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161-548: FIBA World Championship gold medallist ( 2006 ) 3× AFLW premiership player ( 2017 , 2019 , 2022 (S6) ) Erin Victoria Phillips OAM (born 19 May 1985) is an Australian sportswoman who plays basketball and formerly played Australian rules football . She played nine seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for five different teams and is a two-time WNBA champion. She also represented Australia on

322-515: A proprietary limited company called Australian Football Championships Pty Ltd in 1978 to run its night competition and offered shareholdings to the other state leagues in an attempt to lure other states into the competition. For the three years from 1977 until 1979, the NFL and VFL night competitions were run separately as rival night competitions. In 1978, the Tasmanian representative team competed in both

483-799: A 20% cut in industry jobs. The 2021 grand final was played in September at Perth Stadium in Perth because an ongoing COVID-19 lockdown prevented the match from being played with spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne , Victoria. It was the first grand final played in Perth and the second consecutive grand final to be played outside Victoria. The event set a new attendance record for Australian rules football in Western Australia, eclipsing

644-597: A bronze medal match (71–63). Next year the Soviet Union and Hungary boycotted 1984 Olympic tournament which was held in Los Angeles , United States thus allowing the hosts to win their maiden Olympic title. South Korea and China took silver and bronze Olympic medals respectively. Fortunately, all the world's top teams were able to partake in the next World Championship, which was held in 1986 in Soviet Union . One month before start of tournament, United States won

805-559: A bronze medal match (95–65) and thus reached podium for third time in a row. For the 2026 edition of the tournament in Germany, 16 teams will participate. Confederations and years italicized and in bold have an upcoming competition. ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) ( squads ) Note: From 1953 through 1979

966-515: A few home games on the Gold Coast in previous years, was offered significant subsidies to relocate to the Gold Coast but declined. The AFL then began work to establish a club on the Gold Coast as a new expansion team. Early in 2008, a meeting held by the AFL discussed having two new teams enter the AFL competition. In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish sides on

1127-551: A final match (73–56). The home team, Spain reached podium for third time in a row after victory over Belgium in a bronze medal match (67–60). The number of participants of the 2022 World Cup was reduced from 16 to 12 teams. United States won gold medals for fourth time in a row by beating China in a final match (83–61). Therefore, US team won eight of last ten World tournaments, captured their 11th World title and extended own winning streak at these competitions to 30 consecutive matches. The home team, Australia defeated Canada in

1288-487: A joint venture to begin construction of a brand-new stadium situated at Melbourne's Docklands . Representative state football came to an end, with the last State of Origin match held in 1999. In the late 2000s, the AFL looked to establish a permanent presence on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland, which was fast-developing as a major population centre. North Melbourne, which was in financial difficulty and had played

1449-653: A junior, Phillips played for the West Adelaide Bearcats. She represented South Australia Metro in the under-16 and under-18 Australian national championships, winning the Norma Connolly Trophy as a member of the under-16 championship team in 1999. Phillips was also a member of the South Australia under-20 championship team in 2004, where she won the Bob Staunton Award as the most outstanding player in

1610-723: A losing record, the Fever made the playoffs and swept the top-seeded Chicago Sky in the Conference Semifinals. Their season came to an end when they were swept by the Atlanta Dream in the Conference Finals. Two months before the start of the 2014 season, Phillips was traded to the Phoenix Mercury with a second-round draft pick in return for forward Lynetta Kizer and a first-round draft pick. She joined two of her compatriots on

1771-597: A new competition, the Victorian Football League (VFL). The remaining VFA clubs— Footscray , North Melbourne , Port Melbourne , Richmond and Williamstown —were given the opportunity to compete as junior sides at a level beneath the VFL but rejected the offer and remained for the 1897 VFA season . The VFL's inaugural season occurred in 1897. It made several innovations early on to entice the public's interest, including an annual finals tournament, rather than awarding

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1932-721: A physical style of play. Following her retirement from the WNBA, she was also an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings , the last team she played for in the league. In 2025, she will return to basketball in the NBL1 Central with the Woodville Warriors. With the launch of the AFLW in 2017, Phillips began her football career at age 31 as a co-captain of Adelaide. Despite not having played competitive football in nearly 18 years, she quickly emerged as

2093-663: A result, Phillips instead ended up signing with the Adelaide Football Club as a rookie, a spot reserved for footballers coming from other sports. She had previously stated it was "highly unlikely" that she would join Adelaide if Port Adelaide were not granted a licence. Phillips later reneged, saying, "When the Adelaide Crows contacted me I was just so blown away how professional they were and how committed they were, not only just in getting me to play but how committed they were to

2254-724: A result, the club withdrew from the VFL at the end of 1914. The VFL premier and the premier of the South Australian Football League met in a playoff matches for the Championship of Australia beginning in 1888 with a 3-game playoff between South Melbourne from the VFL and the Norwood the most successful club in the SAFA. Matches where then held sporadically during the 1890s as single game playoffs and then annually from 1907 until 1914 (except 1912). South Australian clubs won 8 of

2415-577: A row by winning all their 40 matches with margin of 10 points and more. Therefore, it was not surprising when the Soviet Union won the inaugural women's Olympic tournament which was held in 1976 in Montreal , Canada (by winning all five matches). Despite losing to the Japan and Soviet Union, the United States managed to finish second and capture silver medals while Bulgaria took Olympic bronze. Unfortunately,

2576-459: A row with remarkable winning streak of 55 consecutive matches at Olympic tournaments. The 13th World Championship took place in 1998 in Germany . Russian team participated at this tournament for first time after dissolution of Soviet Union . In the second group round, they lost to United States with great margin of 36 points (60–96) but then managed to reach final where met with US team again. In

2737-452: A sole source of income for players who had previously had part-time or full-time jobs outside of football. Functionally, the AFL gave up control over its Victorian-based minor grades at the end of 1991 – clubs continued to field reserves teams in a competition run by the new Victorian State Football League and the under-19s competition and zone-based recruiting were abolished and replaced with an independent system . Midway through 1990,

2898-578: A starter for the first nine games, she lost her starting role to Taylor. She started only one more game the rest of the season, matching her career-high with 21 points. Phillips led the WNBA in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 44.9%. The Mercury dominated the playoffs, defeating the Los Angeles Sparks , the Minnesota Lynx, and the Chicago Sky to win the WNBA title. The only game they lost in

3059-453: A starter in the 22nd game of the season after an injury to Nykesha Sales and ended up starting the last 13 games. The Sun won their first eleven games with Phillips as a starter as part of a franchise-record twelve-game win streak. She recorded a season-high six assists in her first game as a starter, and then had season-bests of 19 points and 6   rebounds a few games later. Overall, Phillips averaged 5.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. She

3220-462: A starter, she averaged 9.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. She finished the season with a low three-point field goal percentage of 29.3%, shooting just 20.9% off the bench. The Sun did not make the playoffs that season due to the tiebreak criteria, despite finishing tied for fourth with the Mystics and Chicago Sky . The Sun attempted to trade Phillips before the start of the 2010 season. She

3381-608: A starter. The loss to Serbia ended the Opals' streak of five consecutive Olympics with a medal. Phillips officially retired from competitive basketball in January 2018. Phillips was a guard , and could play both the point guard and shooting guard positions. Her versatility allowed her to play as a combo guard between both of those positions. Phillips's first WNBA coach Mike Thibault compared her to Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Michele Timms , another Australian point guard. He also said she

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3542-467: Is also one of the oldest clubs to have later participated in the competition. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was established in 1877 and quickly went on to become Victoria 's football competition. During the 1890s, an off-field power struggle occurred between the VFA's stronger and weaker clubs, the former seeking greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to

3703-525: Is definitely a young developing player we've got earmarked for Beijing and to get a worlds under her belt is a bonus when you move the clock forward to [the Olympics]." Australia went undefeated and won the gold medal at the World Championship, their first gold medal at any major international competition. They defeated the hosts Brazil in the semifinals and then Russia in the final after Russia had upset

3864-738: Is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football . It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season in 1897. It changed its name to Australian Football League in 1990 after expanding its competition to other Australian states in the 1980s. The AFL publishes its Laws of Australian football , which are used, with variations, by other Australian rules football organisations. The AFL competition currently consists of 18 teams spread over Australia's five mainland states, with Tasmania to join

4025-578: The Dandenong Rangers and the Canberra Capitals , the two other teams with the same record as them. The second loss to Canberra, who were led by Lauren Jackson , in the preliminary final again came in overtime and was highlighted by Phillips scoring 23 points. Phillips's 2006–07 season ended early after 17 games when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee during a collision with Canberra player Tully Bevilaqua . She finished

4186-665: The Gold Coast and in Western Sydney . The Gold Coast Suns were established and joined the AFL in 2011 as the 17th team. The Greater Western Sydney Giants , representing both Western Sydney and Canberra, were then established and entered the league as the 18th team in 2012. On 25 April 2013 the Westpac Stadium in Wellington , New Zealand hosted the first ever Australian Football League game played for premiership points outside Australia. The night game between St Kilda and Sydney

4347-540: The Melbourne Hawks but the merger ultimately fell through and both teams continued as separate entities. Fitzroy, however, was too weak to continue by itself. The club nearly merged with North Melbourne to form the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos but the other clubs voted against it. In 1994 Port Adelaide was awarded an AFL licence but could not enter until a Victorian team had folded or merged. At

4508-722: The SMOSH West Lakes Football Club (then known as the St. Michael's Old Scholars and Hindmarsh Football Club) under-9 side, where she was the only girl on the team. Her under-11 team won the grand final. She was also named the best and fairest player on her under-13 team. John Cahill , one of her father's coaches at Port Adelaide, praised Phillips's ability, saying she was "as good a 14-year old as I've ever seen play football" in comparison to Port Adelaide Hall of Famers such as her father, Russell Ebert , and Gavin Wanganeen . Phillips had

4669-540: The VFL Night Series (1956–1971) and records relating to the three competitions are often combined. With the number of players recruited from country leagues increasing, the wealthier VFL clubs were gaining an advantage that metropolitan zoning and the Coulter law (salary cap) restricting player payments had prevented in the past. Country zoning was introduced in the late 1960s and while it pushed Essendon and Geelong from

4830-637: The West Australian Football League and Queensland Australian Football League were awarded licences to field expansion teams in the VFL, leading to the establishment of the clubs in Brisbane and Perth ( Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles ), who both joined the league in 1987. These expansion team licences were awarded on payment of multimillion-dollar fees which were not required of the existing VFL clubs. In 1989 financial troubles nearly forced Footscray and Fitzroy to merge but fees paid by

4991-442: The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) selected Phillips in the second round of the 2005 WNBA draft with the 21st overall pick. She was the only player taken in the draft who did not play college basketball in the United States and one of two international players drafted along with fifth overall pick Sancho Lyttle . She did not play during the 2005 WNBA season, instead choosing to play on tours and in training camps with

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5152-586: The women's national basketball team , winning a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women and serving as a co-vice captain at the 2016 Summer Olympics . She also played for the Adelaide and Port Adelaide Football Clubs in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, retiring in 2023. She is a three-time premiership player and two-time league best and fairest . Phillips's father Greg played professional Australian rules football for Port Adelaide , where he

5313-504: The 11 Titles of which Port Adelaide was the most successful winning four titles in 1890, 1910, 1913 and 1914. The majority of the matches were held in South Australia at Adelaide Oval . Following the outbreak of World War 1 the Championship playoff ceased and wasn't revived until 1968. In 1916, district football was introduced, meaning new players from metropolitan Melbourne were allocated to clubs based on residential address. In 1925,

5474-758: The 2025 season. Phillips began training with the Australian women's national basketball team , the Opals, in 2005. She chose to participate in training camps and tours with the national team instead of joining the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA, who had drafted her in May of that year. She played several exhibition tournaments in China in July, and then helped the Opals qualify for the following year's World Championships in August with their victory in

5635-480: The AFL planning to launch a national Australian rules football women's competition in 2017, Phillips agreed to become a marquee signing for Port Adelaide , her father's club in the SANFL, if they received a licence for the inaugural AFL Women's (AFLW) season. By March 2016, however, Port Adelaide decided not to bid for a licence for 2017 in order to focus on their plan to play the first AFL game in China that same year. As

5796-668: The Adelaide Lightning, she became the first player to sign with the South East Queensland Stars , a new WNBL franchise. However, Phillips never played for the team due to injury and the franchise dissolved at the end of their first season due to financial difficulties. Phillips ranks in the top ten all-time for the Adelaide Lightning in points, assists, rebounds, and steals as of 2019. She is tenth in points with 1498, sixth in assists with 423, seventh in rebounds with 731, and ninth in steals with 139. The Connecticut Sun of

5957-469: The Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles, propped up the struggling VFL sides. The 1980s first saw new regular timeslots for VFL matches. VFL matches had previously been played on Saturday afternoons but Sydney began playing its home matches on Sunday afternoons and North Melbourne pioneered playing matches on Friday night. These have since become regular timeslots for all teams. The first national draft

6118-633: The Eastern Conference Finals 2–1 by the Detroit Shock , the eventual champions. Phillips's only start in the playoffs came in the first game of that series, a loss on the road. Phillips missed the entire 2007 season while recovering from an ACL injury suffered during the offseason while playing in the WNBL in Australia. She did not return to the WNBA until the second half of the 2008 season after missing

6279-550: The Eastern Conference, they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the third-place New York Liberty , losing the decisive third game of the series at home by four points. Phillips began the 2009 season as a starter. After starting the first 18 games of the season, Phillips and Amber Holt lost their starting roles to bench players and fellow guards Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota and Tan White . As

6440-581: The Eastern Conference. They defeated the New York Liberty 2–1 in the Conference Semifinals before losing to the Atlanta Dream 2–1 in the Conference Finals. Phillips's best playoff game was the winner-take-all Game   3 of the Conference Semifinals in which she scored 12 points and recorded five steals in the Fever's 10-point victory. "I thought Erin Phillips had one hell of a series. You've got to have somebody other than your star player stepping up. Phillips

6601-664: The Grand Final. Adelaide had a strong start to the season, winning their first two games with the largest margin of victory in each week. Phillips was awarded best on ground in both games, receiving the maximum three votes that were to be tallied at the end of the season to decide the competition's best and fairest . She led the Crows in goals in the first game of the season with three. Although Adelaide trailed at three-quarter time against Carlton in Round   3, Phillips led her team to victory with

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6762-525: The Israeli Cup final. Phillips began playing in the Polska Liga Koszykówki Kobiet (PLKK) in the 2009–10 WNBA offseason following her last year with the Connecticut Sun. She joined Lotos Gdynia in her first PLKK season, playing nearly the entire year. In 30 games, she averaged 10.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game, with a three-point field goal percentage of 44.1%. The team won

6923-493: The Los Angeles Sparks in the offseason. She played only 12 games during the 2015 season due to knee issues both early and late in the season. She finished the year with a career-low 26.7% three-point field goal percentage. Phillips missed the playoffs, where the fourth-seeded Sparks were eliminated in the first round by the Minnesota Lynx. During the offseason, Phillips was traded to the Dallas Wings for Riquna Williams and

7084-576: The NFL and VFL night competitions but all SANFL and WAFL clubs and the minor states teams remained in the NFL Night Series. In 1979, the WAFL clubs and the New South Wales and A.C.T. representative teams defected from the NFL Night Series and joined the VFL's night competition, leaving the NFL Night Series mostly composed of SANFL teams. The NFL Night Series was not revived in 1980 and the SANFL clubs joined

7245-608: The Oceania Qualifying Series against the hosts New Zealand in August. Phillips's first major senior international tournament was the Commonwealth Games in March 2006, which were hosted by Melbourne and were including basketball for the first time. At home in Australia, the Opals won the gold medal in the women's basketball event , defeating New Zealand in the final by a lopsided margin. Phillips played an important role in

7406-420: The Olympics. They swept their round robin group, winning all five of those games by more than 15 points. They then won both their quarterfinal game against the Czech Republic and their semifinal game against China by more than 30 points. Nonetheless, Australia finished as silver medallists after losing the gold medal match to the United States 92–65 in a lopsided game, their third consecutive runner-up finish to

7567-412: The SANFL's most successful club, Port Adelaide , made a bid for an AFL licence. In response, the SANFL gained an injunction via Glenelg and Norwood against Port Adelaide , allowing it time to establish a composite South Australian team called the Adelaide Crows , which was awarded the licence and joined the league in 1991 as the fourth non-Victorian club. The same year saw the West Coast Eagles become

7728-404: The Soviet team failed to reach the final and unexpectively finished only in third place for the first time in their history. At the next World Championship which was held in 1990 in Malaysia , Soviet Union lost in the second group round to Czechoslovakia (79–82) and Yugoslavia (63–64) and finished only at fifth place. It was the first and only time the Soviet women's team had failed to reach

7889-411: The Sun, in the Conference Finals, both in three games. In the WNBA Finals , the Fever defeated the defending champion Minnesota Lynx 3–1 for the WNBA title. Phillips scored at least 10 points in all five games Douglas missed, including 15 points in the winner-take-all game of the Conference Semifinals and 18 points and 8   rebounds in the series-clinching Game   4 of the WNBA Finals. Overall in

8050-423: The Top 3 teams. It was the third World title for the US team and the first since 1957. The next year the United States boycotted 1980 Olympic tournament which was held in Moscow , Soviet Union . In their absence, Soviet team captured their second Olympic title by winning all 6 matches while the Bulgaria and the Yugoslavia took silver and bronze medals respectively. Therefore, the next World Championship which

8211-462: The Unified Team ceased to exist after that. The 12th World Championship was held in Australia in 1994 , after the dissolution of Soviet Union , SFR Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia . Slovakia became only newly formed national team who managed to qualify to this World Championship. In such situation, United States aimed to return at first position. However, they surprisingly lost semifinal match to Brazil (107–110) and once again finished only at

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8372-401: The United States at the Olympics. After the Connecticut Sun could not trade Phillips for the 2010 WNBA season, she instead trained with the national team, winning exhibition tournaments in Hungary during July and in Spain during September. The 2010 international season culminated with the FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic. Although Australia's only round robin loss was to

8533-417: The United States in the semifinals. Phillips had a minor role on the team during the tournament, averaging 2.0 points and 1.1 assists in 7.4 minutes per game. Despite being unable to play for the Opals in 2007 due to an ACL injury, Phillips was assured a place on the national team in their preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She returned to play with the national team in April 2008 and missed

8694-417: The United States, they were defeated in the quarterfinals by the Czech Republic, the tournament hosts. Australia finished in fifth place after winning the 5th-to-8th-place consolation bracket. Phillips had more playing time in the tournament than in the previous World Championship, averaging 4.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 13.6 minutes per game. Although Phillips participated in training camps with

8855-487: The VFA and University Football Club from the Metropolitan Junior Football Association . Professionalism began from the 1911 season, with clubs permitted to pay players beyond the reimbursement of expenses for the first time. University, after three promising seasons, finished last each year from 1911 until 1914, including losing 51 matches in a row, in part caused by its players' focus on their studies rather than football and in part because it had chosen to remain amateur; as

9016-481: The VFL commenced in 1957 with direct telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games. When the VFL found that television coverage had reduced crowds, it decided no that television coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961 television replays in Melbourne were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted, where as the rest of Australia received live telecasts every Saturday afternoon. In 1959,

9177-434: The VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray , Hawthorn and North Melbourne each crossing from the VFA. North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Although North Melbourne would become the first of the 1925 expansion sides to reach a grand final in 1950 , initially it was Footscray that adapted to the VFL with the most ease of the three clubs and by 1928 were well off

9338-435: The VFL night competition was at its largest, with all VFL, WAFL and SANFL clubs plus the four minor states teams (selected under residential qualification rather than state of origin qualification) competing for a total of 34 teams. In 1982, the size of the competition was reduced and, thereafter, only the top two or three teams from the SANFL and WAFL and the winner of the minor states' annual carnival were invited. In 1987,

9499-409: The VFL planned the first purpose-built mega-stadium, VFL Park (later known as Waverley Park) , to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club , which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground . VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium

9660-423: The VFL's night competition. Although the NFL itself continued to exist as an administrative body into the early 1990s, the power gained by the VFL as a result of its take-over of night competition was one of the first significant steps in the VFL's spread interstate and ultimately its take-over and control of Australian football across Australia. In 1980 and 1981, the first years after the NFL Night Series ended,

9821-416: The VFL's weaker clubs into dire financial situations. The South Melbourne Swans became the first VFL team to relocate interstate. The South Melbourne Football Club was deeply indebted, including to the VFL which took over the club's Swans team and moved the team's home games to Sydney in 1982 and renamed the team the Sydney Swans the following year. Under the private ownership of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten during

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9982-428: The VFL, SANFL and WAFL, as well as state representative teams from other states. In November 1976, the VFL announced that it was withdrawing from the NFL's competition, having arranged more substantial television and sponsorship deals for its own, rival night competition for 1977 to be based in Melbourne and feature only the VFL clubs. Light towers were erected at VFL Park specifically for the event. The VFL established

10143-405: The WNBA Finals just 15 days before the Opals' first game in the tournament. Australia swept their round robin group and won their quarterfinal game against Canada . After a 12-point semifinal loss to the United States, the Opals defeated the hosts Turkey for the bronze medal. Unlike her previous two World Championships where she had little playing time off the bench, Phillips established herself in

10304-475: The WNBA Finals, she averaged 13.5 points in 35 minutes per game while compiling a 46.7% three-point field goal percentage. Winning the WNBA title vindicated Phillips, who was left off the 2012 Australian Olympic team roster for choosing to play the entire WNBA season instead of sitting out the first half like some of her compatriots in the league. She also finished the regular season third in the league in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 43.8%. Just before

10465-401: The WNBA immediately before the start of the 2017 WNBA season, Phillips was named the Wings' director of player and franchise development a week later. Shortly after the end of the season, Phillips was promoted to assistant coach of the team for 2018, replacing Bridget Pettis . She coached alongside fellow assistant coach Taj McWilliams-Franklin and under head coach Fred Williams , who had been

10626-464: The assistance of state governments and health officials, the season resumed on 11 June, with the length of the season reduced from 22 matches per team to 17 matches. The grand final was played in October at The Gabba in Brisbane , the first time it was held outside of Victoria since the creation of the league due to the spiking cases in that state. The pandemic caused the league to lose out on up to $ 400 million in anticipated revenue and also precipitated

10787-421: The basketball tournament at the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow by beating Soviet Union with great margin of 23 points (83–60). Both reigning Olympic Champions (United States) and World Champions (Soviet Union) won all their group and semifinal matches, and then met in the final match in Moscow . In this final, US team once again proved their superiority by winning with a margin of 20 points (108–88) thus ending

10948-532: The beginning of the era of dominance of the Soviet Union in world women's basketball, which lasted for next two decades. Under leadership of head coach Lidiya Alekseyeva , Soviet team won three next World Championships held in 1967 ( Czechoslovakia ), 1971 ( Brazil ) and 1975 ( Colombia ). The vast majority of medals at these tournaments were won by Eastern European and East Asian teams while United States even failed to qualify into final round. In general, from 1959 to 1975 Soviet team won record five titles in

11109-439: The bottom of the ladder. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and only VFL team, to win four successive premierships. In 1952, the VFL hosted a national day, when all six matches were played outside Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground , Brisbane Exhibition Ground , North Hobart Oval , Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn and Euroa . Footscray became

11270-489: The championship. In the absence of the US team , the Soviet team won their maiden World title while Bulgaria took silver medals and Czechoslovakia finished third. But at the next World Championship, which was held in 1964 in Peru , all these Eastern European teams also occupied whole podium – Soviet Union won their second title in a row, Czechoslovakia won silver medals, Bulgaria took bronze while United States finished only at fourth place. This tournament marked

11431-484: The end of 1996 Fitzroy played its last match and merged with Brisbane to form the Brisbane Lions. This allowed Port Adelaide to enter the AFL for the 1997 season as the sixth and only pre-existing non Victorian club. Through the 1990s there was a significant trend of Melbourne-based teams abandoning the use of their small (20,000–30,000 capacity) suburban venues for home matches in favour of the MCG and VFL Park , which have and had larger seating capacities. The 1990s saw

11592-493: The end of first half. Later in the final match between these two teams the Soviets lost the first half with a score of 37–40, but also managed to achieve victory with a margin of only two points (84–82). Both of those matches had provided other teams with the knowledge that the Soviet Union wasn't as overwhelming a force as it was years prior. The China won their first World Championship medal after their victory over South Korea in

11753-753: The field, a succession of owners and transfer to its supporter "members", the Sydney Swans remain indebted to the AFL and subject to its veto control and reversion rights in what became a model for the AFL control of teams. Throughout the 1980s, approaches were made by SANFL and WAFL clubs to enter the VFL. Of particular note were approaches by the East Perth Royals in 1980, the Norwood Redlegs in 1986 and 1988, and an East – South Fremantle merger proposal in 1987. None of these attempts were successful despite Norwood trying again in 1990 and 1994. In 1986,

11914-495: The final match, United States faced with much stronger resistance – Russia led with margin of 9 points after first half (28–37), but in the second half US team managed to reach advantage and achieved final victory (71–65). Australia won World Championship bronze medals for first time in their history. The similar story took place at the next World Championship which took place in 2002 in China – United States defeated Russian team at

12075-511: The first half of the WNBA season to continue training with them up until and through the Olympics in August. In addition to exhibitions against New Zealand, Russia, and Chinese Taipei , Phillips was with the team for the Good Luck Beijing event, a warm-up tournament to help Beijing prepare their operations. Without their full team, Australia won only two out of six games. The Opals regrouped for

12236-418: The first half of the season for Ramat Hasharon, averaging 11.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game in 10 regular season games. In the middle of the season, she injured her right knee during the second quarter of the Israeli Cup final in late December. Although she did not require surgery, Phillips returned to Australia for physical therapy and did not play another game with the team. Ramat Hasharon lost

12397-511: The first half of the season to train with the Australian national team for the Olympics, which took place in August in the middle of the WNBA season. Phillips played in eight regular season games, all off the bench. In the last game of the season, she scored 18 points and recorded a career-high eight rebounds. Overall, she shot a career-high field goal percentage of 46.4%. Although the Sun finished second in

12558-585: The first non-Victorian club to reach the grand final, which was won by Hawthorn. The Eagles would then win the premiership in 1992 and 1994. In 1994, Fremantle obtained an AFL licence and joined the AFL in 1995, becoming the fifth non-Victorian club, and the second from Western Australia. The VFA took over the Victorian Football League name in 1996. In 1996 several Victorian clubs were in severe financial difficulties, most notably Fitzroy and Hawthorn. Hawthorn proposed to merge with Melbourne to form

12719-443: The first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith and star player Ron Barassi . The club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. The became the only club to win the minor premiership 6 times in a row from 1955-1960. Television coverage for

12880-591: The first-ever AFL match for premiership points in Shanghai , China, attracting a crowd of 10,114 at Jiangwan Stadium . Port Adelaide won the game by 72 points. In 2020, the AFL season was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic . The first round of matches was played in front of no crowds due to the pandemic, before the season was suspended on 22 March due to health concerns and strict government regulations on non-essential travel. After nearly two months of planning with

13041-452: The football ground. The VFL played the first of a series of exhibition matches in 1962 in an effort to lift the international profile of the league. In 1967, district football was expanded throughout all of Victoria, clubs now allocated a country zone in addition to their metropolitan districts. The 1970 season saw the opening of VFL Park, with the inaugural match being played between Geelong and Fitzroy, on 18 April 1970. Construction work

13202-575: The former Soviet players who competed for the Unified Team , as a result of Soviet Union's dissolution in December 1991, managed to achieve surprising success after a shocking victory over United States in the semifinals (79–73) and managed a victory over the China in the final match (76–66). The US team finished in third place. This was the last victory of Soviet-born players at the World level competitions, and

13363-578: The full season because she thought it was better preparation and she wanted to honour her contract with the Indiana Fever. The Opals won the bronze medal in London, and Phillips ended up winning her first WNBA title. Phillips returned to the national team as one of 33 players selected to prepare for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey. She was named to the team for the World Championship, having won

13524-538: The game by 10 points, featured a famous spectacular mark by Alex Jesaulenko and was witnessed by a record crowd of 121,696. In 1976, the National Football League , which was the peak national administrative body of Australian rules football at the time, established the NFL Night Series to succeed the Championship of Australia . The Night Series was played concurrently with the premiership season and

13685-519: The game. She also kicked both of Adelaide's goals in the second half. Phillips ended the year as the third-leading goalkicker in the AFLW with ten goals. At the AFLW Awards, Phillips was named the inaugural AFLW best and fairest, finishing the season with 14 votes, four ahead of the Western Bulldogs ' Ellie Blackburn and Melbourne's Karen Paxman . Her match-winner from Round   3 against Carlton

13846-446: The game. This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits, which were always lower in matches involving the weaker clubs, be shared equally among all teams in the VFA. After it was intimated that the proposal would be put to a vote, six of the strongest clubs— Collingwood , Essendon , Fitzroy , Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne —seceded from the VFA and later invited Carlton and St Kilda to join them in founding

14007-576: The group stage. But after group stage, Russia achieved remarkable victory by beating US team in semifinals (75–68). It was only first defeat of United States for 12 years at the either Olympic Games or World Championships (and the last till nowadays). They finished only at third place after beating hosts in a bronze medal match (99–59). After this success, Russia was unable to show the same resistance to Australian team who won final match with margin of 17 points (91–74). Therefore, Australia became only fourth national team to win either Olympic or World title in

14168-491: The history of women's basketball. The next World Championship took place in 2010 in the Czech Republic . Many people waited for another match between United States and Russia in playoffs. Both teams won all their group matches but then Russia suffered shocking defeat to Belarus in the quarterfinals (53–70). The defending champions, Australia also surprisingly lost quarterfinal match to hosts - Czech team (68–79). In

14329-418: The inaugural season. Six clubs joined the league in the coming years; Geelong and North Melbourne entered the competition in 2019, while Gold Coast , Richmond , St Kilda and West Coast made their debut in 2020. The remaining four clubs— Essendon , Hawthorn , Port Adelaide and Sydney — entered AFL Women's in the seventh season in 2022. On 14 May 2017, Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast played

14490-471: The ladder and lost their semifinal to the Sydney Uni Flames 94–93 in overtime. Before the game, the Adelaide team had been involved in a car accident that injured some of the players and delayed the start of the game. Phillips had 40 points in the loss. This was the third consecutive year that Sydney eliminated Adelaide in the finals. Phillips continued to be one of the best players in the league through

14651-419: The ladder. After Adelaide led at three-quarter time, they lost the game after conceding the only goal of the final term. This was the only game of the season that Phillips did not receive any votes as one of the three best players on the ground. She received an additional two votes in both of the last two games of the season. Adelaide lost their next game as well to Melbourne , who were led by Daisy Pearce . With

14812-726: The last day of the tournament, it was also the decisive match of the championship. Soviet players led after the first half (27–24), but in the second half the Americans managed to achieve victory (51–48) and won their second World title. The third World Championship was held in 1959 in Moscow , Soviet Union . Due to international political tensions, caused by the Cold War , the United States and its allies didn't participate at this tournament, thus only eight Eastern Bloc countries were able to play at

14973-508: The last matches played at Windy Hill (Essendon), Moorabbin Oval (St Kilda), Western Oval (Footscray) and Victoria Park (Collingwood) and saw Princes Park abandoned by its long-term co-tenant, Hawthorn. The transition to the use of only two venues in Melbourne was ultimately completed in 2005 when Carlton abandoned the use of Princes Park. In 1999, the league sold VFL Park and used the funds in

15134-526: The last time she had played football in a competitive league was 17 years earlier at 13 years old. Phillips was named as a co-captain of Adelaide for the inaugural 2017 AFLW season , along with Chelsea Randall , one of the club's marquee signings. Although Phillips received approval from the Dallas Wings to play in the AFLW during the WNBA offseason, medical insurance on her WNBA contract did not cover any injuries from playing Australian rules football. Despite

15295-477: The league as its 19th team in 2028. AFL premiership season matches have been played in all states and mainland territories, as well as in New Zealand and China to expand its audience. The AFL premiership season currently consists of a 23-match regular (or home-and-away) season, which runs from March to September. The team with the best record at the end of the home-and-away season is awarded the minor premiership ;

15456-552: The league championship after finishing second in the regular season. Gdynia also competed in EuroLeague Women , where Phillips was named an All-Star for the Rest of the World team against Europe. The following offseason, Phillips signed with Wisła Can-Pack Kraków , where she played for the next four seasons. In her first two seasons, she won both the regular season and the league championships. In EuroLeague Women, they were eliminated in

15617-411: The league in 2013, her 47.9% three-point field goal percentage that year ranks 13th overall in WNBA history as of 2020. Phillips's career three-point field goal percentage of 38.1% ranks 34th all-time as of 2020. Phillips was also an excellent free-throw shooter. Her 84.4% career free throw percentage ranks 33rd all-time in the WNBA as of 2020. Following her release by the Dallas Wings and retirement from

15778-525: The league title as part of their stretch of 15 consecutive titles from 2004 through 2018. Phillips played seven games in both the Extraliga and the EuroLeague, averaging 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in the Extraliga, as well as 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game during the EuroLeague season. In August 2024, Phillips signed with the Woodville Warriors of the NBL1 Central for

15939-659: The league's best player and one of its biggest stars. She won the AFLW best and fairest award by a wide margin in both 2017 and 2019, as well as the AFLW Grand Final best on ground as a member of Adelaide's premiership teams in both years. Phillips played as a midfielder and was also one of the leading goal scorers in the competition. Erin Victoria Phillips was born on 19 May 1985 in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton to Julie and Greg Phillips . She grew up with her two older sisters Rachel and Amy in Adelaide . Her father

16100-402: The loss, the Crows were left with the same number of wins as Melbourne and retained the second position on the ladder only by virtue of their much better points percentage . After Melbourne began the last round with a win, Adelaide needed to win their game against Collingwood to finish second on the ladder. Although Adelaide trailed by seven points entering the final term, they won the game with

16261-496: The medalists were decided in a league format instead of in a knockout tournament; results of the final round matches are shown. Boldface denotes active basketball players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type. The table shows players who have won at least 4 medals in total at the World Cups. Australian Football League The Australian Football League ( AFL )

16422-527: The mid-1980s, the Sydney Swans became successful on-field. Moving the Swans team to Sydney effectively shifted the debts of a Melbourne club onto Australian football in Sydney and re-directed support and finance to the Swans team to the detriment of existing Australian Football clubs and league competitions in Sydney. However, the Swans team attracted new prominence and supporters for the sport. Despite becoming successful on

16583-645: The modern Australian Football League (AFL), as a member of the Collingwood Football Club . Her father was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2020. Phillips has said she "wanted to be an AFL footballer since [she] could walk and talk, and wanted to be exactly like [her] dad". Her father was impressed with her athleticism at a young age, commenting, "Some kids who are born with this gift just stand out and you could always see that with Erin." Phillips began competing in football with

16744-452: The name changed shortly after its 2014 edition. From 1986 through 2014, the tournament was held in the same year as the men's FIBA Basketball World Cup , though in different countries. After the 2014 editions of both championships, the men's event was rescheduled on a new four-year cycle (the latest in 2019 ) to avoid conflict with the men's FIFA World Cup , but the Women's World Cup remains on

16905-528: The national team in Australia to increase her chances of making the team. Phillips decided to join the Sun for the 2006 season despite national team coach Jan Stirling 's saying it would hurt her chances of playing in the FIBA World Championship later that year, which was scheduled to begin just a week after the end of the WNBA Finals. Phillips played in all 34 games in her debut season. She was named

17066-402: The national team in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she was not named to the team. The Australian press and the WNBA regarded her omission as a surprise. Nonetheless, Phillips knew she was hurting her chances of making the team by playing the full WNBA season instead of skipping the first half of the year to keep training with the Opals like Lauren Jackson. She decided to play

17227-489: The next world women's basketball major tournaments were clouded by a series of political boycotts caused by the Cold War . Firstly, the Soviet Union and four other Eastern Bloc countries withdrew from next World Championships which was held in 1979 in South Korea . In spite of losing to the hosts (82–94), United States won all other matches and captured a gold medal thanks to a better head-to-head point difference among

17388-400: The night competition reverted to include only the VFL teams. The competition was pushed earlier into the year, with the final played on 28 April. The following season, the competition did not overlap with the day premiership season at all and became entirely a pre-season competition . The night competition is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the pre-season competition and

17549-537: The only five goals in the last quarter, the first two from Sarah Perkins who had four in total and the next two from Phillips who kicked three in total. The inaugural 2017 AFLW Grand Final was a rematch of Adelaide's Round   5 loss to Brisbane, who won the right to host the match as minor premiers . Adelaide won by a score of 4.11 (35) to 4.5 (29), never trailing in the match. Phillips won best on ground, having recorded 28 disposals, 7   marks , and 7   tackles , all personal season-bests and team-highs in

17710-444: The only goal of the final term, which she kicked from a long distance of 60 metres. Phillips was awarded best on ground for the third and final time during the home-and-away season in Adelaide's Round   4 win, leading the Crows with 18 disposals . Adelaide and Brisbane entered their Round   5 encounter as the only remaining unbeaten teams in the competition, even though the press had not expected either team to be top two on

17871-434: The opportunity to train with Port Adelaide on occasion while growing up. Phillips began playing basketball at the age of 13. She decided to switch her sporting focus from football to basketball at the age of 14 due to the lack of opportunities at the time for female footballers to play professionally. Her father had also introduced her to Rachael Sporn , a member of the Australian national basketball team, around this time. As

18032-509: The playoffs was Game   2 of the Conference Finals to the defending champion Lynx. Six of the team's eight playoff wins were by at least 14 points. Phillips's best games in the playoffs were the Game   2 loss in the Conference Finals in which she had 10 points and 4   assists, and Game   2 of the WNBA Finals in which she had 7   points and 3   assists. Phillips signed with

18193-561: The podium at the international level competition. Like two years prior, the United States and Yugoslavia once more met in the final match, and US team achieved victory again (88–78) by winning their sixth World title. Two years later, the United States went to 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona , Spain in the status of favorites to win - especially after the Yugoslavian team was banned from competition due to United Nations sanctions . However,

18354-410: The possibility of an injury voiding her WNBA contract or the fact that her salary was about ten times higher in the WNBA compared to the AFLW, Phillips decided to play in the league at her own risk. The 2017 AFLW competition consisted of eight teams playing a home-and-away schedule of seven games, one against each of the other teams. At the end of the season, the top two teams on the ladder would contest

18515-503: The preliminary round with margin of 34 points (89–55) but later they faced with stronger resistance from Russian side in the final. Despite this, US team won final match with margin of 5 points (79–74) and captured seventh World title while Australia took bronze medals for second time in a row. At the next 2006 World Championship in Brazil , Russian team lost to United States at the preliminary round (80–90) and then lost two more matches at

18676-489: The premiership to the team with the best record through the season; and, the formal establishment of the modern scoring system, in which six points are awarded for a goal and one point for a behind. Although the VFL and the VFA continued to compete for spectator interest for many years, the VFL quickly established itself as the premier competition in Victoria. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from

18837-551: The quarterfinals during the 2010–11 season and finished in eighth place during the 2011–12 season . Phillips led the team in scoring in the EuroLeague during her first season in Kraków with 14.9 points per game. She was also named a PLKK All-Star in her first two seasons with Kraków. Phillips moved to the Slovak Women's Basketball Extraliga for the 2014–15 season, playing for perennial league champions Good Angels Košice . The team won

18998-429: The reigning premiers, having won the 2024 AFL Grand Final . Several of the AFL's current member clubs date back to the origins of Australian football and were instrumental in establishing the sport's popularity and the AFL. The oldest club is Melbourne Football Club , which wrote the first laws of the code, and Geelong , which date back to 1858 and 1859 respectively, while Melbourne University , also founded in 1859,

19159-507: The remainder of her WNBL career. She was named to the All-WNBL Team again in 2006 and 2007. During the 2005–06 season, she averaged 15.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and a league-leading 4.9 assists per game. She was also fifth in free throw percentage at 80.0%. Adelaide finished in a three-way tie for first with a 14–7 record and entered the finals in the second position based on the tiebreak criteria. They lost both of their finals, which were against

19320-663: The remarkable winning streak of the Soviet team at the World Championships which lasted 56 consecutive matches. This victory became the turning point which marked beginning of the era of dominance of the United States in world women's basketball. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul , South Korea , the US team defended their Olympic title by beating the Yugoslavia in the final match (77–70) while

19481-503: The same four-year cycle, with editions held in the same years as the men's FIFA World Cup and the finals tournament played a few months after it. The 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup was held in Sydney , Australia . The 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup will be held in Berlin , Germany . Only four nations have won titles in the history of the Women's World Cup. The first tournament

19642-401: The season with a career-high 16.5 points per game to go along with 7.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. This was the second consecutive season she led the league in assists per game. For the second year in a row, Adelaide lost to Canberra in the preliminary final. The 2007–08 season was Phillips's last that she played in the WNBL. She was not ready to return from her ACL injury at the start of

19803-531: The season with an 11–23 record and did not make the playoffs. A week before the start of the 2017 season, the Wings waived Phillips. She retired from the WNBA several days later. Regular season Playoffs Phillips joined Ramat Hasharon in the Israeli Ligat ha'Al following the end of the 2008 WNBA season. This was the first year she did not return to the WNBL in Australia during the offseason. Phillips played only

19964-486: The season, as she scored 19 and 21 points. Although both players returned for the playoffs for the second-seeded Fever, Phillips started every game in the playoffs except for the first. She saw an increased role on the team after an ankle injury kept Katie Douglas out of the rest of the playoffs following Game   2 of the Conference Finals. The Fever defeated the Dream in the Conference Semifinals and then Phillips's former team,

20125-456: The season. She started a career-best 22 games that year, and averaged a career-best 8.6 points per game to go along with 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Phillips was also eighth in the league in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 42.6%. She scored a career-high 21 points on two separate occasions, both losses to the Atlanta Dream . The Fever entered the playoffs as the top seed in

20286-501: The semifinal to Sydney Uni, they defeated Dandenong to set up a rematch with Sydney Uni in the WNBL Grand Final . Adelaide won the grand final 92–82 for Phillips's first and only WNBL championship. Phillips scored 16 points in the game, second on her team behind Renae Camino who had 32 and was named Grand Final MVP. Seven years later, Phillips planned to return to the WNBL for the 2015–16 season. After originally wanting to return to

20447-595: The semifinal win against England . The following month, the national team hosted the Opals World Challenge in Canberra, where they defeated the United States women's national basketball team , who had not lost a game in seven years, for the first time since 1998. After the World Challenge event, Phillips decided to forgo training with the Opals that summer to begin her WNBA career. National team coach Jan Stirling

20608-538: The semifinals, Czech Republic beat Belarus in overtime (81–77) and reach final match for the first time after dissolution of Czechoslovakia. However, in the final match United States looked stronger and managed to return World title after victory with margin of 20 points (89–69). Spain won World Championship medals for first time in their history after beating Belarus in a bronze medal match (77–68). The next three edition were held without participation of Russian team who failed to qualify to 2014 and 2018 tournaments and

20769-496: The sixth overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft . She was named a co-captain of the new team, which had just relocated and was known as the Tulsa Shock in previous years. Phillips also ended up scoring the first points in Dallas Wings' history. She began the season as a starter before settling into a bench role for much of the rest of the season, averaging only 14.6 minutes per game, the second-lowest of her WNBA career. The Wings finished

20930-631: The start of that season. Phillips emerged as a breakout star in her third year and was named to the All-WNBL Team (then known as the WNBL All-Star Five) at the end of the 2004–05 season. Averaging 15.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game that season, she was second in the league in assists behind only her teammate Jennifer Screen who had 5.9 per game. Phillips was also fourth in the league in offensive rebounds with 3.1 per game and fifth in steals with 5.1 per game. Adelaide finished fourth on

21091-404: The start of the 2013 season in late May, Phillips tore her meniscus in her right knee, an injury that kept her out until early July. She ended up playing only 18 games, starting just six of them. Phillips made a career-high five three-pointers in her first start of the year in mid-August. She finished the season second in the WNBA in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 47.9%. Despite having

21252-486: The team's head coach in Phillips's last year as a player in the WNBA as well. She retained her position the following year as the Wings hired new head coach Brian Agler . She had turned down the opportunity to interview for that head coaching vacancy in order to return to Australian rules football in the AFLW during the offseason. Phillips left the coaching staff following the 2019 WNBA season in search of opportunities in Australia. Club Representative Honours With

21413-444: The team's regular starting lineup, leading the team in minutes per game, and was third in scoring and second in assists. Overall, she averaged 8.7 points, 4.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 26.2 minutes per game. In the loss against the United States, she led the team in scoring with a game-high 19 points and made her only three three-pointers of the tournament on six such shots. The last major international tournament of Phillips's career

21574-568: The team, fellow guard Penny Taylor and new coach Sandy Brondello . Led by a five-time WNBA scoring champion in Diana Taurasi and a perennial league leader in blocks in Brittney Griner , the Mercury finished the season with the best record in the WNBA at 29–5, leading the league in both offensive and defensive rating . Phillips missed only one game during the season. After beginning the year as

21735-490: The third place. In the final match, Brazil beat China (96–87) thus breaking US-Soviet duopoly on World Championship which lasted for 41 years. Two years later United States took revenge at the home 1996 Olympic tournament at Atlanta by beating Brazil in the final match with margin of 24 points (111–87). This victory marked beginning of US dominance at the Olympic Games – from 1996 to 2021, they won seven Olympic titles in

21896-511: The top eight teams then play off in a four-round finals series , culminating in the AFL Grand Final , which is normally held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The grand final winners are termed the premiers , the most important team prizes for which are the premiership cup and flag . Carlton , Collingwood and Essendon are the joint-most successful clubs in the competition, having each won 16 premierships. The Brisbane Lions are

22057-455: The top of the ladder, it created severe inequality during the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1972 and 1987, only six of the league's twelve clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Richmond – played in grand finals. (equivalent to $ 53,142 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 2,898,675 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 3,221,426 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 99,714 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 12,885,702 in 2022) The 1980s

22218-487: The women's game itself." She also commented that she thought "[her] time had passed at playing football" when Port Adelaide did not pursue a licence. Phillips had not played in a football match since participating in the Little Heroes Slowdown in 2004, a charity match featuring retired AFL and SANFL players as well as celebrities. She was named best on ground in that game. Before she returned to training in 2016,

22379-504: The women's tournament. Phillips made her professional basketball debut with the Adelaide Lightning in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in 2002 at age 17. She played six consecutive seasons with the team through 2008. Adelaide made the finals in all six of those years. Phillips had earned an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship to join their WNBL team in 2003, but never played for them after being replaced before

22540-418: The year and ended up playing only 17 out of 24 games during the regular season. Although Phillips did not make the All-WNBL Team, her teammates Tracy Gahan and Jessica Foley were named to the team as they led Adelaide to a 21–3 record, earning them the minor premiership . Phillips had slight drops in her averages, finishing the year with 14.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. After Adelaide lost

22701-405: Was "one of the best rebounding guards we've had". With her background in the much more physical sport of Australian rules football, Phillips had a physical style of play in basketball as well. Thibault commended her ability to take contact while driving to the basket, comparing her to then-teammate Lindsay Whalen in that regard. Phillips also excelled at taking offensive charges while on defence and

22862-446: Was a good perimeter defender. Phillips was one of the best three-point shooters in the WNBA during her career, ranking top ten in the league in three-point field goal percentage five times in the eight seasons where she played enough to qualify for the rankings. Her best rankings in three-point field goal percentage came in three consecutive years when she finished third in 2012, second in 2013, and first in 2014. Although she did not lead

23023-440: Was a period of significant structural change in Australian football around the country. The VFL was dominant among the Australian football leagues around the country in terms of overall attendance, interest and money and began to look towards expanding its influence directly into other states. The VFL and its top clubs were asserting their financial power to recruit top players from interstate. The resulting rising cost pressures drove

23184-564: Was a professional Australian rules football defender who played most of his career with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), where he served as captain for three years, was an eight-time premiership player, and was named to the club's all-time Greatest Team in 2000. He also competed in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was later renamed as

23345-519: Was against her decision, saying, "Erin has made a call which will obviously adversely affect her chances for a world championship berth." Nonetheless, Stirling ended up naming Phillips to the national team for the FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil that September after praising her performance in her first WNBA season. Stirling commented, "Erin's been   ... playing very, very well. She

23506-610: Was also named the AFLW Goal of the Year. She was also a finalist for AFLW Mark of the Year for an on-the-shoulders mark that she took against Melbourne, losing the award to Darcy Vescio . Phillips also won the AFLW Players' Most Valuable Player Award and was named to the All-Australian team. FIBA World Championship for Women Formerly known as the FIBA World Championship for Women ,

23667-484: Was also ninth in the league in free throw shooting percentage at 88.0%. Led by their top scorer Katie Douglas and point guard Lindsay Whalen , the Sun finished the regular season with the best record in the WNBA at 26–8. With Sales back from injury, Phillips returned to the bench for the playoffs, where the Sun swept the Washington Mystics 2–0 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. However, they were eliminated in

23828-416: Was an eight-time premiership player and earned an induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame . Phillips played only Australian rules football until age 13, switching to basketball because of the lack of professional opportunities for female footballers at the time. She made her debut in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) for the Adelaide Lightning , her hometown team, at the age of 17 and

23989-510: Was at risk of losing playing time after the team signed experienced guards Renee Montgomery and Kara Lawson to complement Jēkabsone-Žogota and White. They were unable to find a trade and did not sign her to the team roster. Phillips ultimately did not play the 2010 WNBA season. Before the start of the 2011 WNBA season, Phillips and fellow Australian Belinda Snell signed with the Seattle Storm . Less than three months later, however, Phillips

24150-493: Was banned from participation in the 2022 World Cup due to the invasion of Ukraine . In 2014 US team repeated their success by beating Spain in the final match (77–64). The home team, Turkey managed to reach semifinals for first time in history but failed to win medals after losing to Australia in a bronze medal match (44–74). At the next 2018 World Cup in Spain , United States captured gold again after victory over Australia in

24311-406: Was carried out at the stadium as the 1970s progressed, culminating in the building of the now heritage listed Sir Kenneth Luke Stand. Queen Elizabeth II , was a guest at the game and formally opened the stadium to the public. The 1970 grand final between traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood, arguably the league's most famous game, saw Carlton recover from a 44-point deficit at half-time to win

24472-483: Was consistently a player that made plays, and that's what the Finals are about." After beginning the 2012 season as a starter, Phillips was moved to the bench after five games, but ended up receiving more playing time coming off the bench. She also started the last three games of the season with January and Shavonte Zellous both missing a week due to concussion-like symptoms. The final two games were two of Phillips's best of

24633-480: Was contested among twelve clubs from the VFL, SANFL and WAFL , invited based on their finishing positions from the previous year. The event was mostly played on Tuesday nights, with night games at Norwood Oval in Adelaide and all games were televised live in colour on Channel 9 , which opened up unprecedented revenue streams from television rights and sponsorship opportunities for the sport. The NFL began plans to expand its Night Series to incorporate more teams from

24794-456: Was held in 1953 in Chile , with the participation of ten national teams. Despite losing to Brazil in the final round, the United States won the inaugural title. The next tournament which was held in 1957 in Brazil , marked the beginning of the long-time rivalry between the US team and Soviet team , who debuted at the World Championship. The first official match between these teams was played on

24955-413: Was held in 1983 in Brazil became the first international major competition for seven years with participation of all the world's top teams. Soviet Union captured their sixth World title by winning all 10 of their matches, but this victory was the most difficult one. In the final group round, the Soviet team won the match against United States with a margin of only one point (85–84) after losing 40–49 at

25116-526: Was introduced in 1986 and a salary cap was introduced in 1987. District football within Victoria was discontinued around the same time. The league was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect its national composition. In 1990 the AFLPA , the players union, signed its first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the league which outlined wages and conditions in what was becoming

25277-620: Was named to the All-WNBL Team three times by the age of 22, finally winning a WNBL championship in 2008 in her last year with the team. Phillips was drafted into the WNBA in 2005 by the Connecticut Sun . With the Indiana Fever , she established herself as a starter and won her first WNBA title in 2012. She won another WNBA title two years later with the Phoenix Mercury . During her basketball career, Phillips played both point guard and shooting guard , excelling at three-pointers and employing

25438-500: Was played in front of a crowd of 22,183 on Anzac Day to honour the Anzac bond between the two countries. A national women's league comprising a subset of AFL clubs began in 2017. Thirteen AFL clubs placed bids to participate in the women's competition. Eight clubs – Adelaide , Brisbane Lions , Carlton , Collingwood , Fremantle , Greater Western Sydney , Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs – were granted licences to participate in

25599-658: Was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland but predicted to be near the demographic centre of Melbourne's population. The VFL premiership trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959; essentially the same trophy design has been in use since. In the 1960s, television coverage began to have a huge impact on the VFL. Spectators hurried home from games to watch replays and many former players took up positions as commentators on pre-game preview programs and post-game review programs. There were also several attempts at variety programs featuring VFL players, who generally succeeded in demonstrating that their skills were limited to

25760-518: Was the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Phillips and Laura Hodges were voted co-vice captains by their teammates, while Penny Taylor was voted captain. Despite sweeping their round robin group, Australia were upset in the quarterfinals 73–71 by Serbia in a game where the Opals had 26 turnovers. Phillips had 10 points and 4   assists in the loss. Overall, she averaged 4.7 points, 3.2 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game while playing as

25921-432: Was traded to the Indiana Fever in April as part of a three-team deal that sent Katie Smith to the Storm from the Mystics, a trade Smith had requested. The Fever were led by team veteran forward Tamika Catchings as well as Phillips's former Sun teammate Katie Douglas. After beginning the season coming off the bench, Phillips won a starting role following a season-ending injury to point guard Briann January ten games into

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