Monique Conti

Monique Conti (born 9 December 1999) is an Australian rules footballer and basketballer.

Conti played for the Melbourne Tigers in the Big V in 2015 and 2016.

As a basketballer, Conti was a member of the Australian team that won the gold medal at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women and was named in that year's All-Tournament Team.

In September 2016, Conti was one of 15 players from around Australia selected in level 2 of the inaugural AFL Women's academy.

Conti made her junior international debut at the 2016 U17 World Championship in Spain with the Australian Sapphires, helping the team win the gold medal.

Alongside two of her teammates, Conti was named to the All-Tournament Team.

She went on to compete at the 2016 FIBA Oceania U18 Championship, where she won another gold medal, and then at the 2017 FIBA U19 World Cup.

Conti began her professional career with the Melbourne Boomers in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in the 2016–17 season, where she remained through 2019–20 season.

She also won the WNBL Rookie of the Year Award in her first WNBL season with the Boomers in 2017, before moving to the Flyers in 2020 and winning a WNBL championship.

After a second season with the Flyers in 2022–23, she returned to the Boomers in 2023.

Conti was born in Fitzroy, Victoria.

She studied at Maribyrnong College in her secondary school years, and looked up to other Australian dual-sport athletes such as Ellyse Perry and fellow footballer/basketballer and AFL Women's player Erin Phillips.

Conti started playing football from the age of ten, playing with boys at the Essendon Doutta Stars Football Club until the age of 14 and then in the Melbourne University under-18 youth girls team until the age of 17, making the Vic Metro and All-Australian teams in all three years playing at that level.

Conti played for the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup Girls in 2017 alongside current AFL Women's players such as AFL Women's Rising Star winners Chloe Molloy and Madison Prespakis, and was coached by current player Alicia Eva.

Earlier in the year, at a testing day prior to the five-round season, she ranked first among TAC Cup Girls players in both the 20-metre sprint and agility test.

Conti also played for Melbourne University in the VFL Women's (VFLW) in 2017 before being drafted.

Conti started playing basketball from the age of five, playing with the Melbourne Tigers for the entirety of her junior basketball years and in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 2017 and 2018.

Prior to the creation of the AFL Women's, Conti had aspirations to play college basketball in the United States from a young age, and received offers from over thirty schools to play there at the age of 16, but instead committed to studying at Deakin University, which was aligned with the Melbourne Boomers, allowing her to continue her studies and to continue playing basketball at national level, along with football.

She continued with the Tigers in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 2017 and 2018 and also in 2019 in the first season of the NBL1.

She returned to the Tigers for the 2021 NBL1 South season.

In 2022, Conti played for the Casey Cavaliers in the NBL1 South, but was unable to finish the club's inaugural season in the competition after again choosing to prioritise football, with AFL Women's season seven beginning in August.

Conti was drafted by the with the club's second selection and fourth overall in the 2017 AFL Women's draft.

Conti currently plays for the Richmond Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW), having previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2018 to 2019, and plays for the Melbourne Boomers in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), having also played for the Southside Flyers from 2020 to 2023.

As an Australian rules footballer, Conti received a nomination for the 2018 AFL Women's Rising Star award in round 4 of the 2018 season and went on to win an AFL Women's premiership with the Bulldogs that season, and was adjudged best afield in the grand final.

She began studying a business degree there in 2018 while also part of its Elite Athlete program.

She made her debut in the twenty-six point win against in round 1, 2018 at VU Whitten Oval.

In round 4, Conti received a nomination for the 2018 AFL Women's Rising Star award after recording 16 disposals in her side's win over, and went on to finish second in the voting for the award with 39 votes, 11 behind winner Chloe Molloy.

She was also selected in afl.com.au's Team of the Week in rounds 3 and 5.

Conti was a member of the Western Bulldogs team that won the AFL Women's premiership in 2018, defeating by six points at Ikon Park, and won the medal for best-on-ground in the grand final.

She was also named in the initial 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian 40-woman squad.

She was also selected in the 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team and won the Western Bulldogs best and fairest award in 2019 before moving to Richmond at the end of the season.

At Richmond, Conti won the AFL Women's best and fairest award in 2023 and the AFLPA AFLW most valuable player award in season 7, along with the inaugural four Richmond best and fairest awards in her first four seasons at the club and four consecutive AFL Women's All-Australian selections from 2021 to 2023.

She is also Richmond's games record holder with 46 games.

Prior to the 2019–20 finals, Conti sought a release from her contract over conflicts between her basketball and football commitments.

The release allowed her to play from the opening round of the AFLW season, but saw her give up the final year of her Boomers contract.

In June 2023, Conti re-joined the Boomers for the 2023–24 WNBL season.

Conti joined the Southside Flyers for the 2020 WNBL Hub season in Queensland, with the condensed fixture in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic allowing Conti to complete the full commitments of both the WNBL and AFL Women's seasons.

She helped the Flyers win the championship.

She did not return for the 2021–22 season after choosing to focus solely on her AFL Women's career.

Conti returned to the Flyers for the 2022–23 season.