Kate Lutkins (born 31 May 1988) is an Australian rules footballer playing 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 ...

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 women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the league ...

. She was the "best player on the ground" at the

2021 AFL Women's Grand Final The 2021 AFL Women's Grand Final was an Australian rules football match held at the Adelaide Oval on 17 April to determine the premiers of the fifth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) league. The match was contested by the Adelaide Crows and B ...

Early life

Lutkins was born in 1988 in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. Her mother is Debbie Bowe. She attended and completed high school at West Moreton Anglican College and Ipswich Girls' Grammar School, in Ipswich, Queensland. Lutkins captained the "undefeated" Yeronga Devils Aussie Rules team. In 2012 she was working as an animal technician for the University of Queensland when she was announced as the captain of the national team to play in October at the Pacific Cup in San Francisco. She was playing for Wilston Grange when she was drafted.

AFLW career

Lutkins was recruited by with the number 79 pick 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 ...

. 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, ...

on 5 February 2017. At the end of the season, she won the Lions' Most Courageous award. Her 2018 season was rewarded with the club best and fairest. The

2020 AFL Women's season The 2020 AFL Women's season was the fourth season of the AFL Women's competition, the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured fourteen clubs, with four new teams joining the league: , , and ...

saw Lutkins obtain her second AFL Women's All-Australian team selection, named in the full back position. Lutkins was awarded the medal for the best player on the ground at the

. She finished with 18 disposals, seven of them contested, and had ten rebound 50s. She played in pain, and was scheduled to have surgery on both feet, having torn the

plantar fascia The plantar fascia is the thick connective tissue ( aponeurosis) which supports the arch on the bottom (plantar side) of the foot. It runs from the tuberosity of the calcaneus (heel bone) forward to the heads of the metatarsal bones (the bon ...

in her left foot during round eight. At the conclusion of the

2021 AFL Women's season The 2021 AFL Women's season was the fifth season of the AFL Women's competition, the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured fourteen clubs, ran from 28 January until 17 April, and comprised ...

, Lutkins was awarded with her third

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...

blazer, named on the half back position. Lutkins signed on with for two more years on 15 June 2021. In AFLW Season 6, Kate tore her acl early in the round 1 match against Adelaide Crows. This ruled her out for the remainder of the season. Ahead of schedule, she stunned the football world by returning in round 5 of season 7 of the AFLW against Essendon Bombers at Burpengary.

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season.'' , - style="background:#EAEAEA" , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, , 13 , , 8 , , 1 , , 0 , , 59 , , 7 , , 66 , , 12 , , 17 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 7.4 , , 0.9 , , 8.3 , , 1.5 , , 2.1 , , 0 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, , 13 , , 8 , , 1 , , 0 , , 105 , , 37 , , 142 , , 31 , , 26 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 13.1 , , 4.6 , , 17.8 , , 3.9 , , 3.3 , , 2 , - style="background:#EAEAEA" , scope="row" text-align:center ,

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 ...

, , 13 , , 7 , , 0 , , 2 , , 74 , , 20 , , 94 , , 27 , , 24 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 10.6 , , 2.9 , , 13.4 , , 3.9 , , 3.4 , , 0 , - , scope=row ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, , , , 13 , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 75 , , 18 , , 93 , , 31 , , 22 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 10.7 , , 2.6 , , 13.3 , , 4.4 , , 3.1 , , 5 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

^# , , , , 13 , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 98 , , 38 , , 136 , , 44 , , 21 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 8.9 , , 3.5 , , 12.4 , , 4.0 , , 1.9 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3 , Career ! 41 ! 3 ! 2 ! 411 ! 120 ! 531 ! 145 ! 110 ! 0.1 ! 0.1 ! 10.0 ! 2.9 ! 13.0 ! 3.5 ! 2.7 ! 7

Private life

Lutkins married her partner, Kate Clarkson on 15 April 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutkins, Kate 1988 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Brisbane Sportswomen from Queensland Brisbane Lions (AFLW) players All-Australians (AFL Women's) Australian LGBT sportspeople LGBT players of Australian rules football