Alexandra Janaya Anderson (born 25 March 1994) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

(AFLW). Anderson won the

2022 AFL Women's season 7 best and fairest The 2022 AFL Women's season 7 best and fairest award was presented to the player adjudged the best and fairest player during 2022 AFL Women's season 7. 's Ally Anderson won the award with 21 votes, becoming the second consecutive Brisbane player ...

award, and is a dual AFL Women's premiership player, three-time AFL Women's All-Australian and four-time Brisbane best and fairest winner. Anderson is the AFL Women's equal games record holder and Brisbane games record holder with 93 games.

Early life

Anderson was born in 1994 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

raised by Leigh and Reggie (a paramedic and Aboriginal

Gangulu The Gangulu people, also written Kangulu, Kaangooloo, Ghungalu and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Mount Morgan area in Queensland, Australia. Name At least one variant name for the Kangulu, ''Kaangooloo'', was ...

Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisbane R ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player) from

Theodore, Queensland Theodore is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. It was established in the 1920s as part of Queensland Premier Ted Theodore's ambitious Dawson River Irrigation Scheme which ...

inland from

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

.Family Pride Gives Lions Star Lift by Terry Malinder for The Chronicle 10 March 2018 Anderson took up rugby league with her sisters at the age of 5 and also took up tennis and swimming.Top 3 training tips with AFLW legend Ally Anderson!
fromYouTube 3 July 2022] Anderson was educated at

Kedron State High School Kedron State High School is a Queensland public secondary school which is located in the inner-northern suburb of Kedron in Brisbane, Australia. The school was opened in 1956, to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding North Brisbane populat ...

. Anderson had never seen an AFL game prior to the age of 16 and knew very little of the sport. Anderson began learning of the game after her older sister Mikayla started playing it and was encouraged by her school teacher who was from Melbourne to pursue a career in the sport. Anderson played club football for the Zillmere from junior to senior level and represented Queensland at Under 18 level in 2013.

AFL Women's career

Anderson was recruited by with the number 47 pick in the

2016 AFL Women's draft The 2016 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's competition recruited players prior to the competition's 2017 AFL Women's season, inaugural season in 2017. Draftees and signings over the peri ...

and debuted in the Lions' inaugural game against at

Casey Fields Casey Fields is a $30 million, 70 hectare multi-sports complex in the City of Casey at Cranbourne East, a southeastern suburb of Melbourne. The complex is home to Australian rules football, cricket, netball, soccer, tennis, cycle spor ...

on 5 February 2017. Anderson went on to play all eight games in her debut season, including the six-point

2017 AFL Women's Grand Final The 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final was an Australian rules football match held on 25 March 2017 to determine the premiers of the 2017 AFL Women's season, the league's inaugural season. were victorious over minor premiers , claiming the first A ...

loss to . Brisbane signed Anderson for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. Anderson played all eight games for Brisbane again in 2018, including the

2018 AFL Women's Grand Final The 2018 AFL Women's Grand Final was an Australian rules football match held on 24 March 2018 to determine the premiers of the 2018 AFL Women's season, the league's second season. It was contested by the and and was won by the Western Bulldogs ...

loss to the , Brisbane's second consecutive grand final loss. Brisbane signed Anderson for the 2019 season during the trade and signing period in May 2018. Anderson had a career-best season in 2019, capped off by winning the Brisbane best and fairest award and being selected in the

2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team The 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team represents the best-performed players of the 2019 AFL Women's season. It was announced on 2 April 2019 as a complete women's Australian rules football team of 21 players. The team is honorary and does no ...

. Following the AFL Women's season, Anderson played for in the

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victori ...

(VFLW). Leading into the 2020 season, ''womens.afl'' journalist Sarah Black named Anderson at no. 26 on her list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. She was also selected in the

AFL Players Association The AFL Players Association (AFLPA, also simply known as AFL Players) is the representative body for all current and past professional Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) players. The AFLPA promotes and protects its member ...

's 2017–2019 retrospective AFL Women's 22under22 team. Anderson finished the season as one of fourteen players to have played the most AFL Women's matches to that point with 30. Anderson was named at no. 21 in Sarah Black's 2022 list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. She was named among Brisbane's best players in its loss to Adelaide in round 1 and its wins over in round 4 and in round 8, polling seven coaches' votes in the round 8 match. Anderson and teammate

Emily Bates Emily Bates (born 18 October 1995) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Brisbane Lions from 2017 to season 7. Bates was selected by the Western Bulldog ...

became the first AFLW players to reach the 50-game milestone in Brisbane's round 9 win over , with both among Brisbane's best players. Leading into the 2023 season, Sarah Black named Anderson at no. 5 on her annual list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. In 2024, Anderson was named Brisbane's best player in its loss to North Melbourne in week 1 and was best afield in its win over Melbourne in week 2 with an AFLW record 43 disposals. She was among Brisbane's best players in wins over Collingwood in week 3, and the Western Bulldogs and West Coast in both week 4 matches.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2024 season''. , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 18 , 8 , , 0 , , 1 , , 29 , , 29 , , 58 , , 6 , , 26 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 3.6 , , 3.6 , , 7.3 , , 0.8 , , 3.3 , , 0 , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , , 18 , 8 , , 1 , , 0 , , 90 , , 53 , , 143 , , 22 , , 40 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 11.3 , , 6.6 , , 17.9 , , 2.8 , , 5.0 , , 1 , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 18 , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 91 , , 56 , , 147 , , 27 , , 35 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 13.0 , , 8.0 , , 21.0 , , 3.9 , , 5.0 , , 3 , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 18 , 7 , , 0 , , 2 , , 73 , , 55 , , 128 , , 30 , , 17 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 10.4 , , 7.9 , , 18.3 , , 4.3 , , 2.4 , , 2 , - , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

^# , , , , 18 , 11 , , 2 , , 1 , , 121 , , 83 , , 204 , , 32 , , 39 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 11.0 , , 7.5 , , 18.5 , , 2.9 , , 3.5 , , 9 , - , 2022 (S6) , , , , 18 , 12 , , 2 , , 4 , , 132 , , 68 , , 200 , , 26 , , 50 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 11.0 , , 5.7 , , 16.7 , , 2.2 , , 4.2 , , 2 , - , 2022 (S7) , , , , 18 , 13 , , 2 , , 4 , , 178 , , 100 , , 278 , , 42 , , 69 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 13.7 , , 7.7 , , 21.4 , , 3.2 , , 5.3 , , bgcolor=98FB98 , 21^± , - , bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

^# , , , , 18 , 13 , , 1 , , 5 , , 173 , , 143 , , 316 , , 38 , , 84 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 13.3 , , 11.0 , , 24.3 , , 2.9 , , 6.5 , , 12 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 18 , 14 , , 2 , , 7 , , 183 , , 182 , , 365 , , 34 , , 93 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 13.1 , , 13.0 , , 26.1 , , 2.4 , , 6.6 , , 8 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 93 !! 11 !! 24 !! 1070 !! 769 !! 1839 !! 257 !! 453 !! 0.1 !! 0.3 !! 11.5 !! 8.3 !! 19.8 !! 2.8 !! 4.9 !! 58

Honours and achievements

Team * 2× AFL Women's premiership player ():

* 2× AFL Women's minor premiership ():

, S7 Individual *

AFL Women's best and fairest The AFL Women's best and fairest is awarded to the best and fairest player in the AFL Women's (AFLW) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award ...

: S7 * AFL Women's equal games record holder * Brisbane games record holder * 3×

AFL Women's All-Australian team The AFL Women's All-Australian team is an all-star team of women's Australian rules footballers playing in the AFL Women's (AFLW), selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including interchange players and a ...

* 4× Brisbane best and fairest: 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Ally 1994 births Living people Sportswomen from Queensland Brisbane Lions (AFLW) players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Australian rules footballers from Brisbane