PORT ADELAIDE captain Erin Phillips will achieve yet another milestone in her decorated football career this Friday night as she leads her side onto the ground for the first AFLW Showdown.
The anticipation for one of the biggest events in the football calendar is at an all-time high – not only is Port Adelaide taking on its cross-town rivals, they’ll also be playing in primetime under lights, in front of a roaring Adelaide Oval crowd.
“Friday night, Adelaide Oval, it's going to be absolutely epic,” Phillips said.
“A lot of good memories for me personally here and I just absolutely love playing at Adelaide Oval. We get to train here tonight and get the girls familiar who haven't played on this incredible stadium…hopefully we have, you know, 25 to 30,000 people at least here screaming Friday night, that would be fantastic.”
Premiership player and AFL assistant coach Chad Cornes spoke with the AFLW side on Tuesday night about the significance of one of the biggest competitive rivalries in Australian sport.
“He just said some of his best memories are Showdowns,” Phillips said.
“Just how special they are and how big the rivalry is. Chad is very passionate. He said how you just go up another level when you do play in Showdowns. He (spoke about) their passion to play these big games how he just absolutely loved it and how if you play as hard as you possibly can that you can do no wrong and the supporters will love you, no matter what the outcome is. He also obviously said how much he loved to beat the Crows!
“We left training with goosebumps, so it's going to be a historical night for both clubs, but also for female sport in this state. It's just incredible to have now two teams represented in AFLW so that’s something I think both teams can be incredibly proud of.”
Three former Crows including Phillips, vice-captain Ange Foley and midfielder Justine Mules will come up against their friends and former teammates on Friday, but as soon as the siren goes, it will be all business.
“Obviously for me this is going to be a little bit weird, a little bit strange, playing against my former teammates,” Phillips said.
“But at the end of the day, I'm a competitor and I know everybody is and as soon as that ball goes up, it’s game on and I'm expecting an absolute fierce contest out there from both teams.”
Contested football is an attribute the Power prides itself on and something the team will be looking to bring from the first siren on Friday.
“There’s a few of us that know quite a bit about the Crows, but this league is so tough and I've played sport at the highest level for years and on any given night, anyone's beatable,” Phillips said.
“You’ve got to bring your best game, every single time that you step on the field, and I know they'll be looking to do that. We'll be looking to do that. And if we play hard, Port footy, we'll give it a real crack.”
After a slow start on Sunday against the Gold Coast that resulted in a 14-point loss, the group has focused on how they can turn this around.
“Obviously in big games, it's always great to have a great start and that's something that we haven't done consistently this season,” Phillips said.
“So it’s something we've spoken a lot about and hopefully we can come out to a great start. I can just imagine scoring goals and this crowd going absolutely crazy. I've been in here when there's been over 50,000 people and it's just an amazing venue to play at, especially when you have your supporters there cheering you on. It's incredible and I expect our supporters, they'll show up, definitely.”
Phillips may match up against Adelaide captain and good mate, Chelsea Randall, but she insists there will be no softening of her on-field competitive nature.
“Obviously we’re great mates, there’s a lot of respect between each other and between both teams,” she said.
“But at the end of the day we both play to win. And that's what we'll be doing Friday night.”
