Erica Fowler (born 8 July 1992) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Originally a rugby sevens player, Fowler joined Collingwood's VFL Women's team and became a senior player after she was selected with the club's ninth selection and the 70th pick overall in the 2018 AFLW draft.[1] She made her debut in a loss to ‹See Tfd›Geelong at GMHBA Stadium in round 1 of the 2019 season.[2]
Fowler originally played rugby sevens, representing the University of Queensland nationally.[2] She also played 33 games for Yeronga in the Queensland Women's Australian Football League (QWAFL) and its lower division, the Queensland Women's Football Association.[3] Fowler suffered injury and illness in 2016, causing her to miss the Australian University Games and leaving her with a choice between her sporting and paramedicine careers.[2] She was part of the Yeronga team victorious over Coorparoo in the 2017 QWAFL grand final.[3] Fowler accepted an offer to join Collingwood's VFL Women's side in 2018 and split her time between sport and work, travelling from Brisbane to Melbourne every few weeks to play.[2]
For the 2018 AFLW draft, Collingwood was granted two chances to pre-select recruits to compensate for losing players to injury and rival clubs, using a similar bidding mechanism to the father–daughter rule. The club selected Fowler with pick 70; she was expected to play as a key forward and ruckwoman assisting Eliza Hynes, because of her 180-centimetre stature.[1] She hoped her rugby sevens experience would bring "a different physicality and athleticism to the game".[2]
