Xavier Ellis Biography

After suffering another soft tissue injury playing the WAFL, Xavier Ellis announces his retirement from football in an Instagram post.

"I'm done!! Thank you all involved at (Hawthorn) and (West Coast) for the 11 tremendous years," Ellis posted.

"Amazing highs and a few (too) many lows, but was well worth the work. These legs need a rest now."

Ellis said it was clear his time was up after the latest setback and he was relieved to finish his career after 11 seasons.

"I realised then and there, literally five minutes into the WAFL game, that my time was done and I started to reflect on how lucky I was," he told 6PR radio.

"I didn't even bother scanning it. There's obviously the physically side but also the mental side of it.

"I've absolutely loved my time at West Coast but it got to the stage where I couldn't trust myself getting through a game. I hate letting people down.

"For me when you get injured early in a game you go one short you let down 21 of your best mates. For me it was a pretty easy one."

Xavier Ellis is ruled out for up to two months with an Achilles injury after scans revealed a partial tear.

Xavier Ellis is set to continue his career with West Coast in 2015 after activating a trigger clause in his contract.

The Eagles say he would have been offered a new contract regardless, given the positive impact the 26-year-old has made on the club in his first season since crossing from Hawthorn as a free agent.

"It feels like he has played [at the club] for his entire career," Eagles football operations general manager Craig Vozzo said.

"Irrespective of the trigger he would have been offered a contract. We are delighted with having him at our club and look forward to what he will bring moving forward."

Xavier Ellis could miss multiple weeks with a shoulder injury following a heavy fall in a marking contest in the first-quarter of Sunday's win over Collingwood.

Ellis was running back with the flight of the ball when he attempted to spoil a marking contest deep in the Magpies' forward line.

His right shoulder hit the ground and he had to be helped from the field, grimacing in pain before being subbed out of the game.

Xavier Ellis admits he feels a touch embarrassed to be playing his 100th AFL game this week.

The Hawthorn premiership player reaches the milestone in his ninth year on an AFL list. He played 86 matches with Hawthorn after being recruited with pick no. 3 in the 2005 NAB AFL draft. Saturday night's clash with the Brisbane Lions will be his 14th with West Coast after moving to Perth as a free agent at the end of last year.

Ellis made his AFL debut at the Gabba against the Lions in the opening round of 2007. His slight embarrassment stems from the fact that a number of his contemporaries from the 2005 and 2006 NAB AFL drafts have played a lot more senior football.

"Early on I was thinking as though I was little bit embarrassed to only be playing my 100th after the time I've been in the AFL," Ellis said.

Xavier Ellis says he could have walked away from AFL football if he had been forced to stay in Melbourne this season.

"I was a country boy from outside Lakes Entrance, in Melbourne I went to boarding school and played eight years at Hawthorn, so I was really keen to get out of Melbourne," Ellis said.

"If it was (a choice to) play footy and stay in Melbourne or not play at all, I'd probably have had to have a think about it because I was desperately keen to get out of Melbourne and start fresh."

Scans have cleared West Coast defender Xavier Ellis of a serious calf injury.

Xavier Ellis suffers a low-grade calf injury in the first term of the Eagles' clash with Port Adelaide at Patersons Stadium.

Ellis was substituted out of the match before quarter-time and had ice applied immediately to his right calf.

"It's disappointing to lose someone in the first quarter and someone with the skill and composure of Ellis," West Coast coach Adam Simpson said.

"He would have been handy throughout the night."

West Coast recruit Xavier Ellis has admitted he was overweight and unfit when he arrived for his first summer of pre-season training with the Eagles.

"I didn't come over in peak condition. I didn't play much footy for a couple of years, so I was a bit overweight, sloppy and a bit unfit," Ellis said.

"I remember Murray Newman losing a 2km (time trial) to John Worsfold (in 2012). He would have had me too.

"But I'm fit now. The fitness staff and doctors have been great."

Xavier Ellis joins West Coast as an unrestricted free agent and says he may be forced into retirement if his body is unable to stay fit for the year.

"I had a good chat with 'Simmo' (Simpson) before we even really started negotiating that if something happened this year (2014) and I missed a lot of football, I probably wouldn't want to keep going," Ellis said.

"Rehab is a pretty dark place if you're there for too long. If the body withstands a fair portion of the season, there are automatic triggers and what not.

"But until I get out there and really put the body to the test, there's probably a bit of that cloud. I'm happy with that, obviously they're happy with that and if the body's good, it will all look after itself in due course."

Fremantle football manager Chris Bond says the club is interested in Xavier Ellis but are yet to decide on whether to trade for the uncontracted Hawk midfielder.

"He has certainly been connected to us along the way and we certainly have spoken to his manager," Bond said.

"We're talking this week about whether we'll get him over and have a look at some medicals with him, but we haven't made that decision yet."

Free agent Xavier Ellis is reported to draw interest from both Fremantle and Adelaide.

Xavier Ellis' injury woes continue after suffering a calf injury that forced him to be substituted out of Hawthorn's clash with over Brisbane Lions before half-time at Aurora Stadium.

Hawthorn's Xavier Ellis has returned to the side after long-term injury just in time with the finals looming.

"I spoke to 'Clarko' when I got injured earlier in the year and he said, 'Would you rather play the first five games or the last five games?'" Ellis said.

"It's a bit of a no-brainer that there are much bigger fish to fry than the stuff earlier in the season, so you've just got to keep working towards giving yourself a chance of playing finals."

A trek along the Kokoda Track in PNG helped Hawthorn's Xavier Ellis put football in perspective.

"We're playing a game of football on a Saturday arvo - we're not doing anything too stressful like the people who fought for their country did," Ellis said.

"So it put life in a bit of perspective. It makes you realise that you're doing something that you love, and worse things can happen than playing a bad game of footy."

Xavier Ellis hopes a good pre-season will result in a return to form next year after an average 2011 season.

"I had a bit of an interrupted season last year with the achilles injury and I've just done four days and a bit walking up and down hills and the achilles are better than ever, which is good," Ellis said.

"I hope it ... kick-starts a massive pre-season for me because I need to work extremely hard this year to get my body into some sort of condition where I am able to play footy at a decent level."

Xavier Ellis is looking forward to hitting 2012 with some momentum, not requiring post-season surgery for the first time in a number of years.

"I've got to have a good, hard look at myself and probably work harder in certain areas this pre-season, get a bit of confidence," Ellis said.

"I've played in a premiership and I've played some OK footy, so I believe I can play at that level. It's just a matter of getting my body and myself in a position to do that regularly."

Hawthorn has re-signed young guns Xavier Ellis and Cyril Rioli. Rioli has committed to the Hawks for a further three seasons while Ellis has signed on for another two years.

"Rioli is an exciting player to watch and his work ethic is outstanding. His tackling has become a real feature of his game and he has continued his impressive form in his second season," Hawthorn general manager of football operations Mark Evans said.

"Xavier has shown great application and versatility in his football this season playing defensive, through the midfield and forward at times."

Scans have cleared Hawthorn's Xavier Ellis of serious damage to his foot from the incident that forced the midfielder out of yesterday's match against North Melbourne, but the onballer is still unlikely to be available for Saturday's game against Port Adelaide.

Hawthorn premiership player Xavier Ellis will miss the NAB Cup at a minimum after having hip surgery.

Hawk Xavier Ellis player meets with AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson to disclose bets on football matches made under his name, allegedly by a relative.

The AFL subsequently clears Ellis of any wrongdoing after an investigation.

"Xavier Ellis and Hawthorn came forward to the AFL and brought this matter to our attention once they became aware that a relative had used his account to place bets involving AFL matches," AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said in a statement.

"The investigation confirmed no breach of the AFL regulations.

"The investigation found that no bets were made by Xavier Ellis and he had no knowledge of the bets made by his relative."

"When I found out that my account had been used to place some bets on AFL I felt sick and I knew I had to take it straight to the club," Ellis said.

"Thankfully the AFL investigation has cleared me of any breach of the AFL regulations and I am pleased to have my name cleared."