Elliot Yeo

Yeo was drafted by the Brisbane Lions with the 30th pick overall in the 2011 AFL draft. He made his AFL debut in round nine of the 2012 season, against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.[4] Despite recording 16 disposals, he was omitted for the next game and did not return until round 16, after which he played seven out of Brisbane's last eight matches. Yeo had a promising second season in 2013, playing 19 games and averaging 14.5 disposals and four marks.[5] However, at the end of the season he requested to be traded back to a team in his home state.[6] The West Coast Eagles were always the leading contender for Yeo's services, and eventually finalised a deal with the Lions in which he would join the Eagles in return for a second-round draft pick (pick 28).[7] Yeo played 27 games in total for Brisbane, kicking one goal.[5]

Yeo playing for West Coast in 2019

On 24 October 2013, Yeo was officially traded to the Eagles. He received the #6 guernsey, which had been vacated by the retiring Mark Nicoski.[8] Yeo played his first game for the Eagles in round one of the 2014 season against the Western Bulldogs.[5] In a bizarre incident in round 10, 2014, he collided with the shoulder of Collingwood defender Jarrod Witts, causing his two front teeth to snap off.[9] Yeo later broke his hand in round 13 against the Gold Coast, due to which he missed nine weeks of the season and did not return until round 23. He reinjured the hand in preseason training in November 2014, requiring additional surgery.[10]

Yeo had a breakout season in 2015, playing all but one of his team's 25 games (including the grand final loss to Hawthorn). He missed round nine after being suspended for making high contact on St Kilda's Jimmy Webster.[11] Yeo kicked 18 goals for the season, including four in one game against Gold Coast (along with 29 possessions and nine marks). He was awarded one Brownlow Medal vote for that game and five in total, which were the first of his career.[5]

In 2016, Yeo showed flashes of brilliance but was criticised for inconsistency.[12] He had a blistering start to the 2017 season in a new role across the half-back flank. He led the AFLCA voting at one point, and surged into contention for the Brownlow Medal, with the TAB slashing his odds from $201 to $34 by round seven.[13] Yeo recorded 32 disposals in the round six Western Derby against Fremantle (his first time past the 30-disposal mark), and in the first eight rounds recorded 10 or more marks in five games. Yeo was selected in the 2017 All-Australian team on the interchange bench.[14]

In 2018, Yeo began the year as a utility, shifting between the midfield and halfback for the first three games. However, in round 3 against Geelong, he was moved to the middle at half time to stop a Cats comeback - this proved dramatically successful, and he became a permanent fixture in West Coast's midfield. In round 20, he won his first Glendinning–Allan Medal as best afield in the Western Derby.[15] Yeo played his 100th game for West Coast the following week, amassing 25 disposals and a goal in West Coast's come-from-behind four-point win against Port Adelaide.[16] He was part of the West Coast team that won the premiership that year, defeating Collingwood by five points, and finished the year with a second consecutive John Worsfold Medal.

Yeo carried his 2018 form into the next season, finishing up in the 2019 All-Australian team on the bench.

In August 2020, after playing in the first ten matches of the season, Yeo was a late withdrawal from the round 12 match against Hawthorn[17] with what was believed to be osteitis pubis.[18] The following month, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with the injury.[19]