Smith-less Cats outshine Suns
AFL: The Geelong Cats have overcome a late injury to superstar Bailey Smith to beat the Suns in Geelong.
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ABC News
35 minutes ago
- ABC News
Watching women's sport not just for women: Experts talk on levelling the playing field
In 2023, a nation held its breath as the Matildas took on England in the FIFA Women's World Cup semifinal. What followed wasn't just a gripping match, it became the most-watched television broadcast in Australian history. A post-tournament social impact report from Football Australia revealed that 44 per cent of the audience comprised men and boys. For the first time, a women's football game outperformed every other program ever aired in the country, breaking the myth that women's sport only appeals to women. Former Matilda and lawyer Moya Dodd says we have come a long way in the past decade. "Ten years ago, no one would have believed it," she told ABC International Development's Women in News and Sport, at the recent RCB Innovation Lab Sports Summit in India. Women's sport has been marketed primarily to women, and that marketing often focuses on empowerment rather than excellence. But Dodd said the skill, determination, and passion on display deserves universal respect, regardless of the gender of those on the field. She said boys were already growing up idolising athletes like Sam Kerr, the same way they do male stars. "When young boys see professionalised women's sport, they accept it as normal," Dodd said. "They'll happily wear a jersey with Sam Kerr's name on it. "There is no social stigma." In India, the Women's Premier League (WPL) is emerging as a game-changer. The second season in 2024 reached more than 103 million TV viewers, with digital platforms like JioCinema drawing millions more. Brands are investing big: Viacom18 signed a $117 million deal for WPL rights, one of the most lucrative ever for a women's league. But framing isn't the only challenge. Dodd said structural barriers persisted across leadership, infrastructure, and media. "Sport was built by men, for men, and run by men," Dodd said. "You can't just retrofit women into those systems. You need to redesign them." Sarah Walsh, head of women's football at Football Australia, and a former Matildas player, said the Matildas' rise was made possible by constitutional changes in 2018 that brought more women into decision-making roles. "We wouldn't have had the success we did, equal pay deals, post-World Cup legacy funding, without women in the room deciding where the money goes," she told WINS. Dodd said although there had been ground made, there were other areas that needed to evolve. "Storytelling is still skewed toward men's sport," Dodd said. "We need commentary and coverage that welcomes new audiences, not one that constantly compares women's sport to men's." She stressed that female voices in broadcast and journalism played a vital role in shaping public perception. Both Dodd and Walsh indicated that with the right leadership, inclusive policies, and a reframing of how women's sport was presented, there was significant opportunity for growth and equity. They both believe growth on the field translates to growing the game off it. Walsh said infrastructure remained a silent but critical barrier to participation, with a number of community football facilities still not female friendly. "You're not going to retain girls if they simply can't get dressed," Walsh said. Meanwhile, teenage dropout rates among girls are high due to issues ranging from lack of safety to body image concerns. Major events like the Women's World Cup helped boost participation by 20 per cent, but retention is still a hurdle. Recent trends in viewership and sponsorship suggest that interest in women's sport is not limited by gender. It delivers economic, cultural, and social returns. With the Matildas' semi-final appearance in 2023 and the growing viewership of WPL, sponsorships have increased, new demographics are being reached, and male audiences are growing across markets. "Women's sport brings audiences that have come to celebrate inclusion and a sense of social purpose. And this audience includes people of all genders and ages," Dodd said. Dodd and Walsh believe these developments raise a broader question — no longer whether women's sport has a place, but whether existing structures are prepared to meet the growing potential. Veechika Durga Pingali is a freelance journalist based in Bengaluru, India, with experience in both journalism and public relations. She has a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and enjoys writing about gender, media and sports. Veechika is part of ABC International Development's Women in News and Sport Initiative, funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Team Up program.
Sydney Morning Herald
41 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Out with the young and in with the old: A mid-year All-Australian team with a difference
So, seven players aged 30-plus make this mid-year 22, as the AFL competition follows the trend of tennis – see Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams – and American team sports in which 35 is the new 30, and quarterbacks play until they can't walk. Selecting three of the forwards for this mid-year team – picked inclusive of round 12 performances (not this weekend's games) – was easier than usual. Cameron, Hogan, and Elliott (who has never been All-Australian) pick themselves and while some would push up Ben King, given his goal tally, Gold Coast's key forward hasn't shaped outcomes in the same way as Jezza and Jesse. King's teammate Ben Long, though, is another story. Loading Long, who has jagged 23 goals in his 10 games to round 12, has been a standout in a role that is not dissimilar to Elliott's – as a forward who can lead and mark, but is no mug on the deck and assists others in scoring. Dangerfield's impact as an explosive aerial and ground ball mid-forward can't be undersold, and if his hamstrings hold up, he should be headed for his record ninth All-Australian blazer. Riley Thilthorpe, a Tom Lynch-style key forward, is named at centre half-forward, allowing me to pick Cameron as a flanker, which reflects his freaky ground-level abilities. As the AFL's headband act, Bailey Smith has been omnipresent, his every gesture captured by cameras and dissected by pundits and the public. But, much as there is focus on his postings and postures, everyone must have cottoned on, so to speak, to the fact that Bailey's been nearly the AFL's peak midfielder – as the Brownlow odds suggest (he's one of the favourites). He has prospered mightily from Geelong's decision to deploy him in the middle, rather than the wing or as a high half-forward. So, @bazlenka – as he's known by his Instagram idolaters – is in the centre, in every sense, in this mid-year side. Hugh McCluggage isn't a wingman in 2025, as he enjoys his best season yet, but I've conveniently picked him – and Sidebottom – on the wings that they've vacated this year; no specialist wingman (eg. Ollie Dempsey) has done enough to warrant selection to this point. Gun midfielders, on the whole, have been less than dominant this year. Marcus Bontempelli missed the early games and could yet make the All-Australian side by season's end. Nick Daicos has been paramount to Collingwood winning some games, but has also been relatively subdued in three or four outings, having been more heavily tagged this year. Still, the younger Daicos is so brilliant that he's still up on the midfield leaderboard. I've picked him on the bench, behind Adelaide's super skipper Jordan Dawson – still underrated in Victoria – and his Gold Coast counterpart Noah Anderson. The numbers – in the form of the AFL's official ratings (Champion Data) – would rank Anderson as the competition's third-best performed player to round 12, behind only Bulldog Ed Richards and North's version of 'the Mountain' from Game of Thrones, Tristan Xerri. Richards gets a game in this side, with Nick Daicos, on the bench. It's conceivable that the rise of Ed Richards was a factor in Smith heading to Geelong, given the Dogs found it difficult to fit 'the Bont', Tom Liberatore, Richards and Bailey (plus Adam Treloar when fit) into the same centre square. Loading Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is making noises about re-signing with the Saints, and for their sake, let's hope that transpires. He's a superb play-maker from half-back, with further growth ahead, and was accordingly picked at half-back in my team. Bailey Dale, a rare half-back capable of garnering 40 disposals, is the other flanker in defence, edging out Fremantle's Jordan Clark, Collingwood's Josh Daicos, Lion veteran Dayne Zorko and others for that berth. The consistent Lachie Ash of GWS fills the remaining running defender spot (notionally back pocket). Teammate Sam Taylor, whom Matthew Lloyd compared to Glen Jakovich for influence, was picked at centre half-back. The key backs, as with the midfielders this year, haven't been as outstanding as in years past. Jacob Weitering of Carlton has put up respectable numbers – and lord help the Blues if he went down – but hasn't had a terrific season. Possibly the stiffest to miss the defensive spots are St Kilda's interceptor Cal Wilkie and Richmond's perennial gun Nick Vlastuin. I judged that Gold Coast's Collins had been marginally more effective, in a collectively superior defence. North people will wonder why Xerri hasn't made this team, since he is rated statistically better than Gawn (on Champion Data ratings) this year, and might view this as a plot against Shinboners. Loading Here's major difference: Xerri, while heroic in ruck battle and adept at winning clearances, doesn't fulfil one key performance indicator for ruckman and tall players – marking the footy (only 1.7 per game to round 12). Luke Jackson is aerially superior and more versatile – as shown when he played as a tall midfielder against the Suns last weekend. He gets the second ruck slot on the bench. The final interchange berth – there is no sub here – belongs to the spare midfielder, Freo's Andrew Brayshaw, who isn't as skilled as Bontempelli and Daicos, nor as powerful as Dangerfield, or as smooth-moving as McCluggage. But Brayshaw does two essentials exceptionally well – running and getting the footy.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Out with the young and in with the old: A mid-year All-Australian team with a difference
So, seven players aged 30-plus make this mid-year 22, as the AFL competition follows the trend of tennis – see Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams – and American team sports in which 35 is the new 30, and quarterbacks play until they can't walk. Selecting three of the forwards for this mid-year team – picked inclusive of round 12 performances (not this weekend's games) – was easier than usual. Cameron, Hogan, and Elliott (who has never been All-Australian) pick themselves and while some would push up Ben King, given his goal tally, Gold Coast's key forward hasn't shaped outcomes in the same way as Jezza and Jesse. King's teammate Ben Long, though, is another story. Loading Long, who has jagged 23 goals in his 10 games to round 12, has been a standout in a role that is not dissimilar to Elliott's – as a forward who can lead and mark, but is no mug on the deck and assists others in scoring. Dangerfield's impact as an explosive aerial and ground ball mid-forward can't be undersold, and if his hamstrings hold up, he should be headed for his record ninth All-Australian blazer. Riley Thilthorpe, a Tom Lynch-style key forward, is named at centre half-forward, allowing me to pick Cameron as a flanker, which reflects his freaky ground-level abilities. As the AFL's headband act, Bailey Smith has been omnipresent, his every gesture captured by cameras and dissected by pundits and the public. But, much as there is focus on his postings and postures, everyone must have cottoned on, so to speak, to the fact that Bailey's been nearly the AFL's peak midfielder – as the Brownlow odds suggest (he's one of the favourites). He has prospered mightily from Geelong's decision to deploy him in the middle, rather than the wing or as a high half-forward. So, @bazlenka – as he's known by his Instagram idolaters – is in the centre, in every sense, in this mid-year side. Hugh McCluggage isn't a wingman in 2025, as he enjoys his best season yet, but I've conveniently picked him – and Sidebottom – on the wings that they've vacated this year; no specialist wingman (eg. Ollie Dempsey) has done enough to warrant selection to this point. Gun midfielders, on the whole, have been less than dominant this year. Marcus Bontempelli missed the early games and could yet make the All-Australian side by season's end. Nick Daicos has been paramount to Collingwood winning some games, but has also been relatively subdued in three or four outings, having been more heavily tagged this year. Still, the younger Daicos is so brilliant that he's still up on the midfield leaderboard. I've picked him on the bench, behind Adelaide's super skipper Jordan Dawson – still underrated in Victoria – and his Gold Coast counterpart Noah Anderson. The numbers – in the form of the AFL's official ratings (Champion Data) – would rank Anderson as the competition's third-best performed player to round 12, behind only Bulldog Ed Richards and North's version of 'the Mountain' from Game of Thrones, Tristan Xerri. Richards gets a game in this side, with Nick Daicos, on the bench. It's conceivable that the rise of Ed Richards was a factor in Smith heading to Geelong, given the Dogs found it difficult to fit 'the Bont', Tom Liberatore, Richards and Bailey (plus Adam Treloar when fit) into the same centre square. Loading Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is making noises about re-signing with the Saints, and for their sake, let's hope that transpires. He's a superb play-maker from half-back, with further growth ahead, and was accordingly picked at half-back in my team. Bailey Dale, a rare half-back capable of garnering 40 disposals, is the other flanker in defence, edging out Fremantle's Jordan Clark, Collingwood's Josh Daicos, Lion veteran Dayne Zorko and others for that berth. The consistent Lachie Ash of GWS fills the remaining running defender spot (notionally back pocket). Teammate Sam Taylor, whom Matthew Lloyd compared to Glen Jakovich for influence, was picked at centre half-back. The key backs, as with the midfielders this year, haven't been as outstanding as in years past. Jacob Weitering of Carlton has put up respectable numbers – and lord help the Blues if he went down – but hasn't had a terrific season. Possibly the stiffest to miss the defensive spots are St Kilda's interceptor Cal Wilkie and Richmond's perennial gun Nick Vlastuin. I judged that Gold Coast's Collins had been marginally more effective, in a collectively superior defence. North people will wonder why Xerri hasn't made this team, since he is rated statistically better than Gawn (on Champion Data ratings) this year, and might view this as a plot against Shinboners. Loading Here's major difference: Xerri, while heroic in ruck battle and adept at winning clearances, doesn't fulfil one key performance indicator for ruckman and tall players – marking the footy (only 1.7 per game to round 12). Luke Jackson is aerially superior and more versatile – as shown when he played as a tall midfielder against the Suns last weekend. He gets the second ruck slot on the bench. The final interchange berth – there is no sub here – belongs to the spare midfielder, Freo's Andrew Brayshaw, who isn't as skilled as Bontempelli and Daicos, nor as powerful as Dangerfield, or as smooth-moving as McCluggage. But Brayshaw does two essentials exceptionally well – running and getting the footy.
