Erin Phillips Retires With Three AFLW Premierships

Erin Phillips has announced her retirement from professional sport. The 38-year-old Port Adelaide captain told an emotional press conference on Tuesday that Saturday's game will be her last, ending a career that makes her the most decorated player in AFLW history, AFL.com.au reports.

Phillips won three premierships with Adelaide, in 2017, 2019 and 2022, along with two league best and fairest awards and three All-Australian selections. She will finish with 66 AFLW games, 46 for the Crows and 20 for Port, and she captained her team in six of her eight seasons.

Football was only half the story. Phillips played nine seasons in the WNBA, winning two championships, and took gold with Australia at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, according to her career record. She came back to football at 31 after not playing competitively since she was 13. She said her body was telling her it was time:

I wish I could physically keep going and give this club more but I can honestly say I've given everything I can.

She also thanked her father Greg, an eight-time premiership player with the Port Adelaide Magpies: "You are the reason why I love this game."

Phillips has followed a plant-based diet for years, and she says it is where her energy comes from. As a mother of three with a radio job on top of football, she needs plenty of it. She explained the change to VegKit:

Since I gave up meat, dairy products and a lot of processed sugars, my energy levels have increased significantly because my body doesn't waste energy burning these types of food, and it allows me to sleep much better at night.

For someone playing a contact sport into her late thirties after a long basketball career, that sleep and recovery counted for a lot.

We covered her second premiership and best-on-ground medal in 2019 and her third premiership last year. This month ultrarunner Harvey Lewis ran a world-record 108 laps at Big's Backyard Ultra, and in August her former Phoenix Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi became the first WNBA player to 10,000 points.

Congratulations on an incredible career, Erin.