CALM BEFORE STORM
Axed Tiger takes to Suns life like duck to water
DUAL premiership player and Suns recruit Brandon Ellis says he was left shaken when told by Richmond he was no longer required but insists there is no bad blood with the Tigers.
Ellis was informed midway through the 2019 season that he would be moved on, a decision that opened the door for his shift to Queensland where he will spend the next five years playing for the Suns.
“I was pretty shaken up and upset,” Ellis said. “But it’s a business at the end of the day and these sorts of things happen. I have no bad blood with Richmond. I love them, they have given me this opportunity and shown me this new life.
“They took me as an 18year-old and set me up and made me the person I am today so I can’t thank them enough.”
Ellis has been living with teammate and Suns co-captain David Swallow as he searches for his own place and settles into life on the Coast.
The 26-year-old played 176 AFL games for Richmond over eight years and won two flags, the latest in his final game for the club last September.
Ellis, who consulted with former Suns and current Tigers Dion Prestia and Tom Lynch before making the move, said he wanted to bring the same fun approach to football that enabled Richmond to go from a club under siege to one that has won two of the past three premierships.
The approach was made famous by vision of Tigers player Jack Higgins telling jokes between quarters in games.
It may be harder to cut through at the Gold Coast, where wins have been scarce, but Ellis said that was exactly why they needed it.
“Football is just a game, it doesn’t define us as people,” Ellis said. “It’s our job at the end of the day. I remember when I was playing football when I was young (and) it was all about fun.
“I want to try to bring that element to it up here because that is what we did the last three years at the Tigers and it really turned the club around and turned our wins and losses around.
“I’m not saying that is the secret to success but you want to be really enjoying your job at all times.”