 He played in Glenelg's 1973 Grand Final win over North Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval, and in losing Grand Finals for Glenelg against Sturt in 1969 and 1974, Norwood in 1975, and Port Adelaide in 1977 and 1981.Quirkily enough, in the 1973 grand final win by Glenelg over North Adelaide, he failed to kick a goal.In perhaps Glenelg's most memorable non-finals game, Phillis scored 18 goals at Glenelg Oval in Round 18 of the 1975 SANFL season as part of the team's record-breaking 49.23 (317) to 11.13 (79) win over Central District.