East Fremantle star Milan Murdock puts hand up for AFL mid-season draft with another Simpson Medal
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ABC News
16 minutes ago
- ABC News
How a quote derived from a US president's speech is inspiring AFLW players
There is a quote that AFLW players often come back to by an American academic, which draws from a former US president. Author Brene Brown, in her popular book Daring Greatly, pens: "If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in or open to your feedback." Here, Brown references Theodore Roosevelt's famous 1910 Man in the Arena speech, in which he argues: "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles … credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood." Or, in this case, women on a sporting field. In the last month, players and AFL stakeholders have been forced to publicly back the league's continued investment in the competition after reports clubs were told the AFLW was losing $50 million a year. It comes as a condensed fixture last year, which featured midweek games, saw average home-and-away crowds reach just 2,600. "We talk a lot about the person in the arena," Gab Pound, inaugural Carlton player, told ABC Sport. "Because feedback is the biggest thing in sports for athletes … [but] how do you take feedback when there can be a lot of noise and things coming from all these different places? "We kind of bring ourselves back to the arena. And if you're not in the arena with us, battling it out, your opinion doesn't really matter to us." Players have said they welcome performance critiques and have called for greater coverage of their games, including criticism, and argue it is fair game when it comes from people who regularly watch their games and understand the competition's contexts. However, for all the recent noise, the competition has come leaps and bounds from when Pound took the field for the very first game between Collingwood and Carlton eight years ago. Pound was 21 when she was drafted, coming from the Darebin Falcons like many inaugural players, including Daisy Pearce, Libby Birch, Darcy Vescio, Jess Dal Pos and Paxy Paxman. The step up from VFLW to AFLW, Pound said, was a keenly felt one. "Just the fact we got paid a little bit of money, we were kind of just, 'Is this a real kind of thing', because when I grew up, there was just no aspiration there," Pound said. "I grew up in Albury and country footy where there were no girls playing football. I was really excited when school came around [because] we played those little round robins each year." When Pound debuted, her teammate Keeley Sherar, the reigning club best and fairest, did not even play footy yet. Without a pathway yet, she played netball in her tween years. "I feel like players like Gab really built the foundations for what we get to do now," Sherar said. "I think I have two little sisters, they're in grade six and year nine, and they've been playing since Aus Kick, so I think it's awesome. "I didn't get that opportunity and they've really got this amazing pathway and so much opportunity, which a lot of us didn't have when we were younger." Sherar said a lot of girls in her sister's under 12 team come and watch her play along with her family. They recently made a "hot wheels" sign for one of her games; her nickname at the club. "I see them every Sunday and watch their games and they inspire me because I'm like, 'You guys are 12 years old and you're so good and have just so much energy,'" Sherar said. "That's something that really sticks with me … that's why I love playing, to inspire them." Pound said perceptions of AFLW had changed a lot over her time and she was starting to really see a shift, even in the media, towards appreciating how women could "play great competitive football". "The more support that we have, such as that investment through all levels of grassroots, all the way up to the pro level, it's only going to improve the product," Pound said. "And then I think that reflection to the wider society as well, it's only going to do good things for the perception of women." She said there was such a "big open space" for women's sport to take off in Australia. "Women's sport can go in such a good direction … you see that in American basketball at the moment, unreal," Pound said. "The crowds that they get, the hype that they get, it's just incredible, and that's something I want to see in future generations for AFLW. "There's such a product [there] waiting to really explode".
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Rapper Snoop Dogg announced as AFL grand final pre-game entertainment
The AFL has announced that American rapper Snoop Dogg will headline the pre-game entertainment at this year's grand final. The rapper, record producer, and actor has been described by the AFL as a global music icon and "one of the most recognisable and influential artists in the world", with a career spanning three decades. His hits include Drop It Like It's Hot, Gin and Juice and Young, Wild & Free. He joins a list of international artists to feature on grand final day, including Katy Perry, Robbie Williams and The Killers. "It's an absolute honour to be hitting the stage at the AFL Grand Final," the artist said in a statement released by the AFL. "It's one of the biggest events on the Aussie calendar. AFL CEO Andrew Dillion said Snoop Dogg would help ensure the grand final was a celebration of culture, energy, and entertainment. "The AFL grand final is the biggest event on the Australian sporting calendar — and this year, it just got a whole lot bigger," he said. "Snoop Dogg is a pioneer, a performer, and a true entertainer. He's played to packed stadiums around the world — but we think 100,000 fans at the MCG might just be his most iconic crowd yet." In 2007, the federal government banned the rapper from entering the country, saying he did not meet the character requirements for a visa after he was convicted of drug and firearms offences in the US. The ban was lifted in 2008. The pre-game entertainment generally starts an hour before kick-off with a motorcade featuring the coaches and players from the two teams, followed by a number of performances. The 2025 grand final begins at the traditional time of 2:30pm on September 27.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Nat Fyfe goes down as a great of the AFL, but where does he sit on the list of modern WA players?
The retirement of a sporting great always sparks conversation — from reminiscing about the incredible moments they produced, to debate over where they sit in the pantheon of legends. Will Steve Smith be considered better than Ricky Ponting? Is LeBron James ahead of Kobe Bryant? Are you in the Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo camp? Serena Williams or Margaret Court? So it is, that with Nathan Fyfe announcing his retirement, the inevitable conversation commences. Of the AFL-era players, where does Fyfe sit? Or, to narrow it down further, of the AFL-era players from Western Australia, does he get a spot on our Mount Rushmore? The sculpture, in the US state of South Dakota, features four presidents — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln — and is often used as way of ranking film and sports personalities. To make the mountain is to be considered among the very best. Two Brownlow Medals speak to Fyfe's individual brilliance, but they don't entirely capture his impact. In 2015, the year of his first medal, he finished the season with a fractured leg, which led to him managing just five games in 2016. His second, in 2019, was won as the Dockers lost eight of their last nine games, and won just eight games for the year — and he still accumulated 33 Brownlow votes. He sits 13th on the list of all-time vote getters, though just three modern-day players average more votes per game than the kid from Lake Grace — Nick Daicos, Patrick Cripps and Lachie Neale. At his best, Fyfe was a complete footballer. He started life off as a skinny forward with sticky hands, before morphing into a midfield beast, becoming the prototype for the bulls running around in the AFL today. "[He] single-handedly put the club on the map, but he stayed true through the whole time," retired teammate Michael Walters said of Fyfe. "[He's a] legend of the footy club, legend of the AFL, future hall-of-famer, two-time Brownlow Medallist." Remember when he burst through four Geelong players to kick a goal, or when he took an iconic hanger over Richmond's Anthony Miles at Subiaco Oval? Or his epic duel with Patrick Dangerfield at the Adelaide Oval in 2015, where he finished with 40 disposals and a goal? Fyfe is absolutely in the top echelon of WA AFL footballers, but does he get a face on the mountain? And who else is up there? Lance 'Buddy' Franklin is our George Washington, who occupies the most prominent position on the mountain — 1,066 goals in an era that didn't see big forwards dominate with anywhere near the impact they did in bygone eras is a staggering achievement. But it was how he kicked goals that put him at a different level — from raking set shots from outside 50, to astounding athleticism (think Cale Hooker's chase down the wing) — Franklin was a nightmare for defenders, doing the impossible with incredible regularity. He was a player who embodied the phrase, "You just can't do that", as he did just "that" over and again. But the remaining three places are harder to quantify — the candidates are plenty, the spots few. Glen Jakovich did what almost no-one else could — tame Wayne Carey in his pomp. Their duels have become stuff of legends, and he's in the AFL's Hall of Fame. He won two premierships, four Eagles best-and-fairest awards and two All-Australia blazers. He's among the greatest defenders the game has seen. The same could be said for the recently retired Jeremy McGovern, who's impact on the game can be summed up in one iconic moment — his mark which triggered West Coast's stunning 2018 Premiership. The Albany product's intercept marking was a hallmark of his game, and helped him claim five All-Australian selections, as well as an Eagles best and fairest. Peter Matera produced one of the great Grand Final performances, kicking five goals in the Eagles 1992 flag, while also collecting 18 disposals, as he claimed the Norm Smith Medal. Add five All-Australian selections, the 1994 Premiership, a club best and fairest, Indigenous Team of the Century and WA Football Hall of Fame inductee, and you get a picture of dominance. He also finished runner-up in 1994 and 1997 Brownlow Medals (Chris Grant won the latter, but was ineligible, meaning Matera finished second behind Robert Harvey). Ben Cousins, for all his off-field issues, was a phenomenon — an explosive midfielder who could run all day. A Brownlow Medal, a premiership, six All Australians, four best-and fairests. He formed part of one of the best midfields of the modern era, combining with Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr to terrorise oppositions on the way to the 2006 flag. His ability to kick goals from midfield is striking — he finished with 217 majors from 270 games. And what of Patrick Cripps? Still playing, the Carlton captain can probably only be considered post-career, but he's going to be putting his hand up. And as always, there are others to consider. Eagles record goal-kicker Josh Kennedy, game-changing ruck Dean Cox, Brownlow Medallist and three-time premiership player for Brisbane Simon Black and dual North Melbourne premiership player Peter Bell name just a few. Ranking players across three decades of football is an impossible challenge, but here is my list. Lance Franlin is, unequivocally, the best modern day WA player. Peter Matera slots into the Thomas Jefferson position, while Ben Cousins takes Theodore Roosevelt spot at three. Finally, my Abraham Lincoln is Simon Black. The Brisbane great gets the nod ahead of Fyfe due to his brilliance over a long period. Three Premierships, a Brownlow, a Norm Smith, three All Australians and three Lions best and fairests'. He also finished second in the 2007 and 2008 Brownlow Medal counts. As with the actual Mount Rushmore, people will disagree with the selections, but that's the beauty of sport — everyone has an opinion, and everyone is entitled to one.
