A product of Essendon's fruitful Wimmera recruiting zone during the 1970s, Russell Ellen played 35 games for the Bombers (1973-77). His time at Windy Hill coincided with the careers of champion ruckman, Graham Moss, and an emerging Simon Madden, meaning Ellen, a tall, lanky ruckman himself, was in and out of the senior team. He went on to play 108 games at West Perth in Western Australia, before a successful business career took him to all corners of the globe. Now based permanently back in WA, Ellen—along with a number of former Bomber players—help run the WA Bombers supporter group, one of the largest Essendon supporter bases outside of Victoria.