By Connor Burns
Caleb Ernst has travelled all around Australia on his quest to play football at the highest possible level. Born in Swan Hill to a Nigerian father and Australian mother, Ernst lived there for multiple years before moving around the country.
“I moved around a bit as a kid, I was born in Swan Hill, was there for a few years in a small town called Sea Lake, then lived in Melbourne for a couple of years while Mum was studying at uni.
Then I moved back to Swan Hill and then Mildura which is where I had most of my childhood,” he said.
The 21-year-old played for a range of different clubs including the Swan Hill Junior Football Club, Irymple Junior Football Club and Wentworth before moving to Bendigo in 2021 to pursue an opportunity with the Bendigo Pioneers in the Coates Talent League.
“I played under 10’s in Swan Hill and then started in the Under 12’s at Mildura but bounced around at a couple of clubs.
I was at Irymple junior footy club for a while and then a good mate of mine, his dad was coaching out at Wentworth, so when I was in my bottom aged 18’s year I moved over there,” he said.
“I moved down to Bendigo for NAB League, when you live in Mildura and you’re playing for Bendigo, you have to relocate if you want to be amongst it all, so I was actually living with the coach of Strathfieldsaye (local club) at the time”.
Ernst managed to finish seventh in the Coates Talent League best and fairest in 2021, attracting AFL interest as a teenager before being overlooked. He would then go on to play for Strathfieldsaye Football Club in the BFNL, where he has been ever since.
Leading into this season Ernst needed a challenge, he needed a gateway to help himself reach his full potential. That came in the form of the Coburg Football Club, with his VFL journey all starting from a simple message.
“Over the Christmas break, it would’ve been just after New Year’s I actually messaged the Instagram page of Coburg, just gave them a few details about myself and asking if they were doing trials for list spots,” Ernst said.
“I got a reply back which was nice and then Jamie sent me a message with the time and place to come down, so that’s how it all got started, from an Instagram message.”
The raw and athletic key forward has played eight games of VFL this season, showing some good signs in each outing. The Mildura product said it was “good to get a taste” of VFL footy and admits that he had “a lot of things to learn” coming into a professional football environment.
“It’s good to get a taste of the standard and the standard required. I got sent back (to Strathfieldsaye) and had a few things to work on which I was chipping away at, and managed to get my way back into the team which is good,” he said.
“I had a lot of things to learn, I’m ticking those boxes one by one and then just building up to a point where hopefully I can play some consistent footy for the rest of the year and take that momentum into next year.”
Some of his performances and traits have made the AFL world sit up and take notice. Among his strengths are his athleticism, ability to follow-up and pressure at ground level as well as his high marking.
“It was exciting (meeting AFL clubs), I wasn’t expecting it to be honest, but a club did reach out and I had a meeting with them which was good. It was quite nerve-racking and daunting the whole process, but that’s all part of it I suppose” Ernst said.
“It was good to know that there was interest out there, but I’m just trying to build on that now and taking the feedback that they gave me and continuing to work on that going forward. It’s nice to know that the work I’ve put in so far is at least getting recognition.”
“I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s been a big eye-opener, I didn’t realise how much actually goes into it even at VFL level” – Caleb Ernst
Ernst scope for improvement is exponential given that the upcoming pre-season for the 2025 season will be his first full pre-season ever. He is raw and exciting, with so much opportunity for growth and an insatiable thirst to learn.
“On the pre-season side of things, it will be my first full pre-season in probably forever, so I’m pretty keen to work on a few deficiencies and just getting that full VFL pre-season under my belt,” Ernst said.
“Continuing to home in on my craft, I’ve got plenty of things to work on but I’m looking forward to getting a full preseason under my belt and giving it a red-hot crack.”
For a while football wasn’t the main priority for Ernst with the youngster admitting he could’ve been more committed to his craft in the last few years, before having a sharpened focus on his football recently.
“I suppose for a good period that I was there (at Strathfieldsaye), footy wasn’t necessarily the main priority in my life,” Ernst said. “So, I think there was definitely more I could’ve given prior to this year, in terms of my commitment to football.”
“But this year it’s been really good going back there, they’ve been very supportive,” he said.
Away from the football field Coburg’s key forward has several peaking interests and commitments. While he works as a finance broker by day, after work and footy he loves exploring the market and shares. It is an interest that developed when Ernst was back in school, and he’s loved delving into it ever since.
“I work as a loan-broker in a full-time role in an office out at Glen Iris, but my main focus outside of footy and this is something I’ve been very passionate about for a while, is actually investing in mining and energy shares,” he said.
“I’ve got a really strong interest in it, since probably my last year in school. It’s something that takes up most of my time outside of footy and work, so I’m very passionate about that.”
Through this newfound passion, Ernst has lived many unique and exciting experiences that have taken him all around the country and opened up different doors.
“I’ve done a couple of mine site visits for companies I’ve been looking at and attended a few conferences interstate to meet a few of the boards of the companies I’m looking at. It has all been a really good experience,” he said.
Ernst will be looking to finish the season in style this weekend against Essendon, before embarking on a finals campaign with Strathfieldsaye in what will be a big boost for his home team’s premiership chances.
