Phillips key to Crows’ victory
ADELAIDE and Fremantle’s coaches lauded WNBA turned AFLW star Erin Phillips for an outstanding performance in the Crows’ 42-point win against the undefeated Dockers in Darwin.
Phillips, 33, kicked 2-3 and had 23 kicks and two handpasses in the 9-11 (65) to 3-5 (23) victory, playing in the forward line and in the middle where she helped the Crows dominate the clearances 28-9.
“Her season thus far has been outstanding, she is obviously in the veterans stage but is such a brilliant competitor who drives herself to stay out there and to keep competing at the highest level,” said Crows coach Matthew Clarke.
Fremantle coach Trent Cooper admitted the club had put a lot of work in the buildup to the game in stopping Phillips but it had not worked.
“She was really good last week but she went to another level tonight,” he said. “She was clearly the dominant player on the oval.”
The game was seemingly well scripted as Northern Territory-raised Danielle Ponter, 18, grabbed the ball early in the final quarter and snapped the final goal of the game in front of her family and friends.
It put the Crows 18 points ahead in what had been a lowscoring arm wrestle. Ponter’s bloodlines are linked to the Long and Rioli families making her NT football royalty.
Retired Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli is her cousin and Essendon great Michael Long her uncle. Teammate Justine TOP GAME: Erin Phillips of the Crows in action. Mules was so excited for the Darwin girl when she kicked the first of her two goals in the second quarter that she tackled her to the ground as hard as an opponent might.
“That shocked me a bit too,” Ponter laughed afterwards.
“But it obviously means a lot, it is one thing to get an AFL game and another thing to play at home in front of your friends and family and have that support around you.”
Crows coach Matthew Clarke said it was a significant win and the margin did not reflect what was a close contest.
The Dockers hit the front shortly before halftime with two consecutive goals but the Crows steadied.
“I thought we were in it for the majority of the game … we’ve got to bounce back quickly, the … turnaround is pretty quick and we have to be ready for the Bulldogs in eight days,” Dockers captain Kara Donnellan said.
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