AFLW Moneyball: Angela Foley to join Port Adelaide, Erin Phillips
An inaugural Adelaide Crow and dual premiership player has revealed the driving force behind her decision to abandon a successful culture and cross town to Port Adelaide.
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Dual Adelaide premiership winner and former vice-captain Angela Foley has joined AFLW superstar Erin Phillips in leaving the Crows to join cross-town rivals Port Adelaide.
The inaugural Crow — who joined Adelaide from the Waratah Football Club in the Northern Territory in 2016 — described the decision to leave West Lakes as “not an easy one”, but one that was ultimately made with her longevity in the game in mind.
“(Longevity) was a big thing that was driving me, as well as a new challenge and a fresh start,” the 33-year-old said.
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“For someone of my age and starting to think about the end of my career rather than the start of it, I just saw it as a really good opportunity to be involved in something that’s really new and exciting … a bit of a challenge, which is something that I love.
“But also, there’ll be plenty of leadership opportunities that will open up being a new club.”
Foley — who was part of the 2017 and 2019 Crows premiership teams — captained Adelaide in the 2021 AFLW grand final loss to Brisbane in the absence of Chelsea Randall.
But she tore her anterior cruciate ligament during the game and missed the entire 2022 season, instead taking on a game-day bench-communications role during this year’s successful AFLW campaign.
The defender said she was excited to return to the field, this time in a new jumper.
“I’m really pumped to play again, it’s been a long 12 months and I’m really excited to play,” she said.
“At 33, you might be thinking I’d be starting to wind down the clock a little bit, but I think this might ignite something new and special for me and I’m hoping that I can get better as a person, as a player and bring a fair few girls along with me in that space as well.”
Foley she said she was excited to be part of building the culture in a new club alongside her former Crows captain, Phillips.
“Obviously Erin and I have spoken over the last week and she was super supportive of me in trying to make my decision and she stepped back and put her friend hat on and made sure that I was making a decision that was a really smart choice for myself personally,” Foley said.
“And she wanted me to be happy, which is all she kept telling me.
“We made the decisions independently of each other, but for me, I think once I’d made that decision, and then found out that Erin was also going to sign, it was a little bit of a cherry-on-the-top moment.
“I love Erin, she’s a really good mate of mine, but she also inspires me too, so I get a bit of a kick out of her being there as well.
“We’ll definitely work together in a leadership space and it’s going to be definitely nice to have her by my side as well.”
Crows head of AFLW Phil Harper said the club was disappointed to lose someone of Foley’s character and experience.
“But Ange has received an offer that is simply too good to refuse,” Harper said.
“We will always be grateful for her contribution.”
Under expansion rules Port can sign up to 14 currently listed AFLW players, up to eight from the Crows.
Inaugural Port coach, Lauren Arnell — whose Brisbane Lions beat the Foley’s Crows in the 2021 grand final by three goals — said Foley would bring valuable leadership skills to the new team.
“One big thing for us in this signing period is securing players who have an ability to perform themselves but also bring others along with them, and we know that Ange is going to play an important role in ensuring this happens here at Port Adelaide,” Arnell said.
Port will now work with Foley’s management to facilitate the request once the AFLW’s sign and trade period opens, with dates yet to be confirmed.
Grand Final skipper joins Crows’ Port exodus
Another veteran Adelaide leader has joined Erin Phillips in leaving the Crows to join cross-town rivals Port Adelaide.
Dual premiership winner and former vice-captain Angela Foley will join the Power for their inaugural women’s season.
The 33-year-old has played 40 AFLW games for Adelaide since joining the Crows from the Waratah Football Club in the Northern Territory in 2017, including winning the 2017 and 2019 grand finals.
The defender captained Adelaide in the 2021 AFLW grand final loss to Brisbane in the absence of Chelsea Randall, but she tore her anterior cruciate ligament during the game and missed the entire 2022 season as a result.
Foley, who was moved to the Crows inactive list, instead took on a game-day bench-communications role for the team during this year’s successful AFLW campaign.
Foley, who has been in the Crows leadership group since her first season, said she was excited to start a new chapter in her football career with the Power.
“It’s nice to be part of something that is so fresh and new, I’m really looking forward to being on board,” she said.
“It will be great to have a new environment to hopefully take my footy to the next level and to also help the group by being a leader, after being part of the leadership group at the Crows.
“I want to bring some experience and leadership here to Port Adelaide.”
Foley has been playing for Sturt in this year’s SANFLW season.
Crows Women’s Head of Football Phil Harper said the club was disappointed to lose someone of Foley’s character and experience.
“But Ange has received an offer that is simply too good to refuse,” Harper said.
“We will always be grateful for her contribution, especially in the early days when she was a key leader among our Darwin-based players.
“She was a key driver in that group forging a strong connection with their teammates here in Adelaide and setting high standards.”
Under expansion rules Port Adelaide are able to sign up to 14 currently listed AFLW players – up to eight from the Crows – and Foley now joins her former captain Phillips in the Power colours.
Inaugural Port coach, Lauren Arnell – whose Brisbane Lions beat the Foley’s Crows in the 2021 grand final by three goals – said Foley would bring valuable leadership skills to the new team.
“One big thing for us in this signing period is securing players who have an ability to perform themselves but also bring others along with them, and we know that Ange is going to play an important role in ensuring this happens here at Port Adelaide,” Arnell said.
Port will now work with Foley’s management to facilitate the request once the AFLW Trade and Sign period opens, with dates yet to be confirmed.
PHILLIPS’ NEW POWER COACHING ROLE REVEALED
Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley has flagged adding Erin Phillips to his coaching group after she joined the Power for their inaugural AFLW season.
The AFLW star, who has won three premierships with the Crows, has become arguably the biggest name to cross the Adelaide-Port Adelaide divide after her decision to join the club where her father Greg played 343 games.
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Not only will Phillips be the star of the Power’s first ever AFLW season when they enter the league but she could also be involved with the men’s program at Alberton.
“Firstly it’s great to get the Phillips name back playing at Port Adelaide which is fantastic,” Hinkley said.
“We all know the history of the club and Greg, it’s a fantastic name of our footy club and to have Erin in our female program is a great result.
“Yes Erin has expertise, world sporting expertise so you would be mad and foolish to not look at tapping into some of those expertise.”
The AFL is set to provide clubs with incentives to employ female assistant coaches.
The salary of a female assistant coach will sit outside the football department soft cap, while the AFL is set to contribute $50,000 to each aspiring coach.
The clubs will make up the difference.
Phillips herself hinted on AFL360 on Wednesday after her move to the Power was announced that coaching could be on the cards for her after one to two years playing for the club she grew up supporting.
Newcomers continue big push for signings
Essendon has landed another current AFL Women’s player with Docker Stephanie Cain committing to sign at the club.
The Bombers have been the most active expansion club in landing current players from other clubs so far, with Carlton star Madison Prespakis and Bulldogs goalkicker Bonnie Toogood already signalling their intention to shift to Tullamarine.
Cain, who has played 32 AFLW games over the last six seasons, will add both pace and sharp kicking nous after developing her game on the wing in recent seasons.
Bombers football boss Josh Mahoney said the Bombers intended to support Cain fully as she makes the shift east.
“She comes from a strong program at Fremantle and will contribute to the culture and environment we are building within our club,” he said.
“We understand the significant commitment that Steph is making by moving across the country to join us and trusting that we will be putting all the resources around her to make Victoria feel like home and maximise her as a player.”
Growing noise around lack of scheduling
Disquiet among AFL Women’s players is threatening to bubble over as frustrations continue to grow surrounding a lack of scheduling for the upcoming season.
As collective bargaining agreement negotiations remain ongoing, players are rising up on social media to express their concerns at not having dates set for things like the draft, pre-season start and upcoming season, which has been flagged to start in August.
“Please AFL Women’s give us the pre-season start dates so we can plan our lives,” Collingwood player Sarah Rowe wrote this week.
Rowe has returned to Ireland for what could be a short off-season and is eyeing a flight home to book — but has no timeline for when that might be.
“Plz,” star Demon Tayla Harris wrote in response.
The players’ association has long advocated for certainty for players as a key element to season planning.
Clubs are also growing increasingly frustrated with the sign and trade period dates also still not set.
Potential draftees — many of whom are completing Year 12 studies — are speaking with clubs without any timeline as many continue weighing up whether they will nominate for the draft for this year or next year as exams also loom.
League boss Gillon McLachlan has led an AFL contingent overseas this week, with the AFL Players’ Association having recently presented its proposals for the new two-year CBA.
The AFL executives on the trip continue to work on issues from the home front, including the women’s competition, as they embark on their fact-finding mission.
Collingwood men’s player and AFLPA board member Darcy Moore told Moneyball this week that there was confidence in what the deal would entail.
“I’m overseeing (it) as a board member, and the early signs are that it’s progressing quite well,” Moore said.
“Obviously they are going to have to move quite fast, because the women’s season is scheduled to start a bit earlier next season.
“Then Gill obviously announcing his retirement, he obviously wants to get the deals done before he goes.
“We’re really confident that both men and women AFL players are going to get a deal that sets us up for the next four, five, six years, because if we’ve learnt anything over the last two years, it’s that the Australian public loves AFL footy, they love a high standard and they love a good game, so as players we expect to play our role in that and get rewarded accordingly. It should go really smoothly.”
AFL Women’s players are pushing for an increase in both hours of work and pay, the former of which Moore said would only help boost greater involvement between men’s and women’s players at clubs.
“The more hours they’re able to train will only help that (camaraderie),” he said.
“At the moment they’re only at the club a few hours a week, which makes it a bit difficult.”
Sleepless nights but Port was always Phillips next chapter
AFL Women’s champion Erin Phillips is going “home” to Port Adelaide.
Phillips – whose father Greg was a club legend at Port when Erin was a child – has finally been announced as the Power’s inaugural signing after weeks of speculation and sleepless nights about her playing future.
After three premierships at Adelaide and two league best and fairest medals, Phillips – who will turn 37 next month – said the move would allow her to live out a long-held dream.
“It’s been an absolute privilege to have been a part of the most successful AFLW club to date,” Phillips said.
“I obviously have great memories and friendships from my time at Adelaide, which I will cherish forever.
“But as a kid growing up, all I wanted was to be like Dad and play football for the Port Adelaide Football Club. Port Adelaide feels like home to me. It’s where I spent a lot of my childhood.
“It was always my dream to be able to represent the club and add to its incredible history, and I am beyond thrilled to finally get that chance and play a role in building this team from the ground up.”
Phillips said she could not pass up the opportunity to play for a club her family had such a rich history with.
“The thought of missing the opportunity to play for a team that my dad played for, a club that my dad played for, my brother-in-law (Shaun Burgoyne) played for, that my older sister Rachel works at, and to be a part of something new, it was the deciding factor for me,” she said on Mix102.3.
“I had no real reason to leave the Crows, they’ve been so wonderful to me and I’ve been forever grateful, but at the end of the day, this is something I would have regretted for the rest of my life if I didn’t do.
“It means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family. My dad, who has been incredible through this whole process has always told me: ‘Just to do what makes you happy, don’t do it for me’ … he was so, so proud.”
“(This decision) has been so hard. I have lost so much sleep over it … at the end of the day, I felt like this is my next purpose, my next chapter and a really nice way to finish my playing career, wearing Port Adelaide colours.”
Phillips said she hadn’t looked beyond the upcoming AFLW season – the seventh – but there was a possibility she could play more than one season.
While Adelaide was disappointed to lose Phillips to “an expansion club” – notably not mentioning the Power by name – football boss Phil Harper said player movement was inevitable in expansion.
But having held onto club best and fairest Anne Hatchard despite overtures from Port Adelaide and other clubs, he backed in the Crows program to withstand major impact
“The growth of women’s football has been inspiring and our club considers it a privilege to have been part of the journey,” Harper said.
“More players are going to get the opportunity to live out their dream and play at the elite level which can only be a good thing.”
POWER COUPLE
Port Adelaide appears to be keeping it in the family when it comes to building their foundation AFLW squad, and this isn’t even about Erin Phillips, daughter of club great Greg. Yasmin Duursma, the younger sister of Power men’s player Xavier Duursma, is eligible for this year’s AFLW draft, playing for Vic Country in this year’s under-18 championships. A midfielder like her older brother, Yasmin was in deep conversation with a Port contingent including coach Lauren Arnell after Friday’s loss to Queensland at Werribee, with opposition clubs expecting Duursma will nominate for the South Australian draft pool. By doing so Duursma would only be eligible to be drafted by the Power or Adelaide. From Gippsland, Yasmin will need to relocate in any case to find an AFLW home. Younger brother Zane is also a gun junior.
EAGLES ROCKED
Wooden-spooners in 2022, and having barely fired a shot across three turbulent seasons in the competition, West Coast is hardly in a position where it can afford to lose any of its best young players. But that is on the cards, with 21-year-old Mikayla Bowen weighing up whether to remain an Eagle. Bowen, who finished third in West Coast’s best and fairest in 2021, a season win which she was named in the All-Australian squad, has interest from around the league, with her agent Paul Peos telling Moneyball that Bowen was “exploring her options” at a time when several clubs are getting increasingly desperate to land high-end talent. Irishwoman Niamh Kelly also has rival interest and could depart the Eagles, who are themselves courting Gold Coast ball magnet Jamie Stanton.
AFLW’s newest rivalry to ignite as Phillips quits Crows for Power
AFL Women’s champion Erin Phillips is going “home” to Port Adelaide.
Phillips – whose father Greg was a club legend at Port when Erin was a child – has finally been announced as the Power’s inaugural signing after weeks of speculation about her future.
After three premierships at Adelaide and two league best and fairest medals, Phillips – who will turn 37 next month – said the move would allow her to live out a long-held dream.
“It’s been an absolute privilege to have been a part of the most successful AFLW club to date,” Phillips said.
“I obviously have great memories and friendships from my time at Adelaide, which I will cherish forever.
“But as a kid growing up, all I wanted was to be like Dad and play football for the Port Adelaide Football Club. Port Adelaide feels like home to me. It’s where I spent a lot of my childhood.
“It was always my dream to be able to represent the club and add to its incredible history, and I am beyond thrilled to finally get that chance and play a role in building this team from the ground up.”
Phillips said she could not pass up the opportunity to play for a club her family had such a rich history with.
“The thought of missing the opportunity to play for a team that my dad played for, a club that my dad played for, my brother-in-law (Shaun Burgoyne) played for, that my older sister Rachel works at, and to be a part of something new, it was the deciding factor for me,” she said on Mix102.3.
“I had no real reason to leave the Crows, they’ve been so wonderful to me and I’ve been forever grateful, but at the end of the day, this is something I would have regretted for the rest of my life if I didn’t do.
“It means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family. My dad, who has been incredible through this whole process has always told me: ‘Just to do what makes you happy, don’t do it for me’ … he was so, so proud.”
“(This decision) has been so hard. I have lost so much sleep over it … at the end of the day, I felt like this is my next purpose, my next chapter and a really nice way to finish my playing career, wearing Port Adelaide colours.”
Phillips said she hadn’t looked beyond the upcoming AFLW season – the seventh – but there was a possibility she could play more than one season.
✨ She's coming home ✨@erinphillips131 returns to Port Adelaide as our inaugural @pafc_w player signing ðŸ‘
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) April 26, 2022
📰 https://t.co/oJNod8Etz8#weareportadelaidepic.twitter.com/2mTVdTBuBy
Port Adelaide’s head of AFLW Juliet Haslam said Phillips was the perfect inaugural signing.
“She knows what it takes to be successful in elite sport and in particular in the AFLW having won just about every accolade from a team and personal perspective,” she said.
“She also understands what it means to represent Port Adelaide.
“We are excited to have her commit to be on board, and look forward to adding to our playing group in the coming weeks.”
While Adelaide was disappointed to lose Phillips to “an expansion club” – notably not mentioning the Power – football boss Phil Harper said player movement was inevitable in expansion.
But having held onto club best and fairest Anne Hatchard despite overtures from Port Adelaide and other clubs, he backed in the Crows program to withstand major impact
“The growth of women’s football has been inspiring and our club considers it a privilege to have been part of the journey,” Harper said.
“More players are going to get the opportunity to live out their dream and play at the elite level which can only be a good thing.
“In terms of player retention, history says having a strong and winning culture is as important as any factor and we have done all we possibly can.
“Given our depth of talent and knowing in advance that expansion teams would target our players, we have been working to a deliberate and well thought out list management strategy.”
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