Shane Ellen is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

.

Bulldogs career

Ellen, a Footscray local, made his debut with the Bulldogs

Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...

 in 1993, and when he left in 1995 he had played just 11 games for 1 goal. He was then delisted, before being selected by the Adelaide Football Club in the 1996 Pre-season Draft

1995 AFL Draft

The 1995 AFL Draft was held at the conclusion of the 1995 Australian Football League season.The AFL Draft is the annual draft of new unsigned players by Australian rules football clubs that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.Clubs receive picks based...

.

Adelaide career

He arrived at the Crows in 1996 and was a largely unheralded player. That was until the 1997 AFL Grand Final

AFL Grand Final

The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...

 against St Kilda. This proved to be a defining moment in his career, until the journeyman's AFL career ended at the end of 2000, after 54 games and 15 goals with the club.

Grand Final hero

In the 1997 Grand Final, Ellen was considered the unlikely hero for the Crows. In the first half he booted 2 goals from full-forward

Full-forward

Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals.Leading full-forwards of the Australian Football League are usually among those awarded with the Coleman Medal for the most goals in an AFL season....

, playing there in the injured Tony Modra

Tony Modra

Anthony 'Tony' Dale Modra is a former Australian rules football player, known for his spectacular marks. He played for the Adelaide Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League, mainly at full forward. Modra had the physical strength and size to match the best...

. He was then switched to the half-back line

Half-back line

In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre-half back and left and right half-back flank positions....

 by coach Malcolm Blight

Malcolm Blight

Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...

, which proved to be an inspired move - Ellen kicked 3 of his 5 goals for the match after half-time.

This amazing performance was understated by the fact he had kicked 3 goals in his previous 38 AFL matches. After the 1997 Grand Final he kicked 8 more goals for the remainder of his career.