Award-winning sports journalist Rebecca Wilson has died in Sydney from breast cancer, aged 54.
She passed away at the family home in the early hours of Friday after a long battle with the disease, her husband John Hartigan and sons Tom and Will said in a joint statement.
“Courage has always been a significant part of her DNA, no less in her desperate battle against her insidious disease,” the family said.
“Rebecca kept knowledge of her illness a closely guarded secret.
“The majority of her friends, colleagues and indeed members of her family were unaware of the extent of her illness.
“She did so to limit their suffering.”
The family said Wilson was a fearless sports journalist who made them proud.
“She brushed aside evil trolls, bullies and organised crime figures to prosecute her craft.”
“She proved that women had an equally important role in sports journalism as her male counterparts.”
michael steel
Guest
Agreed.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Pauly The difference seems to be - in the current era - that fans of other codes DO NOT defend the drunken louts, and tend to report the racists taunts. The only thing I've seen comparable for a partial code based defence was the Adam Goodes booing (although I suspect a lot of people hadn't stopped to contemplate the meaning of the booing, and as a nation we have far from adequately dealt with reconciliation and the notion of Jan 26 as 'invasion day'. Anyway - this was far from a code specific issue and was more a societal reaction to the induction of Goodes as Australian of the Year which to me was folly while he was still playing - - and we know Australian sports fans hate politics and other agendas getting involved in their sport). The problem with soccer in Australia and the flares in particular is that there are so many fans who support and defend it as part of the atmosphere and passion of the game. And despite the fact that in mother England that the authorities have for some time been cracking down on it - apparently it's just not on for a non-soccer die hard to comment on the topic?? Thus - shooting the messenger. To me - that Wilson went hard on this issue was important because non one in the soccer fraternity seemed to have the balls to do so. Did she go too hard? Did it shake up the FFA who were very much asleep at the wheel. What gets me - is that when it was very topical the 'victim mentality' of soccer fans came to a head - rather than admitting "yeah, it's crap and we need to do something about it" instead even columnists like Tuckerman would try to deflect and compare ejection numbers to sports like cricket (Boxing Day MCG) or the like where the biggest issue might be people engaging in smuggling in booze, making beer cup snakes or starting a Mexican wave. That defensive attitude has to change. As it is - Wilson was subject to a lot of the 'passion' (hatred, vitriol) of that defensive reflex via death threats and personal attacks. Shame really.
Ken Spacey
Guest
In trying to give perspective and dignity to this occasion it cannot be overlooked that Rebecca not so long ago made some very intemperate mileage out of the Hillsborough tragedy. Now there is a topic you don;t just use as a column filler unless you really have something incisive to contribute.
Gavin
Guest
Social media and forums are notorious for their no holds barred, ruthless comments. This page doesnt need to succumb to that. I'd be happy for someone to critique her work over the years, but i would like to think people dont need to stoop as low as some of the comments i have already seen here. Do I think she was a rubbish journalist? Yes. Do i think she was pushing certain agendas in others best interests? Probably. But we can leave it at that without celebrating the death of a person.
Bondy
Guest
I just wonder with a subject matter like her as to how many posts were put into moderation here and then deleted , mine was ..
c
Roar Rookie
ScottWoodward.me it wasalso impossible for me to switch channels when she was talking i just could not wait to hear what she had to say about football
Kara
Guest
I know death is emotional and 'sad'. we seem to handle it very immature and we try to do the right things but...Come on. They weren't views. They were misinformed lies to sell papers a lot of the time..with little care for others. As a person it is sad that a individual passes away to early. But she was divisive and could not give 2 craps about those she wrote about...with lies. i know and have seen this first hand....and it want "entertaining" for those she tried to ruin for a quick bit of attention.
c
Roar Rookie
kasey agree with you wholeheartedly and may she rip
Correct sometimes
Guest
My point was Johnno you should have a long look at her weekly column. She attached whoever was the easy target and the cliched flavour of the month. She was currently negative and reactionary who wrote for the lowest common denominator She had a large agenda and bias. And was part of the news limited machine that sullies our media
Worlds Biggest
Guest
R.I.P Rebecca Wilson, very sad loss. thoughts go out to her family.
Fadida
Guest
On what grounds? I'm not seeing anyone who hasn't said her death isn't both sad and tragic for her family. I'm not reading any comments denigrating her as a person.
Fadida
Guest
What behavior is that? You've been reading the wrong columnists obviously
G
Guest
She said on The Fat she didn't like cricket, and always bagged our champion cricketers. It is terrible news she has passed away so young, no one is celebrating that, I think people just get annoyed that when someone passes they were all of a sudden great people who were great at what they did. People have the right to express that here; if they were aimed at her family that would be something else entirely, but in the comments section of a sports opinion site the comments above from Fadida etc. are not outrageous.
G
Guest
Like she should of held off on commenting about Johnny Mannah?
bear54
It would have been interesting to see Wilson writing for someone other than News Corp. Those who work for Murdoch can't be described as "journalists" but more as "marketing copy writers" in my opinion. Tragic for her family to lose a loved one at 54.
Pauly
Guest
No worse than the racism and drunken loutism on display at other codes, sometimes applauded.
Johnno
Guest
Yes keep knocking my hipster clan at Newtown. But she liked AFL/Cricket, what else then according to you.
Correct sometimes
Guest
Johnno, you obviously never read her articles. She was very anti league as well and generally was sensationalist and pandered to outrage and misinformation I guess no one in your hipster cafe in Newtown read the telegraph
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
Sad to see anyone die young, yes 54 is young, but let's face it, as a journalist she peddled in gossip and vitriol and bagging other journalists that beat her to printing gossip before she did.
Johnno
Guest
Sad news. She wrote a lot of good articles, that were often bang on the money. But answer me this, does it matter if she soccer was not her no 1 favourite sport? If she put the boot into soccer does it matter, does a person have the right to put the boot into a sport they don't like? If she has an attitude of well there's euro soccer snobs who look down on AFL/NRL and I'll give as good as I get and stand up for my sports, does it matter did she have that right? Was it morally wrong that Rebecca Wilson got more human pleasure from AFL/NRL than soccer, coz if she did isn't that playing favourites, or do we all have favourites, and she was simply expressing what she liked better, rather than suppress what was her favourite, is that free speech at it's best or should she of just sat in the corner and not promote the sports she liked better than others? Soccer journo's many of them make it clear they like the world game better than AFL/NRL, maybe Rebecca Wilson had the right to free speech to express what her favourite sports were, or did she go to far? She polarised opinions, but also made a lot of good opinions.