Emily Bates

Emily Bates (born 18 October 1995) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Bates was selected by the Western Bulldogs with the forty-fourth selection in the inaugural national women's draft in 2013, and represented them in the first three years of the exhibition games staged prior to the creation of the league. She represented the Lions in 2016, the last year that the games were held, and was selected by Brisbane with the second pick in the 2016 AFL Women's draft prior to the inaugural AFL Women's season.

Emily Bates
Bates playing for Brisbane in 2017
Personal information
Full name Emily Bates
Date of birth (1995-10-18) 18 October 1995
Original team(s) Yeronga South Brisbane (QWAFL)
Draft No. 2, 2016 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2017, Brisbane
vs. Melbourne, at Casey Fields
Height 169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 65 kg (143 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / defender
Club information
Current club Brisbane
Number 1
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017– Brisbane 41 (3)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2017 The Allies 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2021 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017.
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

In her time in the AFL Women's, Bates has become one of the dominant midfielders, and was awarded the game's highest individual accolade, the league best and fairest in 2022. She is also a premiership player, players association MVP recipient, a three-time AFL Women's All-Australian, and was the inaugural Brisbane best-and-fairest winner in 2017.

Early life

Bates was born in 1995 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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3][4]

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.[5][6]

She was educated at Brigidine College, Indooroopilly.

She won the Best & Fairest in the QWAFL in 2016.

AFL Women's career

Bates was taken with the number two pick, Brisbane's first, in the 2016 AFL Women's draft.[7] She was announced as one of the "values leaders" to assist captain Emma Zielke alongside Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Leah Kaslar and Sam Virgo in January 2017.[8] She made her debut in the Lions' inaugural game against Melbourne at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2017 AFL Women's season.[9]

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.[10][11][12]

Brisbane signed Bates for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017.[13]

Brisbane signed Bates for the 2020 season during the trade and sign period in April 2019.[14]

Bates signed on with Brisbane for 2 more years on 15 June 2021.[15]

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.[16] She also earned the Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year award and the Players Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, which made her the second player in the competition's history to win all three individual end-of-season awards.[17][18]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season.[19]
Legend
 G  Goals  K  Kicks  D  Disposals  T  Tackles
 B  Behinds  H  Handballs  M  Marks
AFLW playing statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2017 Brisbane 1811844112521380.10.110.55.115.62.64.84
2018 Brisbane 1800736613918370.00.09.18.317.42.34.64
2019 Brisbane 1701625411615290.00.28.97.716.62.14.11
2020Brisbane1 711805913923240.10.111.48.419.93.33.44
2021#Brisbane1 1111967917526430.10.18.77.215.92.43.96
Career 41 3 4 395 299 694 103 171 0.1 0.1 9.6 7.3 16.9 2.5 4.2 19

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References
  1. [Brisbane’s Emily Bates playing for her dad in AFLW Grand Final after major influence on her career https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/aflw/brisbanes-emily-bates-playing-for-her-dad-in-aflw-grand-final-after-major-influence-on-her-career/news-story/f288cc17861c55dbf067e929503580e1] by Andrew Hamilton for the Courier Mail March 25, 2017
  2. https://www.lions.com.au/news/911858/emily-bates-letter-to-fans
  3. Emily Bates: Yeronga through and through from AFLW November 23, 2019
  4. [Women’s Bates on the rise https://www.aflq.com.au/womens-bates-on-the-rise/] from AFL Queensland 27th June, 2013
  5. Newman, Beth (27 June 2013). "Women's Bates on the rise". AFL Queensland. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  6. https://www.aflq.com.au/dual-honours-for-yeronga-duo/
  7. Hamilton, Andrew (14 October 2016). "Emily Bates says being drafted by Brisbane is a dream come true". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  8. "Emma Zielke named as Brisbane Lions' inaugural AFLW Captain". Brisbane Lions. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  9. "AFLW 2017 round one: Melbourne Demons v Brisbane Lions". Herald Sun. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  10. "AFLW MVP Nominations Revealed". AFL Players Association. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  11. "Emily Bates takes out inaugural Brisbane Lions Best & Fairest". Lions.com.au. Bigpond. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  12. Navaratnam, Dinny (28 March 2017). "Lions, Crows dominate AFLW All Australian team - AFL.com.au". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  13. "AFLW: All the clubs' full lists after trade period - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Telstra Media. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  14. Black, Sarah (10 April 2019). "Eagles pinch star Dockers mid, Dees and Freo re-sign 18 each". womens.afl. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  15. "Stars Sign and the Future Looks Bright". Lions Media. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  16. Lachlan Abbott (5 April 2022). "Lion Bates soars late to the W Award, Kearney named in All-Australian side". The Age.
  17. Gemma Bastiani (17 March 2022). "Lion Queen: Gun midfielder claims coaches' award, tie for second". womens.afl.
  18. Kate O'Halloran (6 April 2022). "Emily Bates voted AFLW player of the year at AFLPA awards, as Daisy Pearce, Kirsty Lamb, Charlie Rowbottom also recognised". ABC News.
  19. "Emily Bates". Australian Football. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
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