ROAR
The incredible story of a team of AFLW pioneers who built a league of their own. It took 121 years, but on the evening of 3 February 2017 the first women’s game of Australian Rules Football for AFL premiership points finally took place. The nation was watching - millions of Australians tuned in – and a horde of spectators forced a stadium lock out. The inaugural season of the AFL Women’s league was a game-changer for Australian sport and for the country, culturally. Walkley Award-winning journalist Sam Lane charts the birth of the AFLW from its beginnings - when it was viewed as a niche, side-show distraction - to the electrifying first season that exceeded all expectations. She speaks with the trailblazers who, through grit and lateral thinking, pushed through a male hierarchy in this giant step towards gender equity in sport, overcoming sexism, homophobia and patriarchy. Featuring Tayla Harris, Darcy Vescio, Katie Brennan, Daisy Pearce, Sam Mostyn, Jan Cooper, Chyloe Kurdas, Debbie Lee, Peter Gordon, Josh Vanderloo, Peggy O’Neal, Peter Jackson and Gillon McLachlan, this 6-part audio series charts the experiences of female and male AFL executives and AWFL footballers in their uphill battle to realising a dream. From facing long-held dismissive attitudes to women’s football, to finding the strength to empower themselves on and off-field, to eventually convincing the AFL to back the vision. This is a story about a movement bigger than sport.
Episodes
On February 4, 2017 a stadium overflowed as fans were turned away after the gates had to be locked at a sporting event that changed Australia forever.
In this sixth and final episode of ROAR Sam Lane takes listeners inside AFLW’s opening night, re-living the audible, visual and tangible power of that monumental competition launch game.
You’ll hear the passion and emotion of Debbie Lee, Peggy O&rsqu...
An AFL women’s league had arrived at last, but did this spell equality for women? Not by a long stretch.
In this fifth episode of ROAR Sam Lane digs into the growing pains, and shockwaves, catalysed by the AFLW’s debut season: the unpaid hours for players, coaches and support staff, the missing sanitary bins, and the instantly iconic ‘Erin Phillips kiss’ at the AFLW’s first competiti...
From ball size, to player pay and the strategy behind the AFLW logo’s colour scheme, everything was on the whiteboard.
In this fourth episode of ROAR Sam Lane uncovers compelling detail about the AFL’s radical reinvention as it built a new-wave competition for women and girls from scratch — rewriting established norms and convention. Who re-wrote the rules? Who brought radical re-imaginings to life? Yo...
When a new AFL CEO, Gillon McLachlan, asked aloud, ‘Why couldn’t an AFL women’s league kick off before 2020?', he set a chain reaction in motion.
This episode of ROAR pinpoints the moment the AFLW leapt from reverie to reality, and spotlights the people who made it happen.
You’ll hear from Josh Vanderloo, Dorothy Hisgrove, Linda Dessau and others who recall the chaos, conviction and courage...
Why did Australia’s most popular and powerful sporting code take so long to see value in women and girls playing footy?
In this second episode of ROAR Sam Lane revisits the revolution that reshaped the AFL from the inside out. Hear trailblazers Debbie Lee, Michelle Cowan, Jan Cooper and Chyloe Kurdas recount confronting episodes of sexism, homophobia and exclusion that they experienced, and about the quiet but compellin...
The fight for women’s footy began long before the monumental launch match of the AFL Women’s league.
In this opening episode, Sam Lane introduces the trailblazers who challenged Australia’s most powerful sporting institution to make it happen. From pioneers Debbie Lee, Sam Mostyn, Jan Cooper, and Chyloe Kurdas to the courageous whistleblower Jane Hollman, who exposed sexism inside AFL House.
You&...
The remarkable Australian story of a group of football pioneers, and visionaries, who changed the game for women and girls in sport - on and off field.
February 3, 2017 marked a red-letter day in Australia with women playing the first ever Australian Rules football match for Australian Football League premiership points.
The milestone was more than a century in the making.
A nation was captivated: millions o...
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