‘All I ever wanted': Erin Phillips leaves legendary dad in tears with AFL Hall of Fame speech
AFLW great Erin Phillips has given an emotional speech upon her induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, joining her father Greg in the prestigious group.
The three-time Adelaide premiership player and two-time league Best and Fairest winner is one of the competition's all-time icons, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday night in Melbourne.
Phillips became the second woman ever to be inducted, following inaugural female inductee Debbie Lee, with the pair quickly accompanied in the rare air by Melbourne great and West Coast head coach Daisy Pearce.
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As she took to the stage, Phillips reflected on her journey growing up as a football fanatic, desperately searching for her belonging in a sport that had long been off-limits to girls.
'I tried to fit in (with the boys playing), cut my hair short (and) had a really good 'mushroom' haircut as a young kid. (I) got mistaken for a boy constantly,' Phillips said with a smile.
Watch Erin Phillips' speech and message to her dad in the video above
'I remember a game actually ... I ran out to centre-half forward, stood next to my opponent. I could see him scanning the field looking for something, and then he turns to me an goes: 'I heard you have a girl on this team, and I heard she's pretty good'.
'I looked at him, and I go: 'Yeah, you're standing next to her!' ... I gave him a hiding that game.'
'I never wanted to be a boy, I just wanted the opportunities that boys had — and that was footy. That was all I ever wanted.'
Phillips' AFLW career began with Adelaide, where she quickly established herself as one of the competition's first true stars, before making a heartfelt move to Port Adelaide in the second half of 2022 for their inaugural season; the same club her father had played at during his own successful career.
Greg played 305 games for Port Adelaide's SANFL team between 1976 and 1993, either side of an 86-game stint at Collingwood over a four-year period. He also represented South Australia a whopping 20 times in his playing days, and was inducted into the same Hall of Fame five years before Erin back in 2020.
'Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would even get the chance to play footy (for Port Adelaide) ... it was a really difficult choice,' Erin continued.
'I had really close relationships at the Crows (but) I just knew that if I didn't take the opportunity to live out a life-long dream to play for Port Adelaide, that it would haunt me for the rest of my life.
'To my mum and dad, I couldn't have asked for better parents to let me be who I wanted to be ... Mum, you don't really ever get much credit ... I thank you and love you so much.
'To Dad... (pause) I can't imagine how hard it would've been to tell your 13-year-old daughter that she couldn't play the game that she loves anymore. And 27 years later, she's standing next to you in the Hall of Fame.
'Thank you for teaching me a game that I loved, and even though you knew it wasn't going to take me anywhere at the time, you still taught me anyway.'
Phillips went on to thank her wife Tracy Gahan, who herself is a retired WNBA player, before recognising Debbie Lee — the inaugural woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 2021.
'Debbie, you kicked down this door so others could walk through,' Phillips ended by saying.
'(You're the) first female member of the Hall of Fame (and) I'm so proud to be by your side, and I can't wait to kick more doors down with you Deb.'
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