Drama at Silverstone as Bezzecchi wins
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News.com.au
9 minutes ago
- News.com.au
AFLW stars on being role models, dealing with setbacks and the future of the league: ‘The game has evolved'
Posing on set for Stellar's shoot in Sydney's eastern suburbs is worlds away from the footy field, yet Chloe Molloy – co-captain of Sydney Swans' AFLW team – embraces being out of her comfort zone. 'I can respect what models do,' Molloy tells Stellar with a laugh. 'I get so awkward – I'm not camera shy but then … I am slightly camera shy.' Molloy, who grew up in the Victorian town of Whittlesea, made her AFLW debut in 2017 – and won the AFLW Rising Star Award, was named All-Australian three times, and nabbed a Best and Fairest at her former club Collingwood, before signing with the Swans in 2023. Ahead of the start of the 2025 AFLW season – marking the league's tenth overall (two seasons were played in 2022) – Molloy and her cohorts, Brisbane Lions dual premiership player Ally Anderson and Melbourne captain Kate Hore – reflect on how the league has changed since its inception in 2017. 'The game has evolved a lot,' Molloy says. As for what she would like to see in its future? 'I'd love for there to be more analysis [of matches]. I'd love more camera angles [during broadcasts]. I think you can get caught up with what we don't have … and forget how far we have come.' The trio is hopeful that, like them, more AFLW players will be able to earn a full-time salary from playing in the coming years – an ambition shared by the AFL. '[The AFL] is committed to us being full-time,' Molloy notes. 'When that is, hopefully sooner rather than later. There's growth in the game that's happening and still needs to happen. Salaries not only for the players but salaries around [for support staff]. Hopefully in the next few years [there will be] full time wages not just for the players, but for everyone around us.' Molloy, 26, is on track to make her return to the Swans after an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury ruled her out of last season. 'It was very hard to process that I had even done it,' Molloy says. 'And you just know straight away that you are on the sidelines for so long. I didn't realise how mentally taxing it would be: 10, 11 months. One that I wouldn't wish upon anybody. It is a rehab beast – at times, it definitely defeated me. Now, I look ahead and everything that I have been through. It kind of makes me think, I just want to play football. I don't have a return date set. Fingers crossed [for a round one return].' Brisbane Lions midfielder Anderson, who played in two premierships with the club and is a three-time AFLW All-Australian, is firmly focused on avenging the Lions crushing Grand Final loss to North Melbourne last season. 'It was super devastating and a bit emotional,' Brisbane-born Anderson – a proud Gangulu / Wakka Wakka woman – tells Stellar. 'And it wasn't the first Grand Final that we'd lost,' the 31-year-old adds. 'I have been on both sides and it never gets any easier. You sort of have a really big break in the off-season away from footy. 'As a team, we have worked together. The position we have put ourselves in throughout the whole pre-season to … get back to what we were and do one better. 'We all want to redeem ourselves.' Like Molloy, Anderson made her AFLW debut in 2017 and she adds: 'I've played every game since'. The winner of the 2022 AFL Women's best and fairest award, Anderson notes: 'I'm one of the lucky ones – for the past 3-4 years, I've been able to dedicate myself to footy. I've been able to work on my fitness and I have had a lot of improvement over the past few years. I never thought I'd be a full-time professional athlete.' Ahead of the new season, Hore says she is more aware than ever about being a role model to the next generation 'It definitely took me a bit of time for it to sink in,' the 30-year-old says. 'My idols in footy growing up were all male, so for young girls to now have AFLW athletes to look up to is pretty cool. 'The saying 'you can't be what you can't see' resonates with me.' Hore, a three-time All-Australian player, Best & Fairest winner, and the league's leading goalkicker in 2023, is in a relationship with Corey Maynard, a former footballer who now works in player development at North Melbourne – and the couple share their Melbourne home with a Golden Retriever puppy, Benny. 'Footy is obviously a big part of our lives but we love getting out of the footy bubble whenever we can,' Hore says. 'We are both very competitive, so when either of our teams lose we're probably not much fun to be around. He's incredibly supportive of my footy career.' The 2025 NAB AFLW Premiership season starts on Thursday, August 14. See
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
Youth Off The Streets founder Father Chris Riley dies aged 70
Photo shows Australian swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan, seen from behind, holds the Australian flag above her head after the 200m freestyle. Has Audio Duration: 3 minutes 48 seconds . 3 m 48 s
The Australian
11 hours ago
- The Australian
Anahita chases Flemington comeback win for new trainer Gavin Bedggood
Cranbourne trainer Gavin Bedggood will attempt to snap another long winning drought in the last race of Saturday's Flemington meeting. Bedggood managed to prepare former WA galloper Windstorm for his first win since 2019 in last Saturday's Caulfield finale. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Recent stable acquisition Anahita will shoot for her first win since July 2023 in Saturday's Inside Headquarters Handicap (1410m). However, the time gap could be a touch misleading as Anahita was banned from racing for a year following a positive test for an androgenic steroid when in the care of original trainer Matt Laurie, who was later fined for the error. Anahita has only had three starts for Bedggood since going for champion Sydney trainer Chris Waller but has steadily improved at each outing. • 'We were the common enemy': How Morrison united Victorian racing Anahita raced on the speed before finishing less than two lengths from the winner in heavy conditions at Sandown before running on well when three-quarters of a length from Vienna Vixen, also at Sandown, on July 16. 'She's actually been good,' Bedggood said. 'She's travelled pretty strong, loomed to win the race at her last couple and just been found wanting late. 'She came to me in good order, very fit, so it's just been a matter of ticking her over.' Trainer Gavin Bedggood will attempt to give Anahita her first win for two years at Flemington on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images. Anahita is a $27 chance in early betting on Saturday's race, in which the mare will jump from Benchmark 70 class to a Benchmark 78 contest. However, Bedggood noted Anahita had been competitive in much harder races, including when fifth, beaten 1¼ lengths in a Group 2 race over the Flemington 1400m course last spring. • Shinn holds off Williams for Melbourne jockeys' title 'She wasn't far off winning and was competitive in Group 2 company during Cup Week,' Bedggood said. 'Hopefully, she can get back in the winner's stall before she goes to stud. 'She's getting on in days now. I suppose she'll go off to stud this year but I'll leave that for the owners to decide.' Another stable recruit, well-travelled galloper Casino Seventeen will be on trial for a start in a Melbourne Cup qualifier in the VRC Membership Renewals Open (2530m). Casino Seventeen finished fifth in last year's Perth Cup before heading east to join Bedggood, who is the eight-year-old's eighth trainer. The veteran of 49 starts has raced in every mainland state except Queensland in a career that included 10 wins and more than $1.4m in earnings. 'He's very tough, and for a tried horse, he's come to us very sound, which makes my job easier,' Bedggood said. 'Saturday is the fork in the road run. If he was to win on Saturday, we might have a throw at the Archer (Stakes) and just see where you land. 'But there's plenty of second level races around for him at this time of the year,' The winner of the Archer Stakes will earn a Melbourne Cup ballot exemption.
