ELLEN, Russell

Russell Ellen was a big ruckman who came from Marnoo to the Under 19s in 1971, winning the Best First Year Player in 1972.

He had difficulty getting a regular senior game and was used mainly as a fill-in when the regular ruckmen were unavailable.

After leaving Essendon, Ellen went on to play 108 games with West Perth between 1978 and 1983.

He then became captain-coach of Wembley in the Western Australian Amateurs in 1984, winning the premiership that year.

In early 1985, Ellen returned to Marnoo before joining South Broken Hill in late 1985 and 1986. He won the award for Best and Fairest in the Broken Hill League in 1986. He then played in the Sunday League in Perth in 1987.