ELLYSE Perry is the pin-up girl for athletes wanting to pursue a dual sporting career, having made her international cricket and soccer debut at 16.

And now two Perry prototypes — Cat and Michelle Phillips — want to add another chapter to the ever-burgeoning story of multiskilled female athletes.

However, their chosen disciplines aren’t as traditional as Perry’s, with the Phillips sisters aspiring to master the unlikely combination of ultimate frisbee and AFL.

“I think there’s been some really good examples of athletes who have cross-represented in multiple sports and both of us really want to continue playing as high level ultimate athletes,” Michelle, the elder of the two sisters, said.

Round 18

“We love ultimate frisbee, but I think it would be really awesome to be given the chance to do both.

“Ellyse Perry gets a lot of press for doing the same thing in soccer and cricket.

“I think it’s definitely achievable.”

Michelle Phillips (right) wants to pursue a career in two sports. Picture: Wesley Monts Source: News Corp Australia

Tall, lean and muscular, Cat, 24, and Michelle, 28, look like the ultimate athletes.

And they are.

At the 2010 World Games, the Phillips were part of the first and only Australian team to win a gold medal in ultimate frisbee, a high-paced, self-refereed game, particularly in vogue with university students.

The lure of more gold medals, stamped passports and team success remains strong, Cat and Michelle are now turning their eyes to a project much closer to home — the inaugural AFL women’s competition in 2017.

Last Saturday they attended the first leg of the AFL’s nationwide talent search, blitzing the field to earn two spots in the women’s academy.

Their results - not to mention their near identical appearnce - stood out to AFL Victoria women’s football competition manager Darren Flanigan.

“Athletically, Cat and Michelle were outstanding,” Flanigan said.

“They’re quick, but they also have great endurance, which is a pretty rare combination, virtually winning the beep test and 20 metre sprint.

“Invariably you find athletes that are either fast twitch or slow twitch, so to find them was really exciting.”

Cat Phillips was a standout at the talent search. Picture: Robert Cianflone. Source: Getty Images

But there’s a catch.

Neither Michelle nor Cat have any kind of football foundation.

The hope is that they’ll be able to transfer their elite ultimate frisbee skills to the rigours of AFL by being fast-tracked into the AFL academy, where they have access to the best facilities and coaches, as well as players such as Daisy Pearce, Katie Brennan and Aasta O’Connor.

It sounds daunting, but Cat said the pair were unfazed.

“I thought it would be really fun to learn something new,” Cat, a mechanical engineer, said.

“I’ve loved how everyone is getting around each other at training.

“Even if you handball to the wrong player, you just want to learn and keep getting better.”

Michelle and Cat aren’t twins but upon appearances they could be.

Indeed, their propensity to finish each other’s sentences adds credence to the twin-like vibe they already give off.

And as if on cue, Michelle leads on from her younger sister.

“I’m loving the fact that they’ve been forgiving that we’ve come into (the academy) as good athletes, but not yet good football players,” Michelle said.

“The girls don’t seem to mind if we mess up on the skills, they just keep encouraging us.”

But that’s not all that attracts Michelle to the AFL bubble, with the book editor recognising parallels in the grassroots commitment to the women’s game and her first love, ultimate frisbee.

“There’s a lot of opportunities to represent and play at an elite level with ultimate frisbee because it’s a niche sport and, as strong athletes coming into it, we got those opportunities quite early,” Michelle said.

“And for both of us, we’re seeing the same thing start up now with AFL and women’s footy, which is why it’s really exciting to be offered the opportunity to be a part of that.”