Peel Thunder midfielder Ebony Bilcich hopes to follow in father Stephen’s footsteps by winning WAFLW flag

Mitchell Woodcock, Picture: Peel ThunderThe West Australian
Camera IconSouth Bunbury league coach Stephen Bilcich in front of his old locker at East Fremantle Oval with daughter Ebony.

Peel Thunder’s Ebony Bilcich is one win away from being a part of a remarkable WA football feat, as she prepares to play in today’s WAFLW decider at Provident Financial Oval.

The 22-year-old midfielder is the daughter of East Fremantle legend Stephen Bilcich, a Sharks club captain, fairest and best winner and three-time premiership player.

Should Ebony’s Thunder defeat the highly fancied Subiaco, she'll win a WAFL premiership 12 years (1998) after Stephen won his last.

The apple does not fall far from the tree when it comes to Ebony, as just like Stephen, success seems to follow the classy footballer wherever she goes.

Bilcich captained South Bunbury to the South West Football League women’s premiership last year as well as shared in the Nola Marino Medal, the league’s fairest and best award, before deciding to try her hand at the WAFLW.

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Camera IconEbony Bilcich with the Nola Marino Medal she won last year in the South West Football League.

When Peel Thunder came calling, she was more than happy to give it a go and now is four quarters from winning her second flag in two years on a day she hopes she might finally get her father to pull on a Thunder jumper.

“It has been a really big step up, competition-wise. The opposition you can definitely tell is of a much higher class than a lot of the teams down here (in the South West),” Bilcich said.

“It is a bit unbelievable at the moment. Last year was such a high buzz, all the girls worked so hard. This year we’ve worked just as hard.

“I am so excited to actually play in a WAFLW grand final. They don’t come around often.”

Bilcich has slotted well into the Thunder’s midfield and has been a pivotal part of the team’s rise from last in 2019 to this year’s decider.

“We just want to make sure we keep to what we’ve been doing and use our skills to our advantage,” she said.

“It would be a big underdog story because from the start I think a lot of teams thought we were going to be the easy beats this year.

Camera IconPeel Thunder midfielder Ebony Bilcich gets the ball out of the contest. Credit: Peel Thunder

“I think we have really proved how hard we worked this off-season to show we deserve to be in the grand final, we deserve to be a threat in every game.”

Bilcich, who is highly one of the more skilled players in the competition, said she hoped to continue her rise and had one eye on the AFLW.

“I would love to go one step forward. I would love to play as high as I can,” she said.

“I believe I can play at the AFLW level.”

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