It’s been fascinating to watch the World Cup unfold in New Zealand and Australia and to both be part of, and an observer, the response of Australians.
Samantha Donovan invited me onto ABC Radio’s PM and a snippet of our extended chat went to air. Thanks Sam.
I am interested to hear how people understand the massive interest and involvement, but more importantly, how you have felt yourself.
You can listen to the interview HERE
I think Saturday night’s play off could be a highly skillful, entertaining game, and I hope the soccer gods finally smile on Mary Fowler, who has been magnificent.
Read more from John Harms HERE
To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.
Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.
Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.
Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE.
About John Harms
JTH is a writer, publisher, speaker, historian. He is publisher and contributing editor of The Footy Almanac and footyalmanac.com.au. He has written columns and features for numerous publications. His books include Confessions of a Thirteenth Man, Memoirs of a Mug Punter, Loose Men Everywhere, Play On, The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story and Life As I Know It (with Michelle Payne). He appears (appeared?) on ABCTV's Offsiders. He can be contacted [email protected] He is married to The Handicapper and has three school-age kids - Theo, Anna, Evie. He might not be the worst putter in the world but he's in the worst four. His ambition was to lunch for Australia but it clashed with his other ambition - to shoot his age.
I highly recommend the Matildas 6-part doco series on Disney. A key aspect in winning us over I reckon is they seem like ordinary people, and I mean that is the most positive sense. While we have been bowled over by their skills and derring-do, that they are relatable is the door that lets us in. You get that sense of next-door neighbour (who just happens to be a world class athlete) in the doco. Even the AFL makes access to players seem open but is actually more closed defining players as something more than us. Not with the Matildas.
Also, their efforts and our attraction to what they delivered, needs to be seen through a gender lens. There is a reason for the expression, breaking the glass ceiling. The Matildas WC smashed it. Hopefully, meaningful, tangible and sustainable financial, grass roots and brick and mortar actions by sporting bodies and government are put in place as a result.
Finally, people can bang on about the role of the penalty shoot-out all they want, but the Saturday penalty shoot-out was THE national adrenalin shot in the heart that cemented our love for the Matildas. As much as fiction/story telling is a core of who we are, the story of Saturday night would be lore in any era in our history.
Cheers
Trucker, the point about being relatable rings true to me. The point about making gods out of AFL footballers is indisputable. Building them up makes for a simple Fall story.
I’m keen to watch that doco.
I think the gender lens is necessary. I think these weeks have been enormous for women’s sport.
I also think this points at other things as well. Those things which are meaningful to all.
JTH – it has been a fascinating several weeks, and there are still two games to go!
A colleague asked me today about Wednesday night. I responded with – the English counter attack, resulting in a crucial goal, after a near miss for the Matildas, reminded me of how the All Blacks often punish opposition.
Mind you, to weave in a rugby league comment – some of England’s tactics had a Penrith look about them, and the ref seem to let the play flow, as do the NRL officials seem to do for Cleary’s mob!
I think David Basheer said in commentary, in about the 89th minute, when the ref finally pulled the yellow card out of her pocket: “well, that’s only about 30 minutes too late for Australia!”
Overall though, what a celebration, I love that Cathy Freeman has been referenced so often, deservedly so!
Many people have said how good the Disney documentary is, as Rick mentioned earlier. I MUST see it, sooner rather than later!
C’mon Australia tomorrow in Brisbane!
I’m not a soccer fan and I didn’t watch a lot of the tournament, but I heard the noise.
I’m interested as to why there wasn’t much noise around the netball where the girls actually won the world championship? Two horse race maybe? Netball needs deeper competition.
I know I’m in the minority but I’m also of the view that if the women’s soccer world cup narrative is told through a gender lens it will be UNhelpful. The story is a brilliant sport story. It should be celebrated as a sports story. To do otherwise, to muddy the water, does it a disservice. Ceilings and funding and facilities are important but are for another day and another (separate) conversation.
When Cathy Freeman stormed to victory in 2000 I don’t recall any gender elements to the celebration. We just celebrated a super star. A magnificent performance by one of us. Perhaps Australia’s greatest sporting moment. It was that simple and it was beautiful.
Not evrything (God help us) needs to be political.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
One aspect that struck me was the Matildas’ commitment to future generations. It spoke of a purpose larger than themselves and beyond the confines of the field. It wasn’t trying to protect what they’ve got, but to grow and inspire. And seemingly, not to grow at the expense of something else.
This type dialog does not seem to occur in the AFL or NRL. It seems to me their growth must Be at the expense of others.
The AFL likes to position itself as the custodians of the game, although this is contested by commentators like Martin Flanagan. Do AFL or NRL players consider themselves this way? If not, I wonder why?
I also wonder if competing in a truly global competition is a small and unacknowledged factor as well.
There is much to consider.
This is the main reason I try to read as many of the Almanac “comments” sections as I can.
In this case, I agree in spades with about two-thirds of the above comments though I candidly admit I have never consciously thought of the other third. However, now you five have articulated it so well, I have really enjoyed having you put into words what I have been feeling in the “vibe” folder in the deeper recesses of my being.
Hope this unadulterated stream of consciousness makes some sense – even if under the old “author’s intention clear” category!
Many thanks colleagues.
RDL
Terrific discussion. Agree with many of the points made. I was thinking about the “us against the world” little sister complex we have as a small privileged nation in a vast hostile world. The Matildas seemed to embody what many feel. And being a team rather than individual (and high profile) sport made a difference.
As someone who watches women’s soccer regularly (every 2 years – Asian and World Cups) the improvement in the quality of play is very noticeable. To me it feels like a top class fast, skilful contest – whereas in the past it sometimes felt like a “donation to a good cause”/encouragement prize.
I prefer women’s pro golf to men’s most of the time – and sometimes women’s tennis (Graf, Barty). It’s something about art over power – skill, elegance and grace trumping brutality. The rise of the Eastern Europeans has lost me with women’s tennis for the moment.
But team sport excellence requires time to develop and critical mass. Which is why the investment in women’s sport and facilities needs to be grass roots rather than centres of excellence.
To make a ‘political’ point – the governance and marketing model for elite women’s sport is being press ganged by the greedy bastards in FIFA/AFL. Oh look – a new shiny thing to sell. The commandeering of AFLW by the AFL and every club has been a disaster in my view. Diluted development at a point where skills needed to be concentrated. And FIFA/UEFA is doing similar thing. The heart of the dispute between the Spanish players and their coach was not personal – it was him as a representative of the national league. The players felt like second class citizens in terms of resources, support and pay compared to how they are treated by their clubs (particularly Barcelona FC) and the men’s national team.
Sorry Dips – politics in the broadest sense (not the banality of party politics) is central to everything we do.
The obvious factor is that this was the national team, something we can all get behind, but what next?
I can see how young kids might have been switched on to soccer as a result of this, which is a good thing.
To follow the game at levels lower than World Cup, the A-League doesn’t hold as much appeal yet – many of the games are played at out of the way places at out of the way timeslots. I can understand why, but I can’t work out what to do next apart from latching onto one of the local teams. Does me watching say, Sam Kerr at Chelsea do anything for the game locally?
I love your interview JTH.
People finding meaning through sport – people who have not or do not usually find meaning through sport.
Dips I reckon the gender aspect is a huge part of it, but just a part of it.
Yes it is a huge sports story.
Yes it is a huge women’s sport story.
Yes it is a huge look-what-we’ve-done-look-where-we’ve-come-from-look-with-hope-and-excitement-to-our-shared-future women’s sport story.
And it is a huge spirit-of-collective, festival-of-nations, peak-athletic-fitness, glory-of-youth, beauty-through-suffering, reward-for-effort, shifty-shadow-of-fate world sport story.
I quite liked that I knew relatively little about any players. e.g. where they lived, their opinions – and instead only observed that they could (e.g. H Raso) supply epic crosses from the left and wear a ribbon in their hair.