Quiet time with newborn son Bowie helped Fremantle Dockers stalwart Ebony Antonio reach retirement decision

Decisions regarding retirement can often prove agonising for footballers. But for Fremantle AFLW stalwart Ebony Antonio, all she needed to make the call was some quiet time with her newborn son Bowie. Antonio, who missed the 2025 season due to pregnancy, announced she had called time on her 70-game AFLW career at the club’s best and fairest awards on Thursday night, where she was also inducted as a life member. The inaugural Docker, whose achievements include winning the club’s best and fairest award and selection in the All Australian side in 2018 and finishing as their leading goal-kicker in 2022, has opted to step away from the game after giving birth to Bowie in October. Speaking to The West Australian, Antonio said she was “really content” with the terms on which she had ended her career. “The last four weeks, I’ve had some clear air and a bit of breathing space to think clearly — obviously, after giving birth, you’re highly hormonal and sleep-deprived,” Antonio said. “Just looking into his eyes, I see the rest of my future, and it doesn’t involve footy anymore. “I’ve got the next chapter in front of me, being a mum, and having a lot more time to make those special, core memories with (wife) Kara and Bowie.” Antonio said the first two months of motherhood for her and Kara — another inaugural Docker — had been a “rollercoaster” of the most enjoyable kind. “It’s been life-changing. It’s been one of the best decisions we’ve ever done,” she said. “He’s being a pretty good sleeper at the moment, so we can’t complain. “You kind of learn on the go and try multiple things to make things work.” A former WNBL basketballer, Antonio gave the game away in 2016 to turn all of her attention towards football, being snared by Fremantle as a priority selection ahead of the first AFLW season. Antonio said the privilege of fulfilling her childhood dream by representing the club was something she never took for granted. “I spoke (at the best and fairest awards) about being a member for 20-odd years and being a little girl and going to the footy and watching the likes of Matthew Pavlich and Dale Kickett and Roger Hayden and getting to go on the ground and have a kick,” she said. “To be capped with life membership is a dream come true for little Ebony Antonio. I’m super honoured, it’s actually mind-blowing I’m going to be etched into Fremantle Football Club forever now. “The inaugural players had a responsibility to shape the game as it is and to be role models for the younger girls to look up to and inspire to be. “That’s what motivated me to keep playing every year, I was someone who didn’t have the privilege to look up to a female athlete to play the game in the AFL. To have that opportunity to be someone’s role model meant a lot to me.” Kara has gone down the coaching pathway since her own retirement in 2022, having worked with Subiaco in the WAFL before being appointed the Dockers’ backline coach last year, a role she stepped away from in September. But Antonio said she had no preconceptions over what the next phase of her own post-football life would hold. “At this point, I’m just really excited to see what the group can do next year, and I’ll be happy watching from the sidelines and having a beer and showing Bowie what footy’s all about. “I’m not too sure whether I’ll come back at some stage and look at doing some sort of coaching or completely step away and just really enjoy life. “Sport’s been part of my life for a number of years now and I think I’ve done everything I can (that is) possible.”