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:
- For the Melbourne double-header on New Year’s Day, between the Renegades and Stars, more than 24,000 fans turned up for the WBBL match. A figure which destroyed the previous record of 14,611 for a game, set last year between the Renegades and Thunder.
- With one week of the competition still to go, over 700,000 fans have watched the WBBL02 live stream via Facebook or Cricket Australia, and the highlights have been viewed by more than 4.6 million people.
- The average national audience (275,000) is also up 19 per cent from the first season of the competition.
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.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
This is a great little anecdote davSA. Thanks for sharing.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Thanks for this Maggie - I sent an edit through for my article which may have not been picked up... but I definitely stand corrected. Thank you for all your kind comments on my work - I'll definitely keep flying the flag for women in sport. x
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
You're right Maggie, My mistake. I somehow managed to morph Mary's response/endorsement to, or of, HardcorePrawn's comment regarding Kelli Underwood's commentary. & the reaction to it. The word "obscene" was trotted out. That's what caught my eye.
Maggie
Guest
"Mary K ............ has no hesitation in admonishing AFL people for not feeling the love for Kelli Underwood." Huh? Where in the article above does Mary do that??
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Mary K admits to being an NRL supporter first & foremost (that's fine), yet has no hesitation in admonishing AFL people for not feeling the love for Kelli Underwood. So, basically, be told! I know female AFL fans who simply can't stand Underwood as a commentator either. You need to get off your high horse Mary. It's not as simplistic as you portray it to be.
davSA
Guest
I well remember when South Africa came out of sports isolation and the West Indian cricketers first toured here ,they had a female commentator Donna Symmonds and my first thought was "What's this about then". Very foreign stuff to me. I was actually a bit.... , well uncomfortable. It only took a short while for me to realise that she was one of the best cricket commentators I had heard and was immediately converted. She paved the way and inspired the excellent SA cricket commentators Cas Naidoo and Firdose Moonda who as opposed to the Old Boys Club of male commentators come across on air literally like a breath of fresh air. They are extremely knowledgeable and creative and one doesn't even think gender when they are commentating .
Jeff milton
Guest
well spruce, i dont get paid unless you want to write me a cheque? i never said their opinion doesnt count, i said ex stars know the game better. you will see Rabs defer to the experts on certain manners
Maggie
Guest
Wow, so much angst about one article a week on 'The Roar' about women's sport. I could provide you with references to considered, serious discussions of what constitutes sexism but given your conviction that women should be happy 'accept(ing) that they’re privileged' there seems little point. I have read all Mary's articles. None of them have contained '"women are oppressed"' garbage'. They are a celebration of women's sporting achievements and nearly always provide information that is not covered anywhere else on 'The Roar'. They are a very welcome addition to the offering of 'The Roar'.
Ben
Roar Guru
Sorry, but you're wrong. "Sexism" (look it up if you want) is descrimination based on your sex. I can definitely understand in the day and age we live in, why you would have a different definition. Like for example when a male doesn't get a job based on his gender... That's sexism because he has been discriminated against because he's a male. I'm all for equality. But handing women jobs because of their gender, rather than their ability is privilege, not equality... I've read 3 articles from Mary now. EVERY one of them carries the blatant "women are oppressed" garbage. EVERY one of them has had at least one paragraph where Mary compares women sports/individuals to men. Gosh, i even read an article where Mary was comparing ratings from the WBBL to the mens' A-League! Of course, nothing was mentioned about the WBBL being broadcast on a main tv network, compared to the A-League being on SBS and PAID tv... What a pathetic argument. But why?! Why can't females be happy with playing sports against other females, getting paid what they're worth and accepting that they're privileged. This is what 3rd wave feminism has done. Women are still being told that they're "oppressed" (even though they're privileged) and told that they need to beat the men at things they'll NEVER beat men at. That's not being "sexist" either. That's science. That's realism. That's fact.
Maggie
Guest
Except Mary is not 'spread(ing) an ill-conceived “sexism” rhetoric', she is celebrating the fact that more women are being read, heard and seen in sports journalism. And hallelujah to that. Also, you are perpetuating a common misunderstanding of what constitutes sexism. Sexism is gender-based prejudice combined with the institutionalised power to enforce this prejudice. If a woman were to be appointed to a sports journalism position (or any other position) in front of a better qualified, more capable man simply because she is a woman, that would be discrimination. But unless women have the power to enforce such appointments (and they do not) it is not sexism. (The same is true of racism - it is prejudice combined with power.)
Ben
Roar Guru
You're actually right. I did misquote that. Too much reading. ? Regardless, to have an article head line of "Who wants to listen to a bunch of blokes in suits", then spread an ill-conceived "sexism" rhetoric is straight up hypocrisy. It seems we've come to a point where sexism against men and giving women privilege is what we now call "equality"... Rediculous.
Maggie
Guest
No, your 'boring' quote is wrong. Mary quoted Mel McLaughlin who said she (Mel) was bored with the hype around the fact that she, a woman, was the anchor for the Australian Open this year. In the other part of the quote Mel was saying that only having men commentating on sport was not a reflection of society. Now that is a fact.
Oingo Boingo
Guest
Hallelujah BenLaird .... Kelly Underwood is audible tooth pulling. Painful to listen to and as reverse sexist as they come .
Maggie
Guest
Johanna Griggs hosted the coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics and she also used to be heavily involved in hosting coverage of the Australian Open. She jointly hosted the sports program 'Sportsworld' on Sunday mornings for about 5 years as well.
Ben Brown
Guest
So really, you're just a another man downgrading sexist?
AJ Mithen
Expert
My god, there are some people commenting here who are making complete fools of themselves...
northerner
Guest
Actually, having listened to many of the men, they may have been star players but most of them are very, very poor at commenting. It's a profession, and ex players aren't necessarily up to the task. People with a good knowledge of the game and a real ability to explain that knowledge are what is needed - male or female is irrelevant. Relying on superannuated players is not the way to go, unless those players also possess communications skills. Many of them do not.
Hard Yards
Guest
So then why are you complaining about commentary teams that are all men then? Ben Laird is right, you are a hypocrite. But if you don't think so, I await you denouncement of what is such an obviously sexist selection policy concerning the W League commentary team..
Ben
Roar Guru
Anytime Mary! I'm more than happy to debunk your often rediculous opinions with opinions that are based on fact, not anecdote. It's not "trolling" either. If anything, your articles are a prime example of trolling.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Thanks for sharing that Soul Ranch! That is absolutely fantastic!