Erica Fowler (born 8 July 1992) 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 playing for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Originally a rugby sevens player, Fowler joined Collingwood's

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football Le ...

team and became a senior player after she was selected with the club's ninth selection and the 70th pick overall in the 2018 AFLW draft. She made her debut in a loss to at

GMHBA Stadium Kardinia Park (also known as GMHBA Stadium due to naming rights) is a sporting and entertainment venue located within Kardinia Park, South Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The stadium, which is owned and operated by the Kardinia P ...

in round 1 of the 2019 season.

Early life

Fowler originally played rugby sevens, representing the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

nationally. She also played 33 games for

Yeronga Yeronga is a southern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yeronga had a population of 6,535 people. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west and north by the Brisbane River and to the south-east by ...

in the Queensland Women's Australian Football League (QWAFL) and its lower division, the Queensland Women's Football Association. Fowler suffered injury and illness in 2016, causing her to miss the

Australian University Games The UniSport Nationals is a multi-sport event held annually between the 43 Australian universities and tertiary institutions. Overseen by UniSport, the peak governing body of university sport in Australia, the nationals is the flagship event on ...

and leaving her with a choice between her sporting and paramedicine careers. She was part of the Yeronga team victorious over

Coorparoo Coorparoo is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Coorparoo had a population of 16,282 people. Geography Coorparoo is by road south-east of the Brisbane GPO. It borders Camp Hill, Holland Park, Stones Corner, ...

in the 2017 QWAFL grand final. Fowler accepted an offer to join Collingwood's VFL Women's side in 2018 and split her time between sport and work, travelling from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

every few weeks to play.

AFLW career

For the 2018 AFLW draft, Collingwood was granted two chances to pre-select recruits to compensate for losing players to injury and rival clubs, using a similar bidding mechanism to the father–daughter rule. The club selected Fowler with pick 70; she was expected to play as a key forward and ruckwoman assisting Eliza Hynes, because of her 180-centimetre stature. She hoped her rugby sevens experience would bring "a different physicality and athleticism to the game".

Statistics

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2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Erica 1992 births Living people Collingwood Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from Queensland University of Queensland alumni Sportswomen from Queensland Australian rules footballers from Brisbane