Why Melbourne Vixens defender Rudi Ellis almost ranked a premiership over her wedding to Western Bulldogs AFL player Tim English

Rudi Ellis has experienced the two greatest joys of his life in the past seven months; Just don’t ask which one he likes best.

One was winning the Super Netball title with the Melbourne Vixens, the other was marrying her long-term partner Tim English, who you also know as the Western Bulldogs’ star ruckman.

But while re-watching the grand final this week, the 190cm defender almost let slip that the euphoria of the Vixens’ one-goal win over the West Coast Fever last August was better than their wedding at the family farm in December.

“This is the best night ever,” said Ellis, with tears in her eyes, as she watched the players gather and jump in celebration after the siren.

There was a pause and a rush. “I love our wedding night too!”

“This is the happiest moment I have ever experienced. In sports there are ups and downs, but a moment like this is worth living.”

“Thanks for letting me watch this.”

Ellis had not watched a replay of the grand final until now and preferred not to rummage through his memories of the night. Sitting in the theater at the Vixens’ training base in Parkville, she was happy to watch the final five minutes with this byline before their premiership defense begins against the Firebirds in Brisbane on Sunday.

The Vixens’ squad remains virtually unchanged, despite Emily Mannix returning from maternity leave after the birth of daughter Mabel and coach Di Honey taking over from Simone McKinnis.

Ellis, who had the crucial job of defending Fever star striker and potential match-winner Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, had goosebumps almost as soon as we pressed play on the replay.

The Fever hold the lead, watching the Vixens make a break with about four minutes left on the clock. McKinnis tells defenders to “keep their eyes up” and look for the tackle.

Ellis didn’t remember the instructions, but he made a crucial intervention and followed it to the point of impact.

What was he thinking at that moment?

“Lift your eyes, get the ball,” Ellis said with a chuckle.

What Ellis noticed during the break were the impassioned words of captain Kate Moloney, a leader popular for her speeches during the meeting.

“Our captain, Kate, is very good at getting us pumped up,” Ellis said as he watched Moloney yell to be heard over the noise of the crowd. “[She’s the] “He’s the best captain I’ve ever seen on any team.”

The Fever were minor premiers, but the match was played at the Rod Laver Arena due to the controversial practice of Super Netball selling the rights to host the grand final in pre-season, so the Vixens received a huge boost with the majority of the 15,013 fans cheering them on.

Surprisingly, Ellis had forgotten about the double penalty in which Fowler-Nembhard closed the gap to a single goal in the final minutes.

“How did I get connected here?” Ellis shouted. “Oh, another one. It’s a ram killer. Oh no. I don’t remember; it’s probably best not to remember that one.”

“It’s just moments when you’re trying to do anything [to stop the goal shooter].”

This goal for the Fever would be the last in which the Vixens gained possession and made passes until the final whistle; this was a high pressure move.

“At that moment, I was like, ‘Yeah, we did it,’ because the girls are so good at catching the ball, which takes a ton of practice and shows our chemistry in the group.”

As the Vixens screamed and embraced, the camera panned away from McKinnis and her players, including long-time leader Jo Weston and Moloney, in her final game as coach. Ellis runs from the defense, looking a little confused.

“You made me cry,” Ellis said. “This is the moment where we’re all hugging each other and celebrating, we need to walk around and go up to the stands to be with our families.”

The Fever are shown heartbroken but pulled together – Ellis has ties to them due to being on the team that won the title in 2022, albeit not in a starting role.

“I haven’t played much with the Fever. It’s different when you’re a bigger part of the team,” Ellis said.

Life has been very hectic since that night. The Ellis-English wedding, captured by Bianca Virtue Weddings, was a memorable day that took place just a week before the Longwood bushfire hit areas around the family farm in Ancona, west of Mansfield.

And Ellis’ Instagram records appearances at the Australian Open, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, as well as a pre-GP appearance with Oscar Piastri.

While West Australian English, who has signed a five-year extension to stay at the Bulldogs until at least the end of 2029, earns significantly more than Ellis, he has bragging rights for his Instagram following of more than 33,000. The British have 14,000.

The platform is vital for promoting sponsors and increasing revenue.

“It’s so important, netball is still growing and women’s sport is still growing,” Ellis said.

“That’s something I want to keep growing and getting better at. Tim is more reserved and likes to keep things private, and I totally respect that. We’re different in that sense.”

Ellis added that she would like to see netball grow and allow players to win more, but there is not much difference in the day-to-day experience of being a Vixens netball player or a Bulldogs footballer.

“Not really. We’re pretty well looked after, especially with the Vixens,” Ellis said.

“Hopefully one day we can get paid more with better publishing deals

“There is not much difference between us other than salaries.”

As elite athletes, English and Ellis understand each other’s professional lives and attend each other’s games whenever they can. He was at the Gabba last weekend for the Dogs’ thrilling win over Brisbane and will watch Saturday’s match on television as the Vixens prepare for their season opener.

“I love it,” Ellis said.

“Like everyone in any industry, it’s great to have someone who understands what you do.

“It’s nice to have someone who listens when you need to listen and can give you advice when you need it.”

He said the wedding was: “The best day of my life, minus the grand finale… They are on par with each other.

“It was so special to have all our favorite people in one spot.

“We were so lucky that the following week we had bushfires on the farm so we were incredibly lucky to still have a house and secondly we were able to keep everyone home when we did that.

“It was such a great day, it was so much fun, and it went by so quickly. We didn’t have time to think about it because we had such a crazy start to the year.”

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