Ebony Marinoff


Ebony Marinoff is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's. Marinoff was named the inaugural AFL Women's Rising Star winner in 2017, and is a dual AFL Women's premiership player and dual AFL Women's All-Australian. She also won a premiership with in the VFL Women's in 2017 and represented The Allies in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match later that year.

Early life

Marinoff first played competitive football at the age of five in the boys team at Lockleys Football Club in the Adelaide suburb of Lockleys. She remained at the club through to the age of twelve. She later moved on to play with an all-girls team at Morphetville Park. In 2014, at sixteen years of age, she played in her first premiership with the senior side at Morphettville Park, and played in two more premierships in 2015 and 2016. Marinoff represented South Australia in under-16, under-18 and open age teams. In 2015, she was named in the youth girls All-Australian team.
Marinoff played for South Australia in the 2016 women's exhibition series. She was named best-on-ground for a 37-disposal performance in a South Australia intra-club match at Adelaide Oval in April and kicked the match-winning goal in the late stages of the final quarter against NSW/ACT at Adelaide Oval in June. In September, she played for in the women's all-star exhibition match at VU Whitten Oval.

AFL Women's career

2017: Inaugural Rising Star and premiership

Marinoff was drafted by with the club's first selection and seventh overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. Marinoff made her debut in the club's inaugural match in round 1, 2017 against at Thebarton Oval, where she gathered a game-high twenty disposals and six tackles in the 36-point win. Her performance earned her a nomination for the 2017 AFL Women's Rising Star award.
Marinoff was a member of the Adelaide team that won the inaugural AFL Women's premiership in 2017, defeating by six points at Metricon Stadium. A few days later, Marinoff was named in the 2017 AFL Women's All-Australian team and announced as the 2017 AFL Women's Rising Star. She also led the competition in tackles and average tackles per game in its inaugural season.
Adelaide signed Marinoff for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. Following the AFL Women's season, Marinoff played for in the VFL Women's, also winning a premiership. She later played for The Allies in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match on 2 September, where she was named among the Allies' best players with 13 disposals and five tackles.

2018: National tackles record

After an impressive start to the 2018 season, in round 4, Marinoff set a new record for tackles with 21 in her side's draw against Greater Western Sydney in heavy rain at Blacktown ISP Oval, breaking the record of 16 set by midfielder Sarah Hosking two weeks earlier. The effort also bested the existing men's league record of 19, thus setting the national senior-level record across men's and women's competitions for tackles. Marinoff later said regarding her physicality and tackling pressure:
Marinoff was selected in afl.com.aus Team of the Week in rounds 3, 4, 5 and 7, and finished equal-fifth in the 2018 AFL Women's best and fairest count with six votes. She was also named in the initial 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian 40-woman squad. Marinoff again finished the season leading the competition in tackles and average tackles per game ; both statistics were better than her previous season and in less games.
Adelaide signed Marinoff for the 2019 season prior to the trading and signing period in May 2018 after she chose not to accept an offer from one of or.

2019: Career-best season and second premiership

In round 3 of the 2019 season, Marinoff broke the league disposal record of 30 set by Emma Kearney in round 6 of the 2017 season, recording 33 disposals in Adelaide's win against at Norwood Oval, and was selected in womens.afls Team of the Week in rounds 1, 3 and 6. Marinoff credited her teammates with helping her find form in an expanded midfield role and add greater versatility to her game:
Marinoff went on to play in Adelaide's second premiership, when they defeated Carlton by 45 points in front of a record AFL Women's crowd at Adelaide Oval, and was named among their best players. She was also named in the 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team, her second All-Australian selection, and finished equal-fourth in the 2019 AFL Women's best and fairest count with seven votes. Marinoff finished the season leading the competition in kicks, disposals and average disposals per game, along with finishing second in handballs, average handballs per game, tackles and average tackles per game, in a career-best season. She also kicked her first AFL Women's goal in round 7 and followed up with two in the preliminary final, and finished the season as one of only three players to have played the most AFL Women's matches to that point with 24.
Adelaide signed Marinoff for the 2020 season during the trade and signing period in April 2019.

2020

Leading into the 2020 season, womens.afl journalist Sarah Black named Marinoff at no. 15 on her list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. She was selected in womens.afls Team of the Week in rounds 2 and 3. Marinoff finished the home-and-away season equal with 's Ashleigh Riddell in first for kicks and average kicks per game, also improving her career-best average in disposals per game, and was one of fourteen players to have played the most AFL Women's matches to that point with 30. She was selected in the initial 40-woman squad for the 2020 AFL Women's All-Australian team, and was also selected in the AFL Players Association's inaugural AFL Women's 22under22 team, having earlier been selected in the retrospective 2017–2019 team.

Statistics

! colspan=3 | Career
! 30
! 3
! 6
! 401
! 179
! 580
! 79
! 279
! 0.1
! 0.2
! 13.4
! 6.0
! 19.3
! 2.6
! 9.3
! 17

Honours and achievements

Team
Individual