Sitting in TAFE class one day, Shepparton’s Jack Elliott got the call that every athlete and football fan dreams of.
It was a call that, even two months ago, never even seemed like a possibility – Elliott had been told that he would be playing for his beloved Collingwood Football Club.
On the other end of the phone was Ben Jankovski, the captain of Collingwood’s wheelchair football team.
He was calling Elliott to tell him that a month after first trying out the sport for the first time, he would be donning the Magpies’ famous black and white in the Victorian Wheelchair Football League this season.
For Elliott, a lifelong Magpies fan who has cerebal palsy, the news was a dream come true.
The 22-year-old attended a come-and-try day earlier this year to first try the sport and weeks later he received the news he was going to be playing for his favourite football club.
“After the come-and-try day, Ben wheeled up to Mum and Dad and said ‘we’d be happy to have him’, so that was pretty surreal. And then a few days later he rang me up on the phone and said ‘congratulations, welcome to the club’,’’ Elliott said.
“I was at TAFE at the time, so I had to bolt out the door and answer the call. It was pretty surreal, it still is.
“It's tough to put into words because it means the world. Obviously, football means everything to me, it's probably my entire life.
“But to wear the black and white stripes and know what that means to put it on and have it mean something. I put it on every weekend anyway to watch the boys, but to put it on and have it mean something, it means the world.“
But things are now starting to feel very real as the dream becomes a reality.
Elliott was at Collingwood Football Club on Monday for the season launch and jumper presentation ahead of the opening game this Sunday, May 7.
“At that point, it gets pretty real. We had Mason Cox and Laura Butler, as well as Craig Kelly, who's a premiership superstar and our CEO there to present the jumpers,’’ he said.
“It was awesome getting to shake hands with some of the people you idolise and teaching Lauren how to manoeuvre the wheelchair and do that sort of stuff was pretty cool. And Coxy has been around the wheelchair group for a while, he absolutely loves it.”
A special connection
For as long as Elliott can remember, he has been a passionate Collingwood fan. After all, it runs in the family.
“Mum has always been Collingwood, Dad has always been Collingwood and Dad's dad has always been Collingwood, so it was a bit of a family thing.We're all a bit crazy,” Elliott said.
“My whole life I grew up watching footy and watching the Pies. Alan Didac was my favourite player growing up.
“I just loved the Pies. Some might say I was born into it, but I wouldn't change it for the world.”
While Elliott supports Collingwood week in, week out, so too has the club been there to support him as well.
As a person with cerebal palsy, Elliott has used crutches to get around for almost his entire life. He said the condition meant the signal from his brain to his legs doesn’t quite get through, affecting his motor function and balance.
He had a dorsal rhizotomy when he was six, a 13-hour operation that cut some of the nerves sending messages to his legs, and he got to meet Magpies legend Nathan Buckley before and after the procedure.
“I have been lucky enough to meet a few of the boys when I was in hospital for various reasons and sat down with Bucks when I had my big surgery, so that just solidifies the love for the black and white and what they do,” Elliott said.
“The thing I admire the most about Collingwood is how it's aligned with myself. It goes back to day one when we had complications getting me to this point.
“I've always aligned Collingwood with determination and that sort of backs against the wall, blue collar sort of attitude.
“From day one, we had complications with me getting oxygen to the brain because Mum had a virus and they had to get me out early, and all that sort of stuff.
“Collingwood has been sort of a break from that and an escape from that. But also knowing that the stripes and what they mean, it's ... it's tough to explain and I could probably go on for hours trying to explain it. But they have just been there when I need them and there through the journey.
“And Bucks coming down when I was in hospital for one of my biggest surgeries ― 13 hours on the operating table ― that was very nerve-racking for all of us.
“But getting through it and realising that Bucks is on the other side and having a chat with him about his rehab, because he's been through a lot of hamstring injuries towards the back end of his career and talking about rehab and having to do it and having to just push through.
“And now with the boys in 2023 with this mantra of play the minutes and never give up and it's sort of all comes back full circle. It's unbelievable.”
Taking up the game
Wheelchair football would look familiar to Aussie rules fans. The fundamentals of the games are the same, with some minor tweaks.
It is played on a court divided into thirds – the same as netball – with two defenders, a centre and two forwards battling it out.
“It's fairly similar to the normal footy, although a handball is a kick and then an underarm throw is a handball,” Elliott said.
It's pretty rough and tumble sort of stuff, we sort of bang into each other and it gets pretty heated out there on the court.
“If you get a handball over 3m it is a mark, you get to wheel back and take your time a little bit.“
Elliott played wheelchair basketball for six years, but said he was transitioning well to his new code.
“I played wheelchair basketball in Shepparton for a number of years, I played that for a long time and that helps out with the chair skills and picking up the ball and that sort of stuff,” Elliott said.
“I also coached at Congupna Football Netball Club, able bodied football, So that helps being around a footy environment. And obviously every kid dreams of playing footy. But yeah, coaching it was just as good.
“It was sort of a bit of a jarring one, because, obviously they are different shaped balls. I've always loved football more than anything else. So it made it a pretty simple decision.”
Ready for his debut
Sitting with Elliott in his living room, the family love for Collingwood is obvious.
A Collingwood flag is up on one wall, on the others framed memorabilia showcasing club legends Scott Pendlebury and Nathan Buckley.
So how is he feeling ahead making his own debut?
“Nervous, excited ― probably all of the above,” Elliott said.
“But I'm just over the moon that I get to pull this on on the weekend and do what I do best, which is fire up and get my people over the line.
“I think it'll be more nerve-racking than watching the boys, but knowing that I have control over what happens will be a comfort because obviously at home screaming at the telly or in the stands doing the same thing, you don't really have much control over what the boys do.
“But getting with my teammates and learning from them and just knowing that we have each other out there, and then coming into the huddle and sorting things out will be a comfort. I'm more excited than nervous, but we'll see how we go.”
The first game of the season is a big one, with Collingwood taking on Essendon at Boroondara Sports Complex in Melbourne at 1pm on Sunday.
“It's going to be a hot one,” Elliott said.
“We've got some storylines we drafted Anthony Peredo from Essendon, so that will be a bit of a grudge match in the seniors.
“But for us in the development team, it'll be a nice experience to get off the mark and hopefully get over the Dons.
“Hopefully we do get a few of the Magpie army down there. We obviously know how prolific we are at turning out to AFL matches, so hopefully the wheelchair matches get the same treatment.”
A special thanks
It has been an incredible journey for Elliott to get to where he is today, just a few sleeps away from a dream come true.
Elliott said there were too many people to thank, but he sure did his best.
“To list them, we would be here all day,” he said.
“To my grandparents, for their never ending support of us as a family, whether it be taking care of my brother while we're away in Melbourne, to my brother Bailey and sister Mia for doing everything that they do on a daily basis ― holding open doors and that sort of thing.
“Mum (Melissa) and Dad (Ben) are the obvious ones running with me from day one through all the appointments and all that, to my support workers who get me down to Melbourne for training and that sort of thing.
“There's a lot, but to everyone on the journey, I couldn't be happier and hopefully I can make them proud on the weekend.”
As we sit and talk all things football and Collingwood, Elliott has his Magpies jumper sitting right beside him.
It was presented to him on Monday night and it is adorned with the number 31 on the back ― the same number as his birthday, December 31.
After our talk, he puts the jumper on for what was the first time ― but it certainly won’t be the last.