Former Western Jet Elliott Kavanagh, pictured playing for Bendigo on the weekend, made his AFL last month. 85804 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By LIAM TWOMEY
ELLIOTT Kavanagh could barely play for the Western Jets last year, let alone think about the big stage of the AFL.
The 19-year-old was plagued by constant hamstring injuries which restricted his final year of junior football.
While team mates were playing in TAC Cup finals and for Vic Metro in the National Carnival, Kavanagh was making all the right moves he could, off the field.
Instead of rushing back time after time and risking re-injury, Kavanagh took an extended break from football to get his body right.
What a good decision that proved to be.
Since walking through the doors at Essendon, after being taken at pick 19 in the National Draft, his bad luck with injuries has come to an end and he has finally been able to let his football do the talking.
“The body has been fantastic actually,” he told Star last week.
“They (Essendon) have really done a good job with the weights program and really helped me out. I haven’t had any issues with the hamstrings at all.
“I had an idea that taking that time off would affect my standing in the draft but I was happy to do it if that’s what it was going to take to get me back out there and playing footy consistently.
“I think that was better than going out there and potentially re-injuring it.
“We were thinking about my career and how I’d go further on whether that would be at AFL level or VFL level this year.”
A clean bill of health allowed Kavanagh to find his feet throughout the first half of the season at VFL level with Essendon’s affiliate side the Bendigo Bombers.
However, after a best on ground performance against Sandringham in round 17 he was selected for the senior side to take on one of the club’s biggest rivals Hawthorn in front of 44,000 people at Etihad Stadium.
Kavanagh said receiving the call up had been the highlight of his football career to date but he managed to keep his nerves in check in the lead up.
“I probably wasn’t too bad leading up into the game but I got more nervous when we were going out down the race. During the warm up I thought I was pretty switched on,” he said.
“The feedback was definitely very positive. It’s a bit hard to criticise someone who has just come into the system and there are some things that I need to work on and the club has told me that. I don’t expect to be perfect going into my first game.
“Even the greats like Brent Stanton and Jobe Watson have things they are working on as well. It was definitely good feedback from the coaches and they just said to keep playing the footy I’ve been playing and keep putting my best foot forward.”
In his first season with the Bombers, Kavanagh has aligned himself with some of the club’s other up and coming midfielders as he tries to soak up as much advice and knowledge as he can.
He has kept a close eye on how inside midfielder Ben Howlett goes about his contested work around the ball while last year’s Rising Star winner Dyson Heppell has been a great source of advice and support.
After getting a taste of senior football already this year, it’s no surprise Kavanagh’s goal going forward is to force his way back into the seniors as soon as possible.
His round 18 debut marked the third Western Jet from the 2011 side to be selected at AFL level this year with former teammates Will Hoskin-Elliott and Adam Kennedy also plying their trade at Greater Western Sydney throughout the season.
Kavanagh said it was great to see his past teammates also doing well at AFL level.
“I had a bit more contact with them earlier in the year but I’ve definitely been keeping an eye on their results and it’s great to see them doing really well.
“Kenna (Kennedy) has been playing well in the backline and Will kicked five goals on the weekend, which I was rapt to see. Hopefully he can get a rising star nomination for that.”
