Kara Antonio

Kara Antonio (née Donnellan, born 27 February 1992) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL Women's competition.

Kara Antonio
Antonio playing for Fremantle in January 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-02-27) 27 February 1992
Original team(s) Swan Districts (WAWFL)
Draft Marquee player, 2016: Fremantle
Debut Round 1, 2017, Fremantle
vs. Western Bulldogs, at VU Whitten Oval
Height 163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Fremantle
Number 15
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017– Fremantle 27 (6)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2017 Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2020 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017.
Career highlights

AFLW

  • AFLW All Australian team (2017)

State

Source: AustralianFootball.com

Early life and amateur career

Antonio spent her early years in Victoria.[1] She played state league football with the St Abans Women's Football Club (now VU Western Spurs) through 2012.[1] Donnellan moved to Perth prior to the 2013 season and began playing with Swan Districts in the West Australian Women's Football League. She is currently the captain of Swan Districts.[2]

In 2013, she was drafted by the Melbourne Football Club to play in the exhibition match representative side.[3] She was selected fifth overall in the initial two-team draft.[2][4] She went on to play with the side in exhibition matches through 2016. Antonio was named best on ground following the first of two exhibition matches in 2015.[5] She also played for and represented the West Coast side in an exhibition match played in 2016.

AFL Women's career

Antonio was one of two marquee player signings announced by Fremantle in anticipation of the league's inaugural 2017 season. In January 2017, she was announced as the inaugural captain of the Fremantle AFL Women's team.[6]

Antonio was highlighted as "Player of the Week" by the AFL Players Association for her "best on ground" performance in the Dockers' first AFLW win in round 6 against Carlton.[7] However, she tore a quadriceps in the third quarter of that match, causing her to miss the final game of the season. After six rounds, Antonio was statistically in the top two players overall and in score assists, fourth in kicks, tackles and clearances,[8] and top ten in disposals and inside 50s.[7]

Despite missing the final game, Antonio was nominated by her teammates for the AFL Players' Most Valuable Player Award,[9] and was listed in the 2017 All-Australian team.[10]

Fremantle signed Antonio for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017.[11]

Personal life

In October 2019, Kara married fellow Fremantle player Ebony Antonio and changed her surname from Donnellan to Antonio.[12]

References
  1. Matthews, Bruce (11 April 2016). "'The female Juddy' Kara Donnellan to lead WA in exhibition match". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  2. "Player Profiles". Fremantle FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  3. Burgan, Matt (26 June 2013). "Women's guernsey numbers announced". Melbourne FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  4. Burgan, Matt (16 May 2016). "Dees claims Pearce with No. 1 Draft pick". Melbourne FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  5. Di Giorgio, Giulio (24 May 2015). "Dees claim hard-fought win in women's clash". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  6. Miller, Dale (11 January 2017). "Donnellan a natural choice as first Freo leader". The West Australian. Seven West Media. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  7. "AFLW Player Of The Week: Round 6". AFL Players Association. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  8. @championdata (11 March 2017). "AFLW Player Stat Leaders after Round 6 matches.(Ties ordered by games played, player name)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. "AFLW MVP Nominations Revealed". AFL Players Association. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  10. Navaratnam, Dinny (28 March 2017). "Lions, Crows dominate AFLW All Australian team - AFL.com.au". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  11. "AFLW: All the clubs' full lists after trade period - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Telstra Media. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  12. Raynor, Bonnie (5 October 2019). "AFLW Dockers stars Kara Donnellan and Ebony Antonio tie the knot in front of friends and family". The West Australian.
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