Rupert Wills

Wills was born in New Zealand, but moved to Australia with his family when he was seven.{{cite web|url=https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/9168/rupert-wills-kiwi-connection|title=Rupert Wills' Kiwi connection|first=Sam|last=Gastin|publisher=Telstra|work=Collingwood|date=9 December 2015}} He was educated at Scotch College in Melbourne, playing football with the third team in Year 11 and then alternating between the second and first team in Year 12. After graduating, he travelled to London to work at Harrow College.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/collingwood-midfielder-rupert-wills-has-taken-the-long-road-to-first-final-via-london/news-story/3ba772bce868182a55a3ec140b2059d2|title=Collingwood midfielder Rupert Wills has taken the long road to first final, via London|first=Josh|last=Gabelich|work=Fox Sports|date=5 September 2019}} A year later, upon his return from England, Wills joined Old Scotch in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) in 2013. In 2013, he played 5 senior games and 15 reserves games, and in 2014 played 11 senior games and a single reserve game, totalling 32 games played for the club.{{cite web|url=https://oldscotchfc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/22-OSFC-Player-Rupert-Wills-2016.pdf|title=Crackers Chronicles – VFL/AFL Former Old Scotch Players|publisher=Old Scotch|access-date=4 June 2020}} He was named among the best in six of his senior games in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/rupert-wills/|title=Rupert Wills|publisher=Telstra Media|work=Collingwood Forever|access-date=6 June 2020}} In 2015, Collingwood's Victorian Football League (VFL) manager, Luke Gatti, invited Wills to trial for their top-up squad.{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/collingwood/rupert-wills-goes-from-old-scotch-reserves-to-breaking-records-with-collingwood/news-story/dbc2f5cced29a727d60aa5c294bf957e|title=Rupert Wills goes from Old Scotch reserves to breaking records with Collingwood|first=Jay|last=Clark|newspaper=Herald Sun|date=11 August 2016}} He played six senior games for them before being drafted to their Australian Football League (AFL) side. A series of injuries, including a hamstring injury, sidelined him and prevented him from making any more appearances that season.

Wills was drafted by the Collingwood Football Club with their third selection and sixty-third overall in the 2015 national draft.{{cite web|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/draft/afl-draft-2015-collingwood-surprises-by-selecting-brayden-sier-rupert-wills/news-story/21ee0a1d4553eaa6c404fa77c6814c8c|title=AFL draft 2015: Collingwood surprises by selecting Brayden Sier, Rupert Wills|last=Morris|first=Tom|date=25 November 2015|work=Fox Sports|access-date=30 July 2016}} He made his debut in a nineteen point victory against West Coast in the 19th round of the 2016 season at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, laying 11 tackles.{{cite web|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-07-30/match-report-collingwood-v-west-coast|title=Match report: Tackle-happy Pies pile the pain on West Coast|last=Twomey|first=Callum|work=Australian Football League|publisher=Bigpond|date=30 July 2016}} These 11 tackles, at the time put Rupert as the VFL/AFL record-holder for most tackles laid in a game on debut.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/collingwood/rupert-wills-tackles-his-way-into-afl-record-books-on-debut-for-collingwood/news-story/d36174b795adb2061e8c23d8403db2c4|title=Rupert Wills tackles his way into AFL record books on debut for Collingwood|first=Ben|last=Higgins|newspaper=Herald Sun|date=1 August 2016}} After his debut, he played another four games, totalling five games played in his debut season, in which he averaged 17 disposals and 8.6 tackles per game.{{cite web|url=http://phoenixmanagementgroup.com.au/talent/rupert-wills/|title=Rupert Wills|publisher=Phoenix Management Group|access-date=5 June 2020}} In the 2017 season, Wills made only one senior appearance, after suffering a quad muscle injury in the pre-season and a calf muscle injury in April.{{cite news|url=https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/rupert-wills-back-in-collingwood-side-after-frustrating-2017-20170724-gxhbud.html|title=Rupert Wills back in Collingwood side after 'frustrating' 2017|first=Anthony|last=Colangelo|newspaper=The Age|date=24 July 2017}} Despite the lack of games, Wills signed a two-year contract extension at the end of the season.{{cite web|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/142112/pies-confirm-new-deals-for-young-duo-rupert-wills-and-josh-thomas|title=Magpies confirm new deals for young pair|first=Marc|last=McGowan|publisher=Telstra Media|work=Australian Football League|date=13 October 2017}} In the 2018 season, Wills didn't feature at all at the senior level. In the 2019 season, Wills made only three appearances in the first half of the season, before resurging with the last four games of the regular season, which were among the best games of his career, averaging 18.8 disposals, 9 contested possessions, and 6.8 tackles. At the end of the season, he signed a one-year contract extension.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-collingwood-resignings-rupert-wills-tim-broomhead-jack-madgen-ben-reid-travis-varcoe/news-story/5dd136ab3ac1740c730646fa84fb43cd|title=Veteran swingman, premiership player headline host of Collingwood re-signings|first=Julia|last=Montesano|work=Fox Sports|date=8 November 2019}}

In November 2020, Wills was delisted by Collingwood.{{cite web|url=https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/838187/beams-says-goodbye-pies-delist-three|title=Beams says goodbye, Pies delist three|publisher=Telstra Media|work=Collingwood|date=25 November 2020}}

Wills is currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws at Deakin University.{{cite web |title=Elite Athlete Program Profiles |url=https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/get-involved/elite-athlete-program-profiles |publisher=Deakin University |access-date=13 March 2022}}

:Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season{{cite web|url=http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/R/Rupert_Wills.html|title=Rupert Wills|publisher=AFL Tables|access-date=19 October 2020}}

{{AFL player statistics legend}}

{{AFL player statistics start}}

|- style="background-color: #eaeaea"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2016

|{{AFL Col}}

| 33 || 5 || 1 || 1 || 37 || 51 || 88 || 14 || 43 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 7.4 || 10.2 || 17.6 || 2.8 || 8.6

|-

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2017

|{{AFL Col}}

| 33 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 7 || 8 || 15 || 2 || 5 || 0 || 1.0 || 7.0 || 8.0 || 15.0 || 2.0 || 5.0

|- style="background-color: #eaeaea"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2018

|{{AFL Col}}

| 33 || 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —

|-

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019

|{{AFL Col}}

| 33 || 9 || 0 || 1 || 48 || 93 || 141 || 23 || 67 || 0 || 0.1 || 5.3 || 10.3 || 15.7 || 2.6 || 7.4

|- style="background-color: #eaeaea"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2020

|{{AFL Col}}

| 33 || 8 || 0 || 0 || 43 || 82 || 125 || 10 || 38 || 0 || 0 || 5.4 || 10.3 || 15.6 || 1.3 || 4.8

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 23

! 1

! 3

! 135

! 234

! 369

! 49

! 153

! 0.04

! 0.1

! 5.9

! 10.2

! 16.0

! 2.1

! 6.7

|}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Collplayer|750/rupert-wills}}
• {{AFL Tables|ref=R/Rupert_Wills.html}}

{{2015 AFL national draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Rupert}}

Category:1993 births

Category:Living people

Category:Collingwood Football Club players

Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)

Category:People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne

Category:21st-century Australian sportsmen