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In 2016, Yvonne Sampson was given the chance to make history, when she was asked to anchor State of Origin. With this opportunity, Yvonne became one of the first female broadcasters to anchor a major sporting event in this country – and certainly the first to lead the coverage of rugby league’s showpiece.
With her move to Fox Sports announced at the end of last year, 2017 looks like it will be another outstanding year for an extremely talented and knowledgeable sports presenter.
Mel McLaughlin has likewise had an outstanding start to 2017, named as the prime-time anchor for the Australian Open, one of our biggest sporting events.
Mel will replace Bruce McAvaney for the coverage and earlier this month she made some poignant comments. One of my favourites was: “A bunch of men only in suits talking about sport is completely out of touch with reality and life and society”.
“Anyone that thinks otherwise I just think is wrong. I’m bored of the hype, of this being an issue,” Mel told The Daily Telegraph.
I completely agree, and there’s now an increasing expectation that coverage be diverse, with other sports taking note.
Sampson, Lara Pitt, Megan Barnard and Erin Molan feature heavily in NRL coverage and the same can be said for Kelli Underwood in the AFL. Mel Jones, Lisa Sthalekar and Roz Kelly have been stand-outs during the Big Bash coverage, and Lucy Zelic and Tara Rushton are extremely visible when it comes to football.
There are countless other women out there reporting, writing and commentating on sport who deserve to become even more visible in 2017.
WBBL
As the WBBL storms towards its conclusion, it is worth reflecting on what an incredible season it has been. I have written previously about the talent on the field and the number of people watching reflects just how much this competition is being embraced by Australia. Here are some of my favourite figures:
It just goes to show what can happen when a national sport commits to the promotion and broadcast of its women’s competition.
The death of Rachael Heyhoe-Flint this week made me reflect on what the former England cricket captain would think about the state of cricket today, particularly following the positive announcements made by Cricket Australia in relation to the women’s game in 2016.
Baroness Heyhoe-Flint was a pioneer. At Test level, she represented England 22 times, scoring 1594 runs, at an average of 45.54. She also hit the first six in women’s Test cricket, back in 1963, and captained her country for 12 years.
Other special moments for Rachael included being the first woman inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, in 2010, and becoming one of the MCC’s first female members, in 1999.
Rachael’s contribution can never be underestimated, and while we still have a long way to go when it comes to women’s sport, we must never forget where we started and how far we have come.
Rugby league
With the Auckland Nines only 15 sleeps away (not that I am counting), it’s time to start getting excited about seeing the Australian Jillaroos in action against the Kiwi Ferns. I’m hopeful, after losing both games last year, the Jillaroos will be hungry for victory.
This week, new coach Brad Donald named his team for the Nines and there are some familiar faces.
For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see the Jillaroos play, I would definitely recommend tuning in over the Nines weekend. The hits are hard, the speed is scintillating, and our representatives have a lot of love for rugby league. A good example is Kezie Apps, who drives five hours each way from Bega every weekend, just to play footy.
Some faces you should keep an eye out for during the Nines include Kezie (Dally M Female Representative Player of the Year in 2016), Sammy Bremner, Allana Ferguson, Kody House, Ruan Sims, Maddie Studdon and Caitlin Moran.
Many of these women will also play in the All Stars game the following weekend, ahead of the World Cup at year’s end. Bring it on.