Being named captain of a VFL side is a great honour in any capacity. 

However, most would assume being named Captain of a VFL side at just 20 years of age would be too big a responsibility to bear. 

Not in the case of Essendon’s Billy Cootee, who admits that leadership has come naturally to him in the early stages of his football life.

Hailing from the 900-strong small town of Mount Beauty in Victoria, Cootee has experienced plenty of variety in a football career that’s taken him from humble beginnings to leading sides at both NAB League and now VFL level. 

Cootee’s captaincy credentials also extend across multiple sports, having led the charge for Victoria’s Under 17’s state side as a youth cricketer. 

Cootee spoke to Essendon FC last week about his adaption into the club, as well as some of the hurdles presented in that process by pursuing his sporting ambitions during two seasons hampered by the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns. 

“Coming off playing no footy in the 2020 season, I was lucky enough to be named Captain of the Western Jets coming back the next year, so that was where my leadership roles in footy started,” Cootee said. 

“Throughout that lockdown it was bloody tough to keep that footy motivation up, but it was also different to being injured - with everyone else being in that same boat – so still being able to train and stay on top of things kept me going.” 

Cootee’s affiliation with Essendon first began when he was called up to the VFL side for two games during his 2021 campaign, providing invaluable exposure to high-level football after nearly 12 months without a platform to ply his footy trade. 

It’s this exposure that allowed the leadership transition to come smoothly for Cootee, making the jump from representing his age groups to suddenly fronting up for VFL veterans and AFL-listed footballers well into their careers. 

“My teammates are all so personable. They make it quite easy for me and it’s been awesome building those relationships over the past couple of years, getting an idea of what makes each other tick,” Cootee said.

Despite a challenging start for the team in his first year at the helm, Cootee is remaining confident in the progression and depth of the list as they navigate some key injuries.  

“We feel we’ve got really great depth in our squad, which is a big help especially when some of your keys go down,” Cootee said. 

“We probably haven’t seen our best performances as of yet, but we’re bullish about where we can go this year and we’re pretty keen to see how we go over the next few weeks.”  

Cootee and the VFL Dons will look to bounce back in a huge clash with Richmond at the MCG this Saturday, May 20 at 2:35pm. 

The game will not be open for the general public, however fans with a valid reserved seat for the AFL Dreamtime at the ‘G clash that night will be able to scan into the earlier game with their entry ticket.