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Sarah Perkins

For the American artist, see Sarah Bushnell Perkins.

Sarah Perkins (born 26 July 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who currently play's for the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She previously played with Adelaide, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Hawthorn.

Sarah Perkins
Perkins playing for Adelaide in January 2019
Personal information
Full name Sarah Perkins
Nickname(s) Tex, Tank
Date of birth (1993-07-26) 26 July 1993 (age 31)
Original team(s) East Burwood (YJFL)
Draft 2016 free agent: Adelaide
Debut Round 1, 2017, Adelaide vs. Greater Western Sydney, at Thebarton Oval
Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 95 kg (209 lb)
Position(s) Full-forward / ruck
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017–2019 Adelaide 17 (13)
2020 Melbourne 03 0(3)
2021–2022 (S6) Gold Coast 15 0(9)
2022 (S7)–2023 Hawthorn 05 0(1)
Total 40 (26)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2017 Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017.
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Early life and state league career

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Raised in Melbourne,[1] Perkins played netball and soccer before playing Australian rules football.[2] At thirteen, Perkins was told she would no longer be able to play contact sports due to a spinal disc herniation, so she concentrated on netball for the next three years.

At the age of sixteen, she decided to start playing Australian rules football,[3] joining the East Burwood Devils (later known as the Eastern Devils) youth side in 2009 and becoming a two-time Victorian under-18 representative. In 2011, she won the best-and-fairest medal in the inaugural Yarra Junior Football League (YJFL) Youth Girls season.[4]

In 2012, she joined the Devils' senior side in the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) in 2012.[5] In 2016, she kicked fifty-two goals and finished third in the leading goalkicker award, behind Moana Hope and Katie Brennan, and was named in the VWFL team of the year.[6] In the eighteen months before being recruited, she lost 40 kilograms (88 lb) to fulfill her dream of playing AFL football, reducing her BMI from 45.1 to just 31.7.[7]

AFL Women's career

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Perkins celebrating a goal in the round 6, 2017 match against Melbourne.

After being overlooked in the 2016 AFL Women's draft, Perkins was recruited by the Adelaide Football Club as a free-agent.[8] She debuted in the thirty-six point win over Greater Western Sydney at Thebarton Oval in the opening round of the 2017 AFLW season.[9] Labelled as the league's first cult hero by the ABC, she recorded eight disposals, three marks and a long-range goal, and earned the nickname "Tex" after The Cruel Sea lead singer, Tex Perkins.[10] In addition, her performance in the match drew comparisons to Adelaide captain and full-forward, Taylor Walker, who is also nicknamed "Tex".[11]

In her second match, she kicked two goals to help Adelaide defeat the Western Bulldogs at VU Whitten Oval by twenty-five points; her skills in the match led to Herald Sun journalist, Eliza Sewell, writing "she leads well and takes a strong grab...she uses her body well and a set-shot goal from forty-five metres impressed even the Bulldogs fans,"[12] Furthermore, Fox Sports Australia journalist, Sarah Olle, wrote "Perkins' leading patterns are terrific. She’s quick off the mark, uses her size to great effect, has a monstrous kick and loves a celebration"[13] and the Australian edition of The Huffington Post said she is a player people need to know about and she is as strong as she is inspirational.[14]

Perkins kicked four goals and created scoring opportunities for her teammates in the seventh round win against Collingwood, leading to her being named Player of the Week by the AFL Players Association.[15]

On 25 March 2017 Perkins and the Adelaide Crows defeated the Brisbane Lions at Metricon Stadium to become the inaugural AFLW premiers. Perkins played an instrumental role in the Crows' success, and was named on the forward line in the 2017 All-Australian team.[16]

On 18 May 2017, Adelaide signed Perkins for the 2018 AFLW season.[17] In 2019, Sarah was delisted from Adelaide. In 2020, Sarah was added as an injury replacement player to the Melbourne list. In the 2020 AFLW Draft, Sarah was selected at pick 23 to the Gold Coast Suns.

Statistics

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Updated to the end of 2023.[18]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
H/O
 Hit-outs
  #  
 Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2017# Adelaide 28 8 11 8 43 24 67 18 24 21 1.4 1.0 5.4 3.0 8.4 2.3 3.0 2.6 6
2018 Adelaide 28 7 1 4 23 9 32 4 15 4 0.1 0.6 3.3 1.3 4.6 0.6 2.1 0.4 0
2019 Adelaide 28 2 1 1 6 3 9 3 5 1 0.5 0.5 3.0 1.5 4.5 1.5 2.5 0.5 0
2020 Melbourne 33 3 3 0 14 8 22 6 9 7 1.0 0.0 4.7 2.7 7.3 2.0 3.0 2.3 0
2021 Gold Coast 28 5 3 0 29 3 32 9 5 12 0.6 0.0 5.8 0.6 6.4 1.8 1.0 2.4 0
2022 (S6) Gold Coast 28 10 6 12 53 13 66 18 14 12 0.6 1.2 5.3 1.3 6.6 1.8 1.4 1.2 0
2022 (S7) Hawthorn 23 4 1 1 15 3 18 3 6 3 0.3 0.3 3.8 0.8 4.5 0.8 1.5 0.8 0
2023 Hawthorn 23 1 0 2 5 1 6 4 5 0 0.0 2.0 5.0 1.0 6.0 4.0 5.0 0.0 0
Career 40 26 28 188 64 252 65 83 60 0.6 0.7 4.7 1.6 6.3 1.6 2.1 1.5 6

Honours and achievements

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Team

Individual

References

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  1. ^ McGowan, Mark (4 February 2017). "Adelaide Crows too strong for GWS in first round of AFL Women's competition". Northern Territory News. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. ^ Capel, Andrew (5 February 2017). "Sarah Perkins was overlooked in the AFLW draft but is now the Crows' new cult figure". The Advertiser. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  3. ^ Kurdas, Chyloe (21 February 2017). "Sarah Perkins' rise to AFLW almost ended before it began". ESPN.com. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Yarra JFL 2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Wayback Machine. Yarra Junior Football League. p. 23. Retrieved 21 March 2018. S. Perkins 1st East Burwood Devils
  5. ^ Prime, Toby (26 October 2016). "Eastern Devils forward Sarah Perkins recruited to Adelaide for 2017 AFL Women's competition". Monash Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Adelaide Crows AFLW player profiles for 2017 season". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  7. ^ Meadows, Neroli (3 February 2017). "This week the beginning of AFLW sees footy truly become Australia's game, writes Neroli Meadows". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  8. ^ Wade, Natasha (18 October 2016). "Full forward joins Crows women". AFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  9. ^ "What we learned: AFLW R1". AFC.com.au. Bigpond. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  10. ^ "AFL Women's: Adelaide Crows destroy GWS Giants by 36 points at Thebarton Oval". ABC Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Sarah Perkins reflects on Adelaide's first win, comparisons to Taylor Walker and shedding 40 kilograms". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  12. ^ Sewell, Eliza (10 February 2017). "Sarah Perkins was overlooked on AFLW draft day and is determined to prove her worth". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  13. ^ Olle, Sarah (10 February 2017). "Sarah Perkins was given an AFLW lifeline when she was selected as a free agent — and she's paying the Crows back in spades". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  14. ^ Cooper, Luke (10 February 2017). "There's An Adelaide Crows AFL Women's Player You Absolutely Need To Know About". The Huffington Post. Verizon Communications. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  15. ^ "AFLW Player of the Week: Round 7". AFL Players Association. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  16. ^ Navaratnam, Dinny (28 March 2017). "Lions, Crows dominate AFLW All Australian team - AFL.com.au". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  17. ^ Wood, Lauren (19 May 2017). "Adelaide Crows re-sign co-captain Chelsea Randall and Sarah Perkins". The Advertiser. Adelaide, SA: News Corp. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  18. ^ "Sarah Perkins–player stats by season". Australian Football. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
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