Elton rewarded for never giving up
THE bloom has come late for Charles Elton.
At 27, the Harbour forward might have thought his chance to wear the blue and gold had passed him by.
The next big thing — not him — was always coming along and Elton would simply be classed as a good club player who did not make the next step.
But he got a chance and made the most of it.
Elton made his debut for Otago in the first match of the year against Auckland and has impressed on the blindside flank as Otago puts a good run together.
It was not luck though. It came from a lot of hard work and graft.
‘‘I got called into the wider training group about halfway through the year. That was pretty fullon — hardon training for eight to 10 weeks,’’ Elton said.
‘‘I knew I was in the mix but did not expect it to come that quickly. Especially after battling away and not really getting anywhere for so many years.’’
He never gave up on the goal. ‘‘I played four or five years for Otago B. But last year I did not make that team, so went up to North Otago and played up there. That gave me a little bit more confidence in my game.
‘‘We had a really good side and did really well. I got to play a lot of minutes and it gave me another push to have one last crack at it.’’
With his employer open to giving him more time to train, Elton hit the training hard.
‘‘So I just dropped everything and gave it heaps for a few weeks — probably trained harder than I have ever done.’’ The hard work paid off. ‘‘The first goal was to make the team, which I was pumped to do, and getting the time [on the field] I have got so far is great.
‘‘I never would have thought it would have happened. I did not want to be that guy who played 100 club games and never played for Otago. Just seen as a real battler. It is quite cool to have ticked that off.’’
He said the game was a lot faster at Mitre 10 Cup level but that was expected and he just had to concentrate on his role.
Originally from the North
Shore, Elton is now a true blue southern man. In fact, you probably could not get more of a southern man.
As well as playing for Otago, Elton is a sales representative for Speight’s.
‘‘Yeah, Speight’s and Otago kind of fits together.’’
Elton will have a battle on his hands tonight in what is expected to be tough forward battle in Invercargill.
Otago need to secure enough ball and let its backs run rampant. It has some match winners out wide, although the absence of Jona Nareki will be felt.
A mostly sunny day is forecast for Invercargill today.