Ebony Antonio


Ebony Antonio is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL Women's. Antonio represented The Allies in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match in 2017, and won AFL Women's All-Australian selection and the Fremantle fairest and best award in 2018.

Early life

Antonio played football and basketball as a junior. Between 2009 and 2011, she played in the State Basketball League for the Willetton Tigers. During this time, she spent two seasons with the West Coast Waves in the Women's National Basketball League. In 2012, she moved to Bendigo in Victoria to play for the Bendigo Braves and Bendigo Spirit. She played two seasons for both teams, and she was a member of the Spirit's 2012/13 and 2013/14 WNBL championship squads. In 2014, she returned to Perth to play for the Willetton Tigers before re-joining the Waves for 2014/15 season. She continued on with the Tigers in 2015 and 2016. She won championships with Willetton in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016. She turned her attention to football in 2016, playing with the Swan Districts in the West Australian Women's Football League. Antonio was signed as a priority player by in August 2016 ahead of the league's inaugural 2017 season.

AFL Women's career

Antonio made her debut in round 1, 2017 in the club's inaugural match against at VU Whitten Oval. She was the first player to be suspended in the AFLW, receiving a one-week suspension for a high bump on Bulldogs defender Jess Gardner. Antonio returned to play for the Dockers' final five matches of the season. Antonio later played for The Allies in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match against Victoria on 2 September, where she was named among the Allies' best players. Fremantle signed Antonio for the 2018 season during the trade and signing period in May 2017.
Antonio had a much improved season in 2018, when she was selected in the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team and won the Fremantle fairest and best award. She had minor surgery on her Achilles following the AFLW season, forcing her to miss most of the WAWFL season with Swan Districts. Fremantle signed Antonio for the 2019 season during the trade and signing period in May 2018.
Fremantle signed Antonio for the 2020 season during the trade and sign period in April 2019.
Leading into the 2020 season, womens.afl journalist Sarah Black named Antonio at no. 20 on her list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. She was selected in womens.afls Team of the Week in round 6, and was selected in the initial 40-woman squad for the 2020 AFL Women's All-Australian team.

Statistics

! colspan=3 | Career
! 28
! 14
! 8
! 214
! 117
! 331
! 71
! 112
! 0.5
! 0.3
! 7.6
! 4.2
! 11.8
! 2.5
! 4.0
! 1

Personal life

Antonio became engaged to Fremantle teammate and captain Kara Donnellan in April 2018, and they married in October 2019.

Honours and achievements

Individual