Kiara Bowers (born 16 November 1991) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW).
| Kiara Bowers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Bowers playing for Fremantle in January 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Nickname(s) | Turbo | ||
| Date of birth | 16 November 1991 | ||
| Original team(s) | Coastal Titans (WAWFL) | ||
| Draft | Marquee signing, 2016 AFLW draft | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 2019, Fremantle vs. Melbourne, at Casey Fields | ||
| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Fremantle | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2017– | Fremantle | 49 (8) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2023 season. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Source: AustralianFootball.com | |||
Bowers is regarded as the greatest women's footballer Western Australia has produced and one of the best current athletes in the state.[1]
Early life
editKiara was raised in Perth, Western Australia as one of nine siblings.[2] Bowers played rugby, softball, athletics and basketball prior to taking up Australian rules.[2] Though she didn't play Australian rules she grew up supporting the Melbourne Football Club.[3] Inspired by her older brother Andrew's efforts in the WAFL with South Fremantle and Swan Districts, Kiara took up Australian rules while at high school with the Coastal Titans.[4] She went on to be a standout performer, winning the league best and fairest 4 times and representing Western Australia 5 times.[3]
Bowers signed with Melbourne Football Club in 2013 and was part of the team that played in exhibition series matches in 2013, 2014, 2015 prior to the commencement of the AFLW.[3]
Career
editIn July 2016, Bowers was announced as Fremantle's second marquee signing ahead of the inaugural AFL Women's season.[5] However, in August 2016, 5 months before the start of the season, Bowers ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament whilst playing for the Coastal Titans in the West Australian Women's Football League. She would not play for Fremantle at all in the first two seasons of the AFLW.[6]
She made her debut in the four point win against Melbourne at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2019 season.[7][8]
She had an outstanding debut season, finishing second behind Erin Phillips in the league's player voted Most valuable player award, sixth in the AFL Women's best and fairest award, winning Fremantle's best and fairest award and being named in the 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team.[9] In 2020 she played in every game of Fremantle's undefeated season, winning the best player award in the first ever AFL Women's Western Derby and was again named in the All-Australian team.[10]
Bowers continued her exceptional form into 2021, sharing the AFL Women's best and fairest award with Collingwood's Brianna Davey,[11] being selected in her third consecutive All-Australian team, as vice-captain,[12] and claiming the AFLW Champion Player of the Year Award.[13] Bowers achieved selection in Champion Data's 2021 AFLW All-Star stats team, after leading the league for pressure points in the 2021 AFL Women's season, leading the league for pressure acts, pressure points, tackles and forced turnovers.[14]
Personal life
editBowers is a carpenter who lives with her partner Adele and their son Nate.[15]
Statistics
edit- Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season.[16]
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 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 2018 | Fremantle | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 2019 | Fremantle | 2 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 116 | 21 | 137 | 25 | 89§ | 0.4 | 0.4 | 14.5 | 2.6 | 17.1 | 3.1 | 11.1§ | 7 |
| 2020 | Fremantle | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 98 | 25 | 123 | 18 | 99§ | 0.1 | 0.1 | 14.0 | 3.6 | 17.6 | 2.6 | 14.1§ | 12 |
| 2021 | Fremantle | 2 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 158 | 53 | 211 | 25 | 110§ | 0.2 | 0.4 | 15.8 | 5.3 | 21.1 | 2.5 | 11.0§ | 15± |
| Career | 25 | 6 | 8 | 372 | 99 | 471 | 68 | 298 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 14.9 | 4.0 | 18.8 | 2.7 | 11.9 | 34 | ||
References
edit- ^ WA Athletes of the Year: AFLW best and fairest Kiara Bowers reflects on internal drive and football mortality from thewest.com.au 26 Dec 2021
- ^ a b AFLW player Kiara Bowers wants to show girls they can play football by Odessa Blain for the Daily Telegraph 17 April 2021
- ^ a b c Bowers excited about ‘childhood dream’ Fremantle's marquee player Kiara Bowers, was unsure if her dream of AFL football would ever come true By Rory Coleman-Heard on 27 July 2016
- ^ Turbo pushes through to become a champion By fremantlefc.com.au 20 April 2021
- ^ Matthews, Bruce (27 July 2016). "Sixteen of the best: women's marquees named". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ Harrington, Anna (16 August 2016). "Women's league marquee players Kiara Bowers and Renee Forth suffer serious knee injuries". Fox Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ Black, Sarah (1 February 2019). "TEAMS: Injury-hit Docker finally locked in for debut". womens.afl.com.au. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ Lacy, Bridget (4 February 2019). "Nine hundred days boils down to 15 minutes". The West Australian. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ Fee, Tom. "AFLW: Bowers triumphs at Fairest and Best". fremantlefc.com.au. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
- ^ Laughton, Max (27 April 2020). "AFL Women's 2020: AFLW All-Australian team 2020, nominees, 40-woman squad, club-by-club representatives". Fox Sports. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ "AFLW Best and Fairest award ends in stunning TIE as two stars share top honour". Fox Sports. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ "Two AFLW greats reach footy immortality as All-Australian squad revealed". Fox Sports. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ Black, Sarah (31 March 2021). "Turbo-charged year earns Docker the AFLCA crown". AFL Women's Media. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ^ Black, Sarah (19 June 2021). "All-Star stats team: Shock leaders, lone Lion makes the cut". womens.afl. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ Black, Sarah. "History makers: Magpies co-captain, Dockers superstar share AFLW B&F". AFL Women's. Australian Football League. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "Kiara Bowers". Australian Football. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
External links
edit- Kiara Bowers's profile on the official website of the Fremantle Football Club
- Kiara Bowers at AustralianFootball.com