Media personality, Steve Price has doubled down on ruthless comments made in an opinion piece in which he described the AFLW as “substandard” and “not elite sport”.
Price’s article published on September 23 in the Herald Sun, suggested that ‘if you leave an AFLW match thinking you’ve seen a great game you’re kidding yourself, because even high school boys are better to watch.’
He claimed that the women’s league was not worthy of the attention and funding it received, and called for a reduction in the number of teams claiming that there wasn’t enough talent for eighteen.
Last night on The Project, Price was questioned by his fellow panelists about his controversial take.
“Let me clear up what I am saying simply. I think the AFL went too early and too hard,” he said.
“There is not enough talent to fill eighteen teams. They should have gone more quietly and you wouldn’t have the issues you are having at the moment. I think the media exposure is extraordinary for something that is not very good.”
Even after co-host Peter Helliar jumped in to defend the women’s game and accused Price of having an issue with women playing physical “crash and bash sports”, and using his public megaphone to fuel division, the shock jock refused to back down.
“It’s my opinion”, he said. “I don’t have a problem with women’s sport, women’s sport is fantastic, AFLW isn’t.”
But what are men like Price actually working to achieve by sharing their “opinion” about women’s sport?
The truth? Not much, and certainly nothing good.
Price’s sole MO in raising this issue was not to provide constructive feedback to the AFLW, but to tear down a league which is working fearlessly to grow. The AFLW has already shifted the status quo in sport and enabled young female athletes a new outlook on their lives and careers.
In just five years, the AFLW has hit some momentous milestones including record crowds and sellouts. Only two months ago, the season’s first round clash between traditional rivals Essendon and Hawthorn had to be moved to Marvel Stadium after tickets for a smaller venue sold out within a day.
In just five years the AFLW has spurred a huge increase in the number of women and girls playing the game. 7.3 million Australians now express interest in the women’s competition and there are 2,540 girls’ and women’s community football teams scattered around the nation.
In just five years, the AFLW has risen to become the single biggest employer of professional sports for women in Australia with 420 players. A pay rise of an average of 94 percent across all four payment tiers was secured this year, enabling some players to focus solely on football and not supplementary careers.
In just five years, the AFLW has elevated First Nations players and women in the game and forged inclusive pathways never previously seen for other minority groups.
And, after five years, the AFLW shows approximately zero sign of slowing down on progress.
And that’s something which Steve Price (and the dinosaurs that rear their heads with divisive opinions) can’t do anything to change.