With a complete 30-player list in place at Port Adelaide, the AFLW side now has its guernsey numbers set for the upcoming season.
In the beautiful new W facility at Alberton, each player has their name and jumper number proudly splashed across their locker in black, white, and teal.
We asked our Port Adelaide women to reveal the meaning behind the number in their own words.
#2 Ebony O’Dea: I always try and opt for the highest or lowest number available in an attempt to get an end locker! Worked with #50 at Collingwood but backfired here as I’ve ended up right in the middle of the room. But having the bull that is SPP as my AFL jumper buddy is pretty sick.
#3 Ange Foley: Mine is a bit boring! It’s just always been my footy number and since then, it became my lucky number.
#4 Jade Halfpenny: My old number at Norwood was 22, which was also my first ever basketball number but it was taken. So instead, I went with 2 plus 2 equals 4.
#5 Abbey Dowrick: It is my dad’s favourite number and one of my favourites too.
#6 Jacqui Yorston: I love Tyson Goldsack and that was his number at Collingwood.
#7 Yasmin Duursma: It is the same number my brother Xavier wears for Port Adelaide. The brother-sister duo continues at Port by us having the same number!
#8 Tessa Doumanis: I chose number 8 for two reasons. I got my nickname Silk because that was Shaun Burgoyne’s nickname – we have a similar kick and he was number 8 at Port. Second reason is I’ve always looked up to Kobe Bryant and his mentality in sport and even though he eventually switched to number 24, he wore number 8 in his rookie season.
#9 Maria Moloney: No specific reason, just a random pick!
#10 Indy Tahau: I want to start and finish my footy career wearing my favourite number, especially here at Port.
#11 Jade De Melo: It’s my lucky number!
#12 Hannah Ewings: My family and I grew up wearing number 12 so I thought it would be even more special if I wore it for Port.
#13 Sarah Goodwin: I chose this number as an inside joke I have with my friends Matilda and India.
#14 Justine Mules: The 14th is my anniversary date with my partner.
#15 Julia Teakle: I chose 15 because I loved Chris Judd growing up and he wore number 5, which was also my first footy number. I also like numbers in the teens and since 5 wasn’t available, I chose 15.
#16 Maggie MacLachlan: The number 16 belonged to former Fremantle player Lisa Webb, which is the club I was at before. Her son Leo is my favourite kid in the world.
#17 Ella Boag: My favourite number is 7 but it was taken so I chose 17.
#18 Olivia Levicki: I wanted number 9 but it was taken so I thought of 1 plus 8 equals 9! I also love the way Zak Butters goes about it for the men! His game is awesome!
#19 Alex Ballard: It’s the number I wore at Sturt in the SANFLW. Sturt played a huge part in my footy journey so I wanted to pay tribute to them.
#20 Sachi Syme: No particular reason, but it does look neat on my flash locker!
#21 Amelie Borg: Closest available number to 22, which is meaningful to me because I won my first ever premiership wearing that number.
#22 Erin Phillips: It was my dad’s number when he played for Port Adelaide.
#23 Lily Johnson: It’s my favourite number.
#24 Hannah Dunn: I like the number 2, but 2 and 22 were taken when I played for Gold Coast so I went with 24. Funnily enough I played as a top-up player with GWS in season one and I actually wore 24 then too. When I moved to Port, 2 and 22 were both taken again so I figured I’d carry on wearing 24 for my AFLW career.
#26 Kate Surman: My mate who helped me get to the AFLW wore number 26 so I picked it for him.
#27 Gemma Houghton: Number 7 was my basketball number when I was a kid but that was taken in the inaugural Fremantle season, so I went with 27. This will be my seventh season wearing 27 and it now has a lot of sentimental meaning to me.
#28 Cheyenne Hammond: I chose 28 because 29 was taken! My cousin who got me into footy told me to take his number, which was 29, plus it’s my birthday. I also won a premiership, a best on ground medal and got drafted, all while wearing that number, so it holds a lot of importance to me. I’m grateful to change to 28 though, as it’s a new team so it’s a new beginning for me and it’s good to have a change.
#29 Liz McGrath: I like the idea of wearing the same number as a successful ruck so at North Melbourne VFLW, I wanted to wear 60, which was Emma King’s number, but it wasn’t available in my size so instead I took 22, which was Todd Goldstein’s number. Then when I was signed with Port, I thought I’d continue that theme and share a bit of Scott Lycett’s magic.
#30 Litonya Cockatoo-Motlap: We have the same numbers as our twin uncles when they played for Melbourne. Mine is the same as my uncle David Cockatoo-Collins.
#31 Laquoiya Cockatoo-Motlap: We have the same numbers as our twin uncles when they played for Melbourne. Mine is the same as my uncle Donald Cockatoo-Collins.
#33 Britt Perry: It was my original basketball number when I was a kid. Since then, I’ve had three other numbers but I’m excited to return to 33 this season and I’m proud of the heritage that this number represents for Port players who have worn it before me.
