How AFLW star and former Olympic basketballer Erin Phillips became a sporting powerhouse at 13
Erin Phillips grew up listening to people ask her famous footy father if he was “sorry” he didn’t have a son to carry on his AFL legacy. But Olympic basketballer and two-time premiership AFLW player Erin has made them eat their words.
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People often talk about high-achieving families.
I’ve always wondered how the discussion goes between Greg Phillips who won eight premierships with the Port Adelaide Magpies, his son-in-law Shaun Burgoyne who has won four in the AFL and is the games record holder for indigenous players, and his third daughter, Erin Phillips.
Erin, as a basketballer, is a dual Olympian, a world champion, and won two titles in the WNBA.
As a footballer, two premierships with the Crows, a best on ground in the 2019 Grand Final, two AFLW League B&F Awards, and Goal of the Year.
HM: Erin. Your career — however you look at it, it’s remarkable on so many fronts!
EP: Thanks, Hame. I’m very lucky to have been a part of those teams and achieve the things that I have with them. It’s been an awesome career so far, and I’m keen to keep adding to that list.
HM: You are used to winning … your dad set the tone: 343 games with the Magpies, eight flags. When did you realise what a legend your father was?
EP: As a young kid, I was really confused when people would come up and ask for my dad’s autograph. He was just my dad who plays footy — what’s so special about him? As I got older I started to understand how good of a player he was and it was acknowledged this year when he was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
HM: He always included you and your sisters at the club. Did that assist your career in some way?
EP: It did — I was very, very lucky to be a part of the Port Adelaide Magpies through Dad’s career. He won four premierships after I was born, so I grew up in a successful period, and it became the norm. Dad instilled hard work, and the importance of being a part of the team, doing things to the best of your ability, dealing with anything that comes your way, and just being a really good person.
HM: You mentioned you were one of three girls. Is it true people said to your father, “We’re sorry you’ll never have a Phillips footballer on the field!”?
EP: Constantly! My dad owned a pub down at the Lighthouse Wharf, and someone was heckling Dad there one day. “Sorry Greg, you’ve got three girls, I bet you feel bad you don’t have a son.” Dad said, “Here’s my three daughters — which one should I trade in?” He’d shut them up that way. Dad never let that bother him, because it was never an issue.
HM: Little did they know! John Cahill has said you were the most dominant thirteen-year-old footballer he’d ever seen in his life, better than any boy at that age that he’d seen. When did you start?
EP: I started playing at Westlakes as soon as I was allowed — six years old. I was counting down the days — I loved it. I had been raised with a football all around me, and as soon as I could walk and talk, I had a football under my arm. If it was raining outside, I had a balloon, kicking it around the house, and taking hangers on the back of Mum and Dad’s couch. I just loved football. It was something that I connected with when I was young. It was just the game I fell in love with from a young age, and that was all that I wanted to be, right up until I was 13 when I was still playing with Westlakes.
HM: And at 13, you were shown another pathway?
EP: After I turned 13, I wasn’t allowed to continue playing with the boys. It was really hard to understand at that age — they were all my friends! It was just because I was a girl. Strategically, Dad introduced me to Rachael Sporn. Dad’s vision was to change who my hero was, because he knew that there was no pathway in football. If I wanted to play sport, it had to be different to the one I was so passionate about.
HM: Did you fall in love with basketball, or did you leave the football begrudgingly and with a heavy heart?
EP: Sadly, as much I was annoyed, I just had to accept it as it was just the way it was. I couldn’t do anything about it. I took some of that drive and passion that I had for football into basketball. I loved basketball, but it wasn’t my No. 1 passion.
HM: Your professional career started three years later with the Adelaide Lightning at 16 and finished with the Dallas Wings. A two-time Olympian, vice-captain of the team in Rio. How quickly did basketball become a natural environment for you, and one that you could compete at the highest level in?
EP: To be honest, I was quite an average basketballer in the beginning. I kept getting fouled off, because I kept jumping on people’s backs and was too aggressive!
HM: Too much Greg Phillips …
EP: Pretty much! I was a little bit frustrated in the early stages, because I was just this raw athlete trying to play basketball, which requires a lot more finesse and strategy. It took a lot of coaches, and a lot of patience, to turn me into a basketballer. I spent countless hours practising my skills, I stopped getting fouled out in the first quarter, and slowly started making it all the way to the fourth!
HM: And then drafted at 19 to the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA in 2005.
EP: That’s when I realised I was actually going to have a real sporting career that was going to take me around the world. In that same year I was drafted I was invited out to the Opals, which was incredible. I couldn’t believe it was all happening for me.
HM: A world championship early in your career in 2006 …
EP: The World Championships were my first stint with the Opals. We were in Brazil when we won in Sao Paulo. We played Brazil to get us into the gold medal match, and this was a stadium that legally probably only fits 10,000 people. There must have been 15,000 jammed in there … with drums! We played Brazil and it was down to the wire, an electric game, and then USA played Russia straight after. Russia knocked off the Americans, which was incredible, and they were out partying into the morning, until we had to play them a couple of days later. We beat them, and I learnt what a gold medal means to the nation. The first gold medal in basketball on a world stage! My first experience with the Opals was just mind blowing! It’s funny, I told Lauren Jackson after we won that “I must be a good-luck charm, we’re going to win gold medals now!”
HM: Then, two years later, an Olympian …
EP: How crazy, and what an honour! Jan Stirling was our head coach at the time. The team manager said, “Jan’s going to be calling at 9am to tell you if you’ve made the team.” I remember answering, just trying to keep my heart rate from getting to dangerous levels! When the words “Congratulations, you’re an Olympian” came out of her mouth, I just started shaking. It was like the words weren’t real. As soon as I got off the phone, I drove home to Mum and Dad’s, and I stood still and stuttered, “I … I … I made it!” There were so many tears, because your family around you knows how much time and effort you put in. My dream of playing football was completely gone, so to channel all that energy into another sport, and have the pinnacle of sport in front of you, it was really special to share it with them.
HM: In nine seasons in the WNBA, you played with five different clubs. The trading of players in American sport is very different to here.
EP: Absolutely. You start your season in May, and you could be traded anytime between May and the middle of July! I’ve had teammates that have rocked up on the day of a game, who’ve never trained with us, and suddenly they’re on the team because we’ve made a quick trade! I was lucky not to have ever been traded mid-season. It would be something very difficult to do, to try and come into a team, fit in and find your role.
HM: You need to be made of strong stuff.
EP: Yeah, on and off the court — you’ve got to come in ready to fight to really make it over there. Some of these girls are big characters. In my first team, the centre was from Poland — she was 7 foot 2! There are just incredible athletes over there. You’ve really got to just dig your heels in and earn the respect. “I’m here, I belong, I am good enough and I’m making this team, I’m fitting in, I’m going to get it done!” Any other way of thinking, and you’ll get chewed up and spat out really quickly over there.
HM: You are so humble and mild mannered off the court and field. When you step into a competitive environment, what happens?
EP: Things change, I guess. When I was young, any time I stepped onto a basketball court, or the football field, competing hard was very natural and when I felt most comfortable. I loved doing it, I loved being challenged, I loved feeling uncomfortable, and I loved the nerves.
HM: Is that from Dad?
EP: My dad would never let me win at anything when we were competing — even if we were just shooting the basketball, it wouldn’t matter. It would be on. Anytime competition was on, I loved to step up to the plate and give it a go. I was one of those kids, that it didn’t matter if you failed at something, it was what you did next that mattered. My career looks incredible, but all the things that I’ve had to face, the adversity, the injuries, trading to different teams, I’m most proud of how I’ve responded to each of those things and kept persisting. That is something that I will teach my kids: no matter what life throws at you, good or bad, it’s how you respond and try to make another opportunity happen.
HM: You’ve done your knee twice, won and lost, struggled and celebrated — what have you learnt through it all?
EP: Growing up around the Port Adelaide Football Club, it was time when football was very much about not showing any emotion: don’t bend over when you’re tired, don’t give them anything that will show you are in vulnerable. Those kinds of traits were instilled into me early, and over time, it worked. But it got to a point where always trying to be a rock and bulletproof was really tiring. I started leaning on a lot more people, letting people in, talking about certain situations and how I was feeling. It has really helped. The other thing I learnt is that when things don’t go the way you want, instead of pointing a finger, just check inwards and see if you can change the outcome yourself.
HM: Just on parenting. Brooklyn, Blake and Drew. Do you look at your parents and see traits that they as parents had, and are you similar? Or are you a 2020, different model?
EP: I just take the best moments that I remember from my life growing up and try to give those same experiences to my kids. Having my kids on the field with me like I did with Dad was something that was really important to me. But I think just trying to raise your kids to grow up and be really kind, genuine people is the most important thing.
HM: You’ve got three children, and you’re one of three. Mark Williams was a teammate of your fathers — was he also a babysitter at times to you three?
EP: Oh yes. We grew up around a lot of the players, so Choco was definitely around at our place a lot of the time.
HM: Did he come out of hospital with a nose issue, and your sister Amy, who’s now married to Shaun Burgoyne, send him back in?
EP: Choco just came out of surgery on his nose, and he had Amy, the middle sister of us three, on his lap. She would have been three years old. Amy thrust her head straight back and smashed him on the nose again. She rebroke it! He was straight back into hospital to have it re-set. Choco blames me, but it wasn’t me, it was Amy! He must have had a concussion now that I think about it …
HM: Ever think you’d meet an American president?
EP: No … it was incredible. After we won the 2012 WNBA Championship, we were invited to the White House to be honoured by Barack Obama. It was off the charts.
HM: And seemingly a complicated process.
EP: Months in advance we had to send in our passports and get security checked to make sure we were OK to be in The White House. When we flew to DC, we got on a bus, then another bus, and then another bus and then we were driven inside the White House grounds. It was like going through an airport! You go through security, where there was this enormous fan. Then you go up this ramp and a fan blows air on you, through to this wall with little holes in it. Behind this wall there are two German shepherds, just sniffing to make sure you’re not carrying anything dangerous. That’s the last hurdle! Once we made it through there, it was just incredible.
HM: Security in the grounds?
EP: High! We had the whole half of the White House to go and explore, and there’s just these beautiful architectural designs, beautiful paintings of the past presidents, and the First Lady’s outside in the garden where apparently two snipers were on us the whole time! You can’t see them, they’re camouflaged somewhere in the trees or underground!
HM: Naturally. How was the coolest president that’s been?
EP: When we got to finally meet Barack, we were all lined up in order. He came through, and it was just like this cool, fun guy had walked into the room. He was so welcoming and warm, and he shook all of our hands. I said, “Hi, I’m Erin Phillips, from Australia.” In the best accent he could he said, “G’day, mate.” It was like he wanted to hang out, shoot hoops and talk basketball all day. We were honoured inside the press room, which was just incredible. To be able to meet him, the most powerful man in the world, and to feel welcomed! It didn’t feel like you were standing next to the president, because he was just so lovely. It was one of the coolest experiences you could have.
HM: That’s nice to hear.
EP: When you shook his hand, he looked you in the eye, and he really wanted to know who you were. He has two daughters as well, he’s a massive supporter of the WNBA and women’s sport. He’s an incredible leader — if only he could get re- elected …
HM: Imagine! Where were you when you heard that the AFLW competition was coming in ahead of time?
EP: My oldest sister, Rachel, works at the Port Adelaide Football Club, and she said to me, “Did you hear that there’s potentially going to be a women’s league, and Port Adelaide are going to come and talk to you?” It was early 2016 — an Olympic year. The hairs on my neck stood up, but I had to focus on making the Olympics for Rio. Port did come to me, and I did sign with Port Adelaide, assuming they’d got the licence to be able to enter the competition. As it turns out, they didn’t, and the Adelaide Crows got the licence. When I heard that Port didn’t get the licence, I thought the dream of playing football was over, again.
HM: Even though you were at the Olympics, vice-captain of the Opals and won the world championship, you just wanted to play footy again?
EP: Oh yes. If you ask my teammates, I brought my football with me to training, and tried to teach the girls how to kick a football. If there was a women’s competition when I was growing up, I would have kept playing. No doubt about it.
HM: When did the Crows ring?
EP: I was over playing in the WNBA, and I get a call from Phil Harper, the Crows GM, and because I’m Port Adelaide through and through, I thought to myself, “Should I be talking to you? Who’s listening in? I can’t believe I’m talking to the Crows!” I used to sit in the crowd watching the showdowns, despising the Crows! I was so passionate. I got through a very disappointing Rio campaign for Australia and I felt like I was really ready for something different. I wanted to play football, I always wanted to play football … and here was this opportunity.
HM: How did you tell Dad?
EP: I wanted to come back home, so it was time to tell the old man and get his thoughts on playing for the Crows. It was really nerve wracking — how do you tell Mr Port Adelaide that you’re going to the enemy? He was so excited, so supportive, and so relieved that I’d be staying in Adelaide, even if it was with the Crows!
HM: Last year’s grand final — to have 53,000 at the Adelaide Oval, a second win, a best on ground and a knee reconstruction all come out of it, it was a big afternoon!
EP: It was an epic day. It’s funny what comes into your head when you do your knee. Mine was devastation, then immediately I thought, “How the hell am I going to run around and chase my kids!” It was a million different things, and when it all digested, I just figured: whatever comes, we’re just going to get through it. And you do.
HM: When it happened, did you know immediately that it was reco time?
EP: Initially, I thought I’d broken my leg. It made the worst sound, louder than my first one I did on the other knee. I was checking to see if my right hand could touch my shin, because I was actually trying to feel and make sure there wasn’t a bone sticking out. It was so painful. The sound was my ACL that had just gone. It was one of the best, worst days of my life. In the third quarter we were playing really well, we were in a really good position to win, and there were 53,000 people in attendance, at Adelaide Oval, watching the game in this historic event. I’ve just blown my knee; I was shattered. I was carted off, and it was really cool to be embraced and acknowledged by not only my teammates, but the Carlton girls too. To come back out of the changeroom and celebrate with my teammates was really special.
HM: A world championship versus a WNBA title versus the Crows premierships. In a funny way, does the AFLW premiership mean more than the others?
EP: It’s like picking your favourite child, Hamish.
HM: Depends on the day.
EP: (laughs) Ha … something like that … you can’t have an answer, can you!
HM: Christmas Day, lining up for the turkey: what’s the pecking order …. your brother-in-law Shaun Burgoyne knocking on the door of 400 AFL games with four AFL flags, your dad with eight SANFL flags and a Hall of Famer, or your two flags, two WNBA titles, two League MVPs, two Olympics and a world championship …
EP: (laughs) Dad has the crown, I’ve got me second, and Shaun third!
HM: A world championship trumps four AFL premierships doesn’t it?
EP: This is the argument, and I think it does! It’s international. Is there even an argument?
HM: I don’t think so. You should be one, Greg two, Shaun a distant third …
EP: Agreed … I’ll make sure I let him know. Thanks, Hame.
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