West Coast Eagles premiership midfielder Elliot Yeo is set to play his 200th club game on Sunday, facing off against the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.
The two-time John Worsfold Medallist joined the Eagles from Brisbane ahead of the 2014 AFL season, and he said he is honoured to reach this milestone in the blue and gold.
“It feels like it’s gone really fast, but it also feels like it’s been a long journey to get here,” Yeo said.
“It’s a weird feeling, but it’s an honour to play 200 games for this football club.”
With an influx of young talent coming through the West Coast ranks, the 32-year-old has organically evolved into a mentor and valued leader around the club.
“I still feel like I’m 13 (years old), 32 going on 13 sometimes with this crew because we’re so young, which is great,” Yeo said.
“It keeps me energised, and they’re a lot of fun to be around. It’s a little bit different (the mentor role) but I’m still having a lot of fun and trying to help as much as I possibly can.”
Having played majority of his career through the midfield, Yeo has been showing his versatility in recent weeks with stints in the forward line, allowing for some of the younger mids to gain more experience on the ball.
“There’s a lot of young, talented kids coming through and we need to get the experience into them,” Yeo said.
“At the moment I’m playing a bit deeper forward so we can give the opportunity to the young kids to roll through there a bit more, through the middle throughout majority of the game.
“I’m still doing a few ‘CB’s’ (centre bounces) here and there, and then I’ll pop deep forward, which is great, but again, it just gives more opportunity for the younger kids to get up on the ball and try to prove themselves.
“I’ve had plenty of conversations with ‘Mini’ (Andrew McQualter) on what my role will be and how I can help the team best, so just trying to find the balance and still trying to impact and be as best a player and footballer as I can be, and also playing my role for the team.”
When reflecting on the talented youngsters arriving at the club through recent drafts, Yeo praised the club’s recruiting and reiterated to the fans that the club continues to make positive strides forward.
“There’s a lot of talent, and the club has done really well again with the mid-season draft with the two we picked up,” Yeo said.
“There’s a lot of energy and a lot of talent which is great, it’s exciting, and I think the fans can see that now.
“A couple of years ago, we probably didn’t have the talent we do now, and we’ve done really well in the past couple of drafts, and I think the light at the end of the tunnel for the fans is there.
“There’s obviously a long way to go with getting experience, and a lot of hard work, but I think people can start to see the nucleus of the next generation coming through which is really good, and exciting.”
