Injured Power forward Brad Ebert helps Port great Greg Phillips with women’s footy training
Power forward Brad Ebert teams up with eight-times Port Adelaide premiership great Greg Phillips three decades after Phillips played with his father and uncle.
- D-Day for Power's AFLW ambition
- Port gives Wines thumbs down
- Damning statistic in Port’s win-loss record
Injured Port Adelaide veteran Brad Ebert returned to the football field on Thursday night – but not with the Power.
Ebert, who hurt his knee in the Power’s loss to Brisbane last month, was at SMOSH West Lakes helping eight-times Port SANFL premiership player Greg Phillips train the club’s division one Adelaide Footy League Women’s team.
The Power forward teamed up with Phillips 30 years after the Magpies great lined up in the black and white prison bars alongside Ebert’s father, Craig Ebert, and uncle, Russell Ebert.
Although 29-year-old Ebert was still in a knee brace, having torn his posterior cruciate ligament, he was set to give the women some words of advice leading into the finals.
“I’m just here to have a bit of a chat to them all and just to help out where I can,” Ebert, a former St Michael’s student, said.
“My advice to them (leading into finals) is probably just to enjoy it.
“In the position they are at, they are sitting third, they don’t want to get too far ahead of themselves so it’s important for them to stay in the weekly moment.
“For them (SMOSH) to be able to push into the finals is fantastic.
“I’ve known Greg forever, so it’s awesome to be able to come out and help him out.”
Phillips – father of Crows superstar Erin – was appointed SMOSH’s inaugural senior women’s coach in October when the club joined the women’s football boom driven by AFLW’s popularity.
The Lions have a 6-3 record and are third in division one, with three minor rounds remaining.
“We thought that because it was our first year in the competition we might be down a bit, but we are up there near the top, so it’s exciting times,” Phillips, 60, said.
“Some of the girls had never played before.
“Their will to play is fantastic but I had to go back to basics with the training drills.
“Where we are now it’s important for them to enjoy the experience, enjoy each other’s company and don’t lose sight of what we are trying to do.”
When the AFLW expands to 14 teams next year, Port Adelaide will still be one of the four clubs without a licence.
But the Power were expected to know within the next few weeks if and when they could bid to field a team.
Ebert, meanwhile, was optimistic about the Power’s chances of sneaking into the AFL finals despite being 10th and a win outside the top eight.
He conceded it had been a frustrating year personally after being on the sidelines for much of the season due to concussion concerns and now the knee injury.
But Ebert was hopeful of being fit enough to play for the Power should they make an unlikely entry into the finals.