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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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, 's first, in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. 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. She made her debut in the Lions' inaugural game against at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2017 AFL Women's season. 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 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. Statistics. ! | 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