Adelaide’s Erin Phillips and Chelsea Randall headline All Australian women’s team
They dominated women’s football this year and now five of the Adelaide Crows’ AFLW players have been awarded All Australian status, including the captain and vice-captain.
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Adelaide’s barnstorming 2019 season and premiership has been recognised with co-captains Erin Phillips and Chelsea Randall being named captain and vice-captain of the All Australian team on Tuesday night at the AFLW’s gala awards night in Melbourne.
Phillips and Randall were two of five Crows who were selected in the team alongside prolific forward Stevie-Lee Thompson, hard-nosed midfielder Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard gaining a spot on the interchange bench.
The other prominent club was the Kangaroos, who had four selections in Jess Duffin, Emma Kearney, Jasmine Garner and Emma King.
The All-Australian side had stars in every line with Collingwood’s Ash Brazill holding up the backline and Randall named to run off half-back.
North Melbourne’s Emma Kearney and Melbourne’s Karen Paxman were named in the centre while league Most Valuable Player Phillips — who can play several roles — was in the half forward line, Thompson in attack and Marinoff on the ball.
The Crows’ recognition at the Docklands event came as other clubs are expected to try to raid some of the club’s finest talent with expansion club West Coast tipped to approach Randall and Marinoff being an obvious target for the new clubs.
Gold Coast Suns, Richmond, St Kilda and the West Coast Eagles can sign 12 players during the sign and trade period, which begins next Monday but can sign only four players from the Crows.
Adelaide’s football administration manager Phil Harper was pragmatic about the expected approaches from the new clubs, saying expansion clubs had to go out and recruit and ask the question from the better players in the competition.
The Crows had to back in the culture that was created by inaugural premiership coach Bec Goddard and refined by this year’s flag-winning coach Matthew Clarke and hope that the players valued success and being part of a good program over better financial offers.
“We’ve got a strong squad and a strong team and hopefully they want to stay,” Harper said. “The bad part is that other clubs will be gunning for our good players and try to get them off us.
“We’ll see what we can do.
“Quite a few people moved back to Melbourne last year to the new clubs, to North Melbourne or Geelong, but my personal feeling is that those who wanted to move have moved.
“But there will obviously still be some movement to the new clubs, the expansion clubs, because they’ll need some players to be good.”
Stevie-Lee Thompson has been named the 2019 Leading Goalkicker at this year's #AFLWAwards 🌟 https://t.co/JaCvpDXmSS #weflyasone #crowsaflw pic.twitter.com/21XEU63iTN
— Adelaide Crows AFLW (@CrowsAFLW) April 2, 2019
Five Crows have been named in the 2019 All Australian side, including our courageous co-captains! 🙌ðŸ˜https://t.co/TEaNhZiSrH #weflyasone #crowsaflw pic.twitter.com/mFr6p8AxHK
— Adelaide Crows AFLW (@CrowsAFLW) April 2, 2019
2019 AFL WOMEN’S ALL-AUSTRALIAN TEAM:
BACKS: Ash Brazill (Collingwood), Meg McDonald (Geelong Cats)
HALF BACKS: Jess Duffin (Kangaroos), Chelsea Randall (Adelaide Crows), Kerryn Harrington (Carlton)
CENTRES: Emma Kearney (Kangaroos), Kiara Bowers (Fremantle), Karen Paxman (Melbourne)
HALF FORWARDS: Erin Phillips (Adelaide Crows), Jasmine Garner (Kangaroos), Monique Conti (Western Bulldogs)
FORWARDS: Gemma Houghton (Fremantle), Stevie Lee Thompson (Adelaide Crows)
FOLLOWERS: Lauren Pearce (Melbourne), Ebony Marinoff (Adelaide Crows), Madison Prespakis (Carlton)
INTERCHANGE: Emma King (Kangaroos), Gabbie Pound (Carlton), Ally Anderson (Brisbane Lions), Anne Hatchard (Adelaide Crows), Dana Hooker (Fremantle)
Captain: Erin Phillips
Vice-captain: Chelsea Randall
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