Erin Phillips has announced she will play her final AFLW match this Saturday, hanging up the boots on her elite multi-sport career.
The 38-year-old captain of Port Adelaide announced her retirement on Tuesday morning in an emotional press conference, saying she gave it her all.
“I’m not sure where I’d be without the AFLW,” Phillips said.
“I wish I could physically keep going and give this club more but I can honestly say I’ve given everything I can.”
Phillips, a trailblazer for women’s sport, said it was the right time for her to step away.
“The biggest thing I would like to do is take a little bit of time out to evaluate what’s next,” she told reporters.
“I have been in an elite sporting environment since I was 16 years of age, which is longer than some of my teammates have been alive.”
Phillips grew up in Melbourne playing AFL as a child, but made the switch to basketball at age 13 because of the limited pathways for women and girls pursuing a professional career playing footy.
At 17, in 2002, she debuted for the Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL. Her professional basketball career saw her play for the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA, the Indiana Fever in 2012 and the Phoenix Mercury in 2014, winning two WNBA premierships over nine seasons.
Phillips also represented Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she won a silver medal.
When the AFLW began in 2017, Phillips joined the league, playing for the Adelaide Crows and leading the side to three premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2022.
Phillips said she owes her passion and skill for the game to her father and AFL legend, Greg Phillips.
“To my dad, thank you for teaching me this game, for spending time when I’m sure you we were tired and sore from your own training to teach me this game as a young girl, and even when you knew there was no future in it, you taught me anyway,” Phillips said in the press conference.
“You are the reason why I love this game.”
After 66 games with the Crows, she moved to Port Adelaide in 2022 for Season 7, captaining the side for what would be her final twenty games and two seasons in her career.
The move to the club in its inaugural season in the AFLW was inspired by Phillips’ father, who also played for Port Adelaide.
“I’m so proud that I got to play here, even more proud that I got to wear the same number as you,” she said.
Phillips is the most decorated player in the AFLW with three premierships, three selections in the All-Australian side, two club Best and Fairest awards and two AFLW Best and Fairest awards.
Andrew Dillon, CEO of the AFL, said Philipps is a “true champion of the AFLW”.
“She set elite standards as a foundation player in the competition and has won almost everything there is to win in the AFLW,” he said.
“Her unbelievable set of skills – kicking, marking, tackling and goal-scoring – were exemplary and she would always save her best for the big stage.”
AFL’s general manager of women’s football Nicole Livingstone said Phillips was and will continue to be a key driver in women’s sport in Australia.
“Erin was an outstanding junior footy player until she was prevented from playing footy as a girl,” Livingstone said.
“Coming ack to the game after nine seasons in the WNBA – winning two championships and an Olympic silver medal for the Opals – Erin is one of Australia’s preeminent athletes.”
Phillips will play her final AFLW match this Saturday against the GWS Giants at Alberton Oval in Adelaide at 3pm. The game will be broadcast on 7mate and can be streamed on 7+, Fox Sports, Kayo and the AFL app.