AFL Rising Star: Elijah Hewett wins round 22 nomination despite West Coast Eagles‘ disappointing season

Just don’t expect it to knock the optimism out of Elijah Hewett.

The dynamic midfielder-forward is the AFL’s Rising Star nomination for round 22 – a recognition of a solid and improving body of work the teenager has put together over the back half of the season.

Even in the record 101-point derby loss to Fremantle at the weekend, Hewett was one of West Coast’s better players with 20 disposals and some encouraging moments in what was otherwise a deluge after the opening 15 minutes.

For Hewett, one of three Eagles Rising Star nominations this season after teammates Jai Culley and Reuben Ginbey, it is all part of the process.

“It has obviously had its ups and downs but to come out at the back end and find a bit of form and a bit of continuity with my game has helped so much and will help me into the next few years,” Hewett said of his first AFL season.

Hewett has always been recognised as a gifted player. He shone for Swan Districts in a WAFL colts grand final in 2021 and entered 2022 as the most watched young West Australian in the draft pool.

By the end of the season, playing PSA football under Steve Malaxos at Scotch College, colts and league footy at Swan Districts and WA Under 18s at the national championships, Hewett had done a fair bit right but was still overtaken by others.

It suited West Coast, who were able to split their first pick and take both Hewett and WA teammate Reben Ginbey with picks nine and 14 in the draft. Hewett said AFL football was most of what he expected with a few finer details he had underestimated. He has been a fast learner.

“The individual demands were probably greater than what I thought. I hadn’t realised the emphasis on sleep and diet, all of those small things – the difference between that and just rocking up to training in my under 18s year,” he said. “It was great to learn all of the professional requirements and to put them into place and I am starting to reap the rewards now.

“I have worked on dropping a few kilos and my speed and fitness to be able to get to each contest. The game we play now – how quickly the ball movement is and how quick you have to react. I have worked on that aspect of my game and tried to maintain a healthy strength base – the combination of the two has put me in good stead to perform.

“It is very cardiovascular. It demands a lot of you. Players react differently to that. I am more like a power player, repeat efforts and a stoppage based player. I have to work on different aspects to some other blokes. It is very demanding week in and week out.

“I have trained it quite a bit, in the gym, working on power and working on speed. The element for me now is trying to extend that over four quarters and that is a challenge. The energy output is really quite great when you are around the stoppages sprinting around – I am working on that.”

Hewett said the Eagles always understood their group would be a mix of old and young, and said the two age brackets had formed a strong bond.

“There’s quite a juxtaposition between the older boys and the younger boys but we have found a great synergy,” he said. “We get along really well and we have some great off field relationships. Whatever happens in the next few weeks, next few years with those older boys we love playing with them.”

And he said the younger group retained a strong sense of what they believe is possible for them despite a bleak season.

“We are incredibly optimistic,” he continued. “Times are tough and a lot of clubs face this at one time or another but we are super excited about the prospect of the next few years and what we are going to be able to bring.

“We are in a leadership transition period. We are working on that. We are sticking strong. We are chasing flags – all clubs are in it for the same reason. We are going to stick really strong and stay connected and get through this.

“Our first year group are incredibly tight and we are also very tight with the second and third years.”

Hewett played in both derbies and said he loved the occasion despite the hammering the Eagles took at the weekend.

“We want to be as competitive as possible. In the first derby we were. On the weekend not as much but we are going to keep showing up,” he said.

More Coverage

Duffield: Farewell to the greatest tap ruckman in footy history

Mark Duffield

The focus in the next two games would be sending champions like Shuey, Naitanui and Hurn off the right way, Hewett said.

“They are guys that have represented the club in a great manner for years,” he said. “We are still chasing the process. We are also chasing respect. We are such a young side, we are learning so much and despite the tough times it is going to put us on the front foot in years to come.

“We (Shuey) chat a lot about stoppage compliance and what Shuey wants and demands from me around the stoppage. We worked tightly and he tells me the tricks of the trade. On the weekend even though he wasn’t playing he was coming into the huddle to tell me what he wants from me. He goes very hard at the footy. But he also loves the defensive presence, the tackles and smothers and that is what we are building in the midfield group.”