Kara Antonio
Australian rules footballer
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Kara Antonio (née Donnellan, born 27 February 1992) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She played 47 games across seven seasons for the Dockers and was their inaugural captain.
| Kara Antonio | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Antonio playing for Fremantle in January 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Born | 27 February 1992 | ||
| Original team | 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 | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Fremantle | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2017–S7 (2022) | Fremantle | 47 (16) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2017 | Victoria | 1 (0) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2022 season. 2 Representative statistics correct as of 2017. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| Source: AustralianFootball.com | |||
Early life and amateur career
Antonio spent her early years in Victoria.[1] She played state league football with the St Albans Women's Football Club (now VU Western Spurs) through 2012.[1] Antonio moved to Perth prior to the 2013 season and began playing with Swan Districts in the West Australian Women's Football League. In her first season with Swan Districts, she received Best on Ground honours in their Grand Final win and won their Best and Fairest award. Antonio was made captain the following year. She would captain the Districts to three Premierships over the next four years, winning another three consecutive Best and Fairest awards during that time. After the competition was superseded by the WAFLW in 2019, Antonio was made Swan Districts' inaugural coach for their first season in the new competition.[2][3][4]
In 2013, while still at Swan Districts, she was drafted by the Melbourne Football Club to play in the exhibition match representative side.[5] She was selected fifth overall in the initial two-team draft.[2][6] 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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9] 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,[10] and top ten in disposals and inside 50s.[9]
Despite missing the final game, Antonio was nominated by her teammates for the AFL Players' Most Valuable Player Award,[11] and was listed in the 2017 All-Australian team.[12]
Fremantle signed Antonio for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017.[13]
It was revealed Antonio signed on with the club for one year on 10 June 2021.[14] She stepped down as captain on 16 November 2021.[15]
Antonio retired at the conclusion of the 2022 AFL Women's season 7, having played just one game in S7 due to a hamstring injury.[16]
Statistics
- Statistics are correct to the end of 2022 (S7).[17]
G |
Goals | K |
Kicks | D |
Disposals | T |
Tackles |
B |
Behinds | H |
Handballs | M |
Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2017 | Fremantle | 15 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 78 | 23 | 101 | 11 | 40 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 13.0 | 3.8 | 16.8 | 1.8 | 6.7 | 3 |
| 2018 | Fremantle | 15 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 76 | 29 | 105 | 14 | 54 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 10.9 | 4.1 | 15.0 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 2 |
| 2019 | Fremantle | 15 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 58 | 17 | 75 | 7 | 24 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 8.3 | 2.4 | 10.7 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 5 |
| 2020 | Fremantle | 15 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 56 | 24 | 80 | 25 | 36 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 3.4 | 11.4 | 3.6 | 5.1 | 1 |
| 2021 | Fremantle | 15 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 74 | 33 | 107 | 23 | 34 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 7.4 | 3.3 | 10.7 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 0 |
| 2022 (S6) | Fremantle | 15 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 55 | 29 | 84 | 10 | 14 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 6.1 | 3.2 | 9.3 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 0 |
| 2022 (S7) | Fremantle | 15 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Career | 47 | 16 | 10 | 403 | 157 | 560 | 92 | 202 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 8.6 | 3.3 | 11.9 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 11 | ||
Personal life
In October 2019, Kara married fellow Fremantle player Ebony Antonio and changed her surname from Donnellan to Antonio.[18]
