Emily Bates (born 18 October 1995) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er with the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

(AFLW). She previously played for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

from 2017 to season seven. Bates was selected by the in the inaugural national women's draft in 2013, and represented them in the first three years of the

exhibition games An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

staged prior to the creation of the league. She represented Brisbane in 2016, the last year that the games were held, and was drafted by the club with the second selection in the

2016 AFL Women's draft The 2016 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for w ...

prior to the inaugural AFL Women's season. Bates won an AFL Women's premiership with Brisbane in 2021 and was awarded the league's highest individual accolade, the

AFL Women's best and fairest The AFL Women's best and fairest is awarded to the best and fairest player in the AFL Women's (AFLW) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious awar ...

, in 2022. She is also a three-time AFL Women's All-Australian and four-time Brisbane best and fairest winner, and is the AFL Women's equal games record holder with 66 games.

Early life

Bates was born in 1995 in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

one of three sisters. At the age of 3 she moved with her parents from Victoria to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland before eventually settling in Brisbane. Her father Lloyd Bates was an ex-Victorian and a key figure in Queensland football, encouraged Emily to play football at his Yeronga Football Club. Through him she grew up with a football in her hand and when a girl's team started up in 2011, she joined as a junior with her father as team coach with the two winning the under 15 junior premiership. Lloyd passed of cardiac arrest when she was 15 and QAFLW medal is named in his honour. She was educated at Brigidine College, Indooroopilly. In 2011 and 2012 she represented Queensland at under-18 level in both cricket and Australian rules football (as captain), but she ultimately chose Australian rules football over a cricket career. Bates was selected by the with the forty-fourth selection in the inaugural national women's draft in 2013, and represented them in the first three years of the

staged prior to the creation of the league. She won the Best & Fairest in the QWAFL in 2016.

AFL Women's career

Bates was taken with the number two pick, 's first, in the

. She was announced as one of the "values leaders" to assist captain

Emma Zielke Emma Zielke (born 19 April 1988) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Women's competition. She was the club's inaugural AFLW team captain, leading the club in 2017–2018 and 2020–2021. Early ...

alongside

Sabrina Frederick-Traub Sabrina Frederick (formerly Frederick-Traub; born 23 November 1996) is an English-born Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She was one of Brisbane's two marquee players for the ...

, Leah Kaslar and Sam Virgo in January 2017. She made her debut in the Lions' inaugural game against at

Casey Fields Casey Fields is a $30 million, 70 hectare multi-sports complex in the City of Casey at Cranbourne East a southeastern suburb of Melbourne. The complex is home to Australian rules football, cricket, netball, soccer, tennis, cycling, go ...

in the opening round of the

2017 AFL Women's season The 2017 AFL Women's season was the inaugural season of the AFL Women's competition, the new highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 3 February until 25 March, and compr ...

. Bates was nominated by her teammates for the 2017 AFLW Players’ Most Valuable Player Award, was named Brisbane's best and fairest and was also listed in the All-Australian team. Brisbane signed Bates for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. Brisbane signed Bates for the 2020 season during the trade and sign period in April 2019. Bates signed on with for 2 more years on 15 June 2021. In the 2022 season (January–April), Bates elevated her game to new heights and averaged nearly 22 disposals and six tackles a game, becoming the Lions' best player. She polled 21 votes in the best-and-fairest count and became the club's first league best-and-fairest recipient, the highest individual accolade in the sport. She also earned the Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year award and the

Players Association The Players Association was a New York based studio group, put together by drummer/arranger Chris Hills and producer Danny Weiss in 1977 on Vanguard Records. Overview The Players Association recordings brought in leading jazz session musician ...

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) award, which made her the second player in the competition's history to win all three individual end-of-season awards.

Statistics

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Honours and achievements

Team * AFL Women's premiership player ():

* AFL Women's minor premiership ():

Individual *

* AFLPA AFLW most valuable player: 2022 * AFLCA AFLW champion player of the year: 2022 * AFL Women's equal games record holder * Brisbane equal games record holder * 3×

AFL Women's All-Australian team The AFL Women's All-Australian team is an all-star team of women's Australian rules footballers playing in the AFL Women's (AFLW), selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including interchange players and ...

* 4× Brisbane best and fairest: 2017, 2020, 2022, S7 * Allies representative honours in AFL Women's State of Origin: 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Emily 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Brisbane Sportswomen from Queensland Australian rules footballers from Queensland Brisbane Lions (AFLW) players All-Australians (AFL Women's)