Eddie Betts

Personal information
Birth	26 November 1986 (1986-11-26) (age 23), Kalgoorlie
Recruited from	Templestowe / Calder Cannons
Height and weight	173cm / 75kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 1, 26 March 2005, Carlton vs. Kangaroos, at Telstra Dome
Team(s)	Carlton (2005-) 97 games, 123 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2009 season
Career highlights
Carlton Best First-Year Player 2005 AFL Goal of the Year 2006

Eddie Betts (born Edward Roberts on 26 November 1986) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.

Betts grew up in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and played for the Mines Rovers Football Club. He then moved to Melbourne, where at 16 years old in 2003 he played in the Under 18 National Championships for Vic Metro and was selected in the All-Australian team. Whilst he was too young to be selected in the AFL Draft in 2003, he was overlooked in the 2004 AFL Draft. He was, however, selected in the 2005 Pre-Season Draft from the Calder Cannons.^[1]

Betts made himself known as a lively small forward during the 2005 Pre-Season. He solidified his position in the team by becoming a quality goal-sneak and chaser for the club. He made his AFL debut for the Carlton Football Club in Round 1, 2005 against North Melbourne.

In 2006, Betts kicked a goal from the boundary line in Round 21 against Collingwood in a goal that became the AFL Goal of the Year.^[2] In an amazing effort, Betts smothered Tarkyn Lockyer's attempted clearing kick, ran to gather it just before it went out of bounds, and steadied himself to score with a banana from an impossible angle.^[3]

In 2007, Betts continued primarily as a small forward, but began to spend some rotations as a midfielder, particularly late in the season after the appointment of Brett Ratten as Carlton coach. In Round 22 2007, the last round of the season, Betts kicked 5 goals and racked up 26 possessions, career highs in both statistics.^[4]

In Round 2 of the 2008 season against St. Kilda, Betts kicked a magnificent left foot banana goal late in the last quarter to receive a goal of the year nomination. It was similar to his goal of the year in 2006 but this time it was a left footer, which was nicely executed but under less pressure.^[5]

In December 2009 Betts was arrested and fined after being drunk in public following Carlton players Christmas party.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Eddie Betts profile on the Official AFL Website of the Carlton Football Club
• Eddie Betts Profile in Blueseum