Elliot’s love for footy drives him to 100 games

By ZAC MILBANK

Elliot Dunkin is the first to admit he had fallen out of love with football at the end of the 2021 season. 

Plagued with injury throughout his initial 41 games with West Adelaide, the smooth-moving defender was considering an early retirement from the Hostplus SANFL League.

But the 27-year-old, speaking on SANFL Radio, revealed after meeting with South Adelaide he was quick to embrace his new footy home with his partner Grace.

And Dunkin, originally from Warrnambool in country Victoria, hasn’t looked back since after stringing together his most consistent patch of form in the past two seasons.

Winning last year’s Knuckey Cup as the Panthers’ best-and-fairest, Dunkin is currently averaging close to 21 possessions at an eye-catching 97 per cent disposal efficiency.

Immaculate kicking has always been a feature of his game, particularly as he distributes the Sherrin off the half-back line with an element of ease.

Strangely enough though, until Round 13, Dunkin had only kicked four goals from his first 98 matches until he unleashed two massive bombs from well beyond 50m at Port Pirie’s Memorial Oval.

Whether or not we see something similar in his milestone match against Sturt at Thomas Farms Oval remains to be seen but Panthers fans can rest easy Dunkin still has plenty left in his tank.

The cabinet maker is eager to help usher the club’s bright young talent through to the League side as it continues to show plenty of promise in 2025.