In a normal world, Brandon Ellis would be preparing for a Round 3 AFL match against Sydney right now.
But with the world uniting on all fronts against the coronavirus pandemic, things are far from normal right now.
Instead, he’s been keeping fit with his gym program from home after recently moving into a new house in Mermaid Waters.
“It’s a pretty eerie feeling,” Ellis told SUNS Media of the current situation.
“I’ve been not too bad but I just feel for the millions of people out there who are going to suffer more than me.”
To keep his mind and body occupied, Ellis has been working out at home with Jack Bowes and Darcy Macpherson prior to the social gathering measures being put in place.
He said it was important to keep to a routine to keep their bodies prepared for when football returns.
“We’re just doing it week by week at the moment with our training programs,” he said.
“We’re trying to keep it as normal as possible with as much structure as we can because we love routine and we love structure.
“That’s the way life’s been since I’ve been drafted so I’m trying to keep it the same as much as I can.
“At the moment it’s just doing our programs and then whenever we get the call-up to come back to the club we’ll be ready.”
For Ellis, this period is even more unusual given the fact that his last nine years have been consumed by football at this time of the year.
But he felt most compassionate for his younger teammates who haven’t been able to experience the true AFL football experience yet.
“It is a little bit weird but I just feel sorry for the first-year players like Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson and Connor Budarick who have done such good pre-seasons,” he said.
“They had a taste for what senior football is like obviously it was weird with no crowds but now they don’t know when they’ll be playing their next game.
“So I just feel sorry for all those new guys who have come in and had to go through this.
“But in the grand scheme of it all we need to make sure we’re looking after each other so we can all get through this period together and come out the other side.”
