah, he’s going to be hard to cover,” Elliott said of McStay. “And I’m not sure what they do, to be honest.”

Would Elliott’s role change?

“I’ll retire. Cut my contract short,” Elliott, 31, jested, when I asked him whether a flag would bring career fulfilment.

“I don’t think so … look it depends on who they pick and how they structure,” he said.

“They could play Coxy (Mason Cox) deeper … we’ve got so many different options. I don’t think it changes my role too much, I don’t think it will affect me. It will be interesting to see.”

He notes how teams who’ve failed to convert scoring opportunities have been eliminated.

“Well you’ve seen that all finals series,” said Elliott. “The teams who haven’t taken their chances have gone out.

“So scoreboard pressure is massive, especially in finals where some players might feel nerves and get a little bit nervous about kicking for goal or the game, it plays big part in people’s minds, in players’ minds, so definitely take your chances.”

Elliott has a knack for the nerveless nailing of clutch shots, as against Essendon (post-siren) and Carlton late last year. No matter the situation, his method is to stick rigorously to a goalkicking routine.

“It could be (crucial),” he said of his conversion in the grand final. “At the same time, if you look at my year I’ve been kind of inaccurate, in some regards. Look I’ve got my routine, I’ll have a good week on the training track and hopefully it takes care of itself game day. And I’ll have my processes that I’ll put place.

“Nothing changes. It depends where I am on the field, where if I want to snap it, drop punt, but my routine doesn’t change.”

Elliott is a stickler, too, for recovery and preparation, having endured myriad mid-career injuries. At 31, he says his body feels as it did a decade ago, having a clean run under McRae.

“Apart from my shoulder, and I broke my leg in ’21 … Apart from those freak accidents, I feel really good in my body and I feel like I did 10 years ago.”

In projecting forward to this grand final, Elliott said the Pies had been rusty against the Giants in the first half, and that they should be better on Saturday.

“Our pressure was there, whether that was from the week off I don’t know,” he said. “But I think we’ll be better this week and … thinking about it, I can’t wait.”

Elliott has a sizeable contingent coming down from Euroa to the MCG. “Mum, two brothers, sister, nephew, sister’s partner, uncle. Couple of mates. That’s going to sting the pocket,” he said.

Contracted for another two seasons, the forward recognises the need to nail this opportunity. “We’ll just worry about this year.

“Should be a fun week … you never know if it will happen again.”

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