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Eddie Betts

Personal information
Birth	26 November 1986 (1986-11-26) (age 23), Kalgoorlie, WA
Recruited from	Templestowe / Calder U18
Height and weight	173cm / 75kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 1, 26 March 2005, Carlton vs. Kangaroos, at Docklands (Now Etihad Stadium)
Team(s)	Carlton (2005-) 97 games, 123 goals
¹ Statistics to end of round 4, 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. In his early years Eddie was a very talented soccer player and at the age of 13 he was invited to join an Adelaide City pathway program. However when his grandmother became very ill he and his mother had to return to Kalgoorlie. It was his father who eventually got him into footy after he returned from his two years in jail. At 16 years old he played in the Under 18 National Championships where he surprised so much he made All-Australian Under 18's as an under-age player. After such a start Eddie had came back home where he made some bad decisions and got injured. At one stage he thought of even giving the game away after he didn't get drafted at all. He was then recruited as the number 3 draft pick in the 2004 Pre-Season Draft. from Templestowe. He made his AFL debut for the Carlton Football Club in Round 1, 2005 against North Melbourne.

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 was an immediate and lasting crowd favourite, with shouts of "Eddie!" always audible whenever he gets the football.^{[citation needed]}

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. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[1]

[edit] External links

• Eddie Betts profile on the Official AFL Website of the Carlton Football Club
• Eddie Betts's statistics from AFL Tables
• Eddie Betts Profile in Blueseum

[edit] References

1. ^ Eddie Betts - Goal of the Year Contender 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vimyjCPpsw