sports

Sport in 5: For Erin Phillips, the AFLW Grand Final was particularly special.

It was a historic final weekend for women’s sport as the inaugural AFL Women’s Grand Final wrapped up on the Gold Coast, Round 6 of the Suncorp Super Netball went down, and last week Cricket Australia flagged an exciting change for our female cricketers.

1. Erin Phillips shines as star of the AFLW Grand Final as Crows make history.

Growing up, Erin Phillips just wanted to play footy like her dad Greg but, like too many other Aussie girls, she was told ‘no’.

As a little girl, she watched from the sidelines as father played for eight flags with Port Adelaide Magpies and on Saturday it was the other way around.

There was no question the co-captain of the Adelaide Crows — who represented Australian in the Olympics and won a world championship as basketballer  would be crowned best on ground after an incredible performance,  leading her side home to a six-point win over the top-of-the-ladder Brisbane Lions.

It was a dream come true for the 31-year-old which she wanted to share with her family, including her wife, Tracy Gahan, and their twins, a boy and a girl, Blake and Brooklyn, who were born in November last year.

Both Phillips and her dad cried as they embraced after the game.

“He hasn’t reminded me yet but I’m sure he’ll tell me ‘seven to go’,” Erin told reporters after the game.

“He was pretty emotional, I was obviously as well … it’s just been amazing and I can’t really describe it, sharing it with my new family  has been really special.”

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It was a fitting finale for the huge first season of the AFLW, which in just eight weeks has changed the face of Australian sport forever and opened a pathway for young women into professional Aussie Rules.

Despite last week’s venue headache, a whopping 15,610 fans turned out for the clash with saw the Crows beat the Lions by 6-points and cement their place in the history books—not to mention pub trivia for years to come.

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Here’s everything that went down before the kick off (post continues after snippet):

2. A well-deserved pay rise is on the way for our champion cricketers.

Australia’s best female cricketers could see their salaries skyrocket by 125 per cent after a historic five-year offer from Cricket Australai to the Australian Cricketer’s association.

At present, players for the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars have an average yearly wage of $79,000, which is set to jump to $179,000 under the new proposal, which could take them to $210,000 by 2021, according to Cricket Network.

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Domestic players will also see a spike in their pay packets, with their average annual wage likely to double from $22,000  $52,000 for Women’s National Cricket League and Rebel Women’s Big Bash League players.

Under the offer which has yet to be officially accepted, winners of female domestic tournaments would also take home prizer money in the six-figures.

3. Caitlin Thwaites seals Magpies win in final seconds in Suncorp Super Netball.

In the dying seconds of yesterday’s Super Netball clash in Sydney, Collingwood Magpies shooter Caitlin Thwaites scored the winning goal to down her former team, the NSW Swifts.

Scores were tied at 54-54 with 10 seconds to go, when Thwaites missed an easy shot but was awarded possession by the umpire and scored on her second attempt.

It was a much-needed win after a disappointing start to the season from the star-studded Magpies, who have won just two of their openign five games and themselves lost by a single point last week.

In 2017, Mamamia is committed to covering all aspects of women’s sport. Check out more of our sports stories here.