Since when is a WAG a sports ambassador?

Hayley, being in the same industry and having had the same advice about not getting involved with footy players given to me many times, i understand your frustration. The Kyly Boldy being made an ambassador for Rebel over our own gold winning female athletes is ridiculous and Rebel should be ashamed of themselves for that! I agree 100%!! I understand that seeing Zoe have her own column feels unfair because you're kicking ass and developing an online presence and ideally would love to have a spot in the Sunday paper spouting your sporty witticisms, but unfortunately, the general public probably doesn't wanna read it. I say this because I've lived it already. That was our goal when we started Errol in 2008. It was instantly successful and we got lots of work out of it and people excited over 'two chicks talking footy' and offering us the world. And we did get work out of it. But it's a very niche market and eventually reality started to set in. After an appearance on a major radio station, an ex footy player, now host of their super successful brekkie show said to us over coffee 'you two are hilarious and you know you're stuff. If you were blokes you would have your own show by now" Coz the sad fact is, the mainstream doesn't want chicks being funny and cheeky about footy. Mainstream media wants two things out of women in sport 1) TV: Pretty talking heads/journos with no opinions 2) PRINT : Serious journalists like Jacquelin Magnay We are neither of those and never will be. So Sassy and I both gave up on the media front and got 'behind the scenes' jobs in rugby league clubs instead. Harsh but that's the reality if we wanted to stay working in footy. As for Zoe Marshall....she did actually have a career in TV before she married Benji. and what was she supposed to do when offered the column....turn it down because she felt it was unfair to female journalists/bloggers.....? Was she sposed to call you or me and offer it to us instead out of 'fairness'? I like what she's said about players struggling behind the scenes, because it's spot on and people need to hear it. As for featuring other 'WAGS' in her column, you won't actually find a sweeter girl in the world than Julia (featured in the first column) and she is far more than just Lewis Brown's gf. She's a successful blogger and health activist in her own right and your tone suggests she's just a bimbo in a pretty dress. (apologies for the essay!)

You really have to question Rebel's judgement. They are trying to make themselves a female friendly destination By making a "fashion model" their womens ambassador because "she is associated with sport" their respect for women in sport is questionable. This is from a chain that also sponsors directly Greg Bird through their house brand Umbro. Not a great way to go about it

What i want to know is who is the ugly dude with the good loooking chick in the picture above. Talk about punching above your weight, that was a ad for beer not long ago. Girls need to aim higher, not lower. It looks like the guy who had a heart attack in superleague not long ago. I think he might have been a little better looking, even after the attack. Cheers. Rock on girls, good to see you both getting involved, dont be shy. Now, back to that paded cell. hehe

No but peeko, they drew attention to the Lakers and Cowboys, and a heck of a lot of advertising, and brand awareness of the 2 sports, so they were a huge promotional asset. And especially globally too, they found world wide fame these 2 cheerleader groups, so it helped promote both sports and these 2 teams, which then means it drew new fans in big numbers.

what % of fans do you think were watching lakers and cowboys games for the cheer leaders? very little i would say. they are an added attraction not the main show. i think you are over stating their impact by stating that people could not care for the game only the cheer leaders

Men like to watch attractive women, We don't care about their attributes. Why make that simple fact more complicated than it is.

I hear you Hayley. Unfortunately marketability trumps talent when it comes to women's sport, certainly is a sad reality.

WAGs column - of course - further dumbing down of some parts of society but I think the trend has worn off in Europe so it will dies a natural death here... But of course you dont have to read it and in Sydney a WAG would get my eyes than Ms Perry ebven if she was a champion in 5 sports...

I actually got quite excited about that rugby league wags column as i get excited about Women in League. I said awhile ago now i would have been happy with a woman running the game. Maybe Kate Paige or that Lady from Westpac running the bank. Excited in a good way. Not the girly magazine excited.

@ Johnno : You make some good points & comparisons, but there is a difference between marketing (or even incidental marketing) & ambassadors. If they hired her to market their brand to her target demographic then that's pretty standard for her current career as a model. As an ambassador, however, she should have a different focus brought to her role, as an ambassador should provide a brand or organisation with CREDIBILITY in a marketplace swimming with insincerity. Anyone who thinks that most elite athletes use the brands they endorse by choice hasn't done Marketing 101, so their glowing words of praise lack real authenticity & belief. An ambassador can't create that same reaction in consumers; they are with the brand because it IS something they believe in & support willingly. So if Kyly's being associated purely with the fitness & leisure side of Rebel, that seems like a good fit & quite believable as a model. But stick a piece of sporting equipment in her hand & all credibility immediately flies out the window - Rebel can get tagged with an epic fail for this exercise if that's how it unfolds (pardon the pun).

Sally Pearson & Anna Meares are two people that deserve a lot more recognition for the work they do.

Hayley I agree with your frustration but who do you get frustrated at ... The Wag .. When she got asked to do the article she could have said no ? The person who asked her ... They would say that they are providing what the customer wants !!! Us ... The consumer/reader .. Are to blame cause we dont know who Alysse Perry is ....(I do and it is a shame she had to leave Canberra) Administrators for no promoting their games better .. I dont know Hayley but it is a problem especially for Women as a whole in sport.

Great article Hayley Good to hear from a female perspective on this subject. When Rebecca Twiggly (Judd) wore THAT red dress at the Brownlow, that is when the term WAG was born in Australia IMO. Since then Brownlows and Dally M nights have been hijacked by the WAGs. To be brutally honest, I don't take much notice of the WAG. I also don't care if a player gets married, has a kid, or has a break up. At the end of the day, players come and go. Once a player retires, the profile of that WAG becomes non existent. That couple is replaced by a younger athlete and a younger WAG. The vicious circle continues.

Welcome to the real world of its not what you know but who you know.

Fair points ,we should be concerned with the dumbing down of society.

Another example is LA Lakers basketball franchise, and the use of celebrities at there basketball matches. The use of hollywood, the La Lakers use it as an advertising component , to draw in fans, and the name showtime in the 80's exemplified that. Majic Johnson, his name is Ervin but he got the nickname in high school, but Majic" Johnson, and showtime, are all words magic and showtime linked with entertainment, and then you think Hollywood. Now for brand awareness massive amounts of the world have heard of Hollywood, and it conners up images and illusions right, but mostly wrong illusions, which is how hollywood makes it's money. Laker games half the time the TV cameras are focused on the A-lst celebrity hollywodd movie stars, and rock stars, and reality tv stars that are at games. Is that right as well no, but it draws fans in and attracts a broader audience. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, and the LA Laker cheer girls of the 1980's, were massive marketing components, and attracted , crowds attendances, bums on seats tv ratings $$, many couldn't care less about grid iron or basketball . -The Sydney Swans cheerleaders were the same the swanette's in the 1980's and the endless marketing promotions with Warick Capper. -The pink helicopter too, that the owner would fly also , attracted, interest in the Sydney Swans, and all these glamourous images. -SO pro Sport is a business and clubs will do any marketing strategies they can to make money and get more brand awareness, and the WAG'S sports ambassador pitch is no different. Just another marketing strategy, to get more interest, and more market share and more money. It's as simple as that.

Hayley Byrnes, a good article, I will add some points . -You are completely right with the sports ambassador thing with the WAGS. -But the bigger picture is this. Reality is it's too big a word, and doesn't make any sense when one thinks about it logically. -But if the WAG can attract a broader audience to the sport , bums on seats,crowds, tv ratings $$, brand awarness , interest in the sport $$, is that a good or bad thing, at the end of they day I would say no. -Let's take Jane Mcgrath for example . The lat Jane Mcgrath wife of ex cricket player Glen Mcgrath. -I believe the Jane Mcgrath day at the SCG test, and the Jane Mcgrath foundation in general have attracted more women to the sport of cricket, and brought cricket to a broader audience, a wider audience , in the Australian sporting market. -And basically Jane Mcgrath day has given the sport of cricket, loads of free advertising and good will for the sport of cricket, glossing over it's problem's like match fixing, and declining of test cricket and one day cricket, in some previous strong markets . -Now truth was Jane Mcgrath was a WAG , wife of a pro cricket player, she never played elite cricket herself, she barely knew anything about the sport. -So that's the catch 22. It may not be right or wrong, but in the bigger picture if it attracts a broader audience then that is a good thing as it brings in tv ratings $$$, more crowds $$, merchandise sales, basically more money and interest into the sport. -Like Andrew Johns playing for NSW in a T20 match, that had no credibility to it, but he attracted masses of interest to T20 cricket and the NSW T20 cricket team in there NSW market. -And Folau at GWS was another gimmick stunt in the end. But the AFL got there money;s worth and return on there investment, GWS were in the papers every day, and the only story we ever really heard about GWS was Folau, . -But the point is the word GWS got out there in the market coz of Folau, for a few years to establish itself as a franchise, . -So at the end of the day all this leads to the fundamental reality. Pro sport is a business and a competitive one, and credibility gets sacrificed at all levels along the way , for the bigger picture of creating more interest and money in the sport. -Pro Sport is not pure basically Hayley, or even ethical or morally good, it's a ruthless competitive business multiple sports competing for market share in a tough market, and that's all it really is in my opinion. -And if credibility gets lost along the way, to make money, then if that;s the way it gotta be , then that's the way it's gotta be.