BEFORE Erin Phillips was a basketball superstar, she dreamt of emulating her dad's feats on the football field.
"I just lived and breathed it," Phillips said.
"It's in my DNA to play this game."
Now, with the introduction of the AFL Women's competition, she can.
Phillips was greeted by several of her new Adelaide teammates when she jetted into Adelaide Airport on Sunday.
A two-time Olympian, the 31-year-old has joined the Crows as a rookie signing for the inaugural season.
Phillips' father Greg is Port Adelaide royalty, playing an astounding 343 games for the Magpies.
He also played 84 games for Collingwood in the VFL and represented South Australia 20 times.
"I watched dad as soon as I was born when he was playing football," Phillips said.
"I was chasing a balloon around the house and jumping on the back of mum's couch and breaking it, pretending to take a speccy.
"I just watched on You Tube the other day, the 1990 Grand Final against Glenelg.
"Dad brought me onto the oval for the lap of honour, running around with them and holding up the cup.
"That is something I'll never forget."
Phillips will continue to support Port Adelaide, but is delighted to get the opportunity to play with the Crows.
"It was hard to get around it, it's not Port Adelaide, obviously that's the club I grew up in," Phillips said.
"I've been given a very special opportunity to play professional football in Adelaide.
"I'm just very proud to be part of this club."
Phillips played for the Dallas Wings in the WNBA this year and has spent the past six weeks increasing her running capacity.
"I've been training either on a soccer field or an NFL pitch, trying to kick an AFL ball through NFL goals," she said.
"I've been getting a lot of funny looks from people in the states, but that's OK, I've managed to make it work."
Phillips expects the next two months of pre-season training, starting Monday night, to throw up plenty of challenges.
"There's going to be some growing pains for sure and blowing a lot of cobwebs off," she said.
"I've got to get used to not just running between two white lines on a basketball court.
"I'm going to take it all in my stride, I'm just going to go out there and have some fun."
What Phillips does bring to the Crows is a wealth of experience from playing basketball at the elite level for more than a decade.
The tenacious point guard has won two WNBA championships and played in two Olympic Games, including in Rio de Janeiro this year, with the Australian Opals.
"Just the professionalism you need every day and wanting to win, I'll bring that to this team," Phillips said.
"We have a lot of young players.
"It's about trying to get them to realise this is no longer amateur or juniors, this is the real deal, and hopefully they can feed off that."
