Welcome to The Wrap, a weekly podcast covering women's sports news.
This week, oh my goodness, Bez, this is epic.
I don't know if you guys can hear the ocean in our microphones.
We are up on the beautiful Gold Coast on the World Surf League set,
thanks to our friends at Red Bull.
This is like, I feel like I'm pretty famous right now.
You are pretty famous.
This setup is epic.
We literally have, we're sitting up on Burley Hill watching the waves roll over.
We are surrounded by the magnificent Red Bull products,
the sun is shining.
Like you said, the ocean is literally just there.
It's not like you don't have your ear up to a seashell.
It's a real deal.
This is a real deal.
What have we got around the grounds this week?
New South Wales have won game one in the state of origin.
The Wallaroos are back in action,
and the mighty Chelsea have won the Women's Super League in England.
For the key story, we'll discuss news out of the Ironman World Champs
returning to a one-day, one-location format.
Some interesting kind of discussions happening around that one.
Hey, oh my goodness.
We had our first ever watch party.
It was a great time.
I feel like we'll discuss this probably in Around the Grounds
when we talk about the game itself, but it was such a good time.
Thank you so much to our amazing TFAP community who came out to watch.
It was a really nice feeling in there, and the Blues got the job done for us.
We, this Wednesday night, had the chance to chat to two of the very best surfers
in the world, Molly Picklam and Katie Simmers, in a live podcast,
When I say live podcast, the podcast does not get released live.
We are live doing it in person with a live audience.
I think that's an important distinction.
My mum asked me, where can I watch it?
And I said, it's coming, mum.
But we're so stoked to have the Red Bull athletes live in person
and have a chat to them here in the middle of the contest.
So if you are in Queensland, get there.
Kira Beach House, 6pm, Wednesday, 7th of May.
We will see you there.
Okay, my final promo, I swear.
May of Stuart, this Thursday.
New South Wales, Waratah, Wallaroo.
An incredible rugby player.
Some touch and go news coming out of her Wallaroos test match
against Fiji on the weekend where there was a bit of a knee injury.
We are crossing all the fingers and all the toes.
I think we're waiting for some scan results.
But yeah, she's a tough girl.
My name is Chloe Dalton, by the way,
after I've just yelled at you for 30 minutes about things it feels like.
Joined every week on the show by my co-host, Bez.
We are recording today on the traditional land of the Yugambeh
and Combermeri people.
Let's take a look around the grounds.
In A-League Women's, it's been a mammoth weekend
in the first leg of the Women's A-League semifinals
with undefeated Melbourne City playing out a 2-all draw
against Central Coast Mariners
and the Melbourne victory dominating Adelaide United 3-1.
Brooke Nunn gave the Central Coast Mariners a lead in the 20th minute
before two quick-fire goals from Letitia McKenna
and an incredible shot from Briley Henry
put the visitors ahead in the 35th minute.
Inform English done.
Nunn equalised nine minutes into the second half
to ensure the sides played out their third draw of the season.
So, interesting, we spoke about how City haven't been lost all year.
Three times they've played the Mariners, three draws.
It's pretty bizarre, hey?
I mean, props to the Mariners.
Yeah, and to have such a dominant season,
obviously the Mariners have their number.
They've got something going on defensively.
In the other semi, the Melbourne victory broke the deadlock
in stunning fashion in the 38th minute
when Matildas forward Emily Gilnick rifled a half volley
into the far corner.
The net responding in ideal fashion.
Adelaide levelled things up just 90 seconds after,
but late in the match,
Victory put their foot down,
parrying home at two headers in the 77th and 88th minutes.
Adelaide would now head to Melbourne
in an attempt to beat Victory at home
for the first time in nine years.
In rugby union, the Wallaroos have started their 2025 campaign
with a comfortable 43-7 win over Fijiana
in their first test in Fiji.
The Australians were in control for the majority of the game
Seven unanswered tries to race away with the victory.
But the Fijians put up a fierce challenge early on
as 20-year-old captain Alfredo Fischer crossed for the match opener,
the youngest skipper in team history.
She goes all right, the six.
How good is that?
To be 20 years old and be captain in your nation.
Yeah, she scored first and I was like,
whoa, we're on here.
Yeah, and I think probably these Wallaroos girls,
a lot of them would have played against the Fijians
in the super competition.
So it's a pretty similar team.
It's a very similar team.
And do you think some of them would have thought,
okay, well, we've at least united as a whole country now
as the Wallaroos.
Do you think there was any level of walking into that match
thinking that, not at all that it was going to be a walk in the park,
but do you think they maybe weren't ready to go off the first kick?
I think if there's one thing that you,
when you're preparing for any Fijian team,
you can never be complacent.
Purely because when they are on, they are unstoppable.
When they're on, they're on.
Yeah, that's so true.
It definitely woke the Aussies up that first try.
That was following Caitlin Hulse's 10th minute.
Tried to give Australia a commanding lead.
The Wallaroos forward pack were in fine form as captain,
and Si Kepesi Palu finished off a try set up by several big runs and a turnover.
Desiree Mill across late in the half as the Aussies took a 31-7 lead into the break.
The one-way traffic continued after the break when Lane Morgan caught BG napping for a five-pointer.
Hooker Tanya Naden sealed the win with 15 minutes to go with a rolling maul try.
The Gangaroos have finished with a silver medal at the first ever FIBA 3x3 series in China.
The Aussies began their campaign with a 21-10 loss to the Netherlands
before blitzing through their other opponents, Japan, China and Mongolia,
to meet the Dutch again in the final.
But the Gangaroos weren't able to beat the dominance of the Dutch
who capped off their unbeaten run through the tournament
with a 21-10 victory beating Australia by the same margin in the final.
It's kind of interesting, right, because the Aussies do really well in 3x3
and to get beaten.
And that convincingly by the Dutch.
Are the Dutch usually up there?
Not a very known basketball team.
They're tall, though.
Stands to reason they should be.
The Dutch, the tall Dutch, leveraged Australia's early foul trouble
hitting 8 of 10 from the free throw.
Ah, there you go.
Once they found their rhythm, the Netherlands consistently broke down Australia's defence
with crisp ball movement and clinical finishing.
In a bit of rugby sevens news, New Zealand just keep breaking my heart over and over again.
We didn't get to see the game.
We were on the plane when it was happening.
But, yeah, they obviously were a bit too good for our girls this morning.
They beat Australia 31-7 to claim the overall World Sevens World Championship title
So, were two-time Olympic champions who also won the league phase of the competition
this year, jumped out in an early lead and never really looked back.
They ran out 31-7 winners in a dominant display of power and precision.
So, Sevens kind of rebranded a couple of years ago now to a point where you play,
how many stops they play these days?
And then this is the seventh.
Or it's seven and then this is the eighth.
It's one of the two.
I think next year they're increasing again because they've rebranded the format again.
Anyway, we won't...
There's definitely some trial and error going on in that.
There absolutely is.
We won't go into detail on that because that makes it too confusing.
But pretty much you can win the competition based on cumulative points
and then you play in the grand final to seriously win the competition properly.
And next year I think it's going to be a three-legged grand final.
Good luck running with three legs.
Three-legged rugby would be pretty fun, I reckon.
In surfing, we are here.
The Gold Coast Pro is back.
It's happening this week.
They've surfed a couple of rounds already on the weekend.
It's Monday here and unfortunately it's a lay day for us.
We'd love for the girls to be surfing in the background.
We need Mother Nature to step in and do her thing.
But Molly Picklam had one of the best scores of the opening round,
registering an eight and a 7.6 ride to finish with a combined score of 15.6
to absolutely dominate.
And Katie Simmers notched a 13.23 to win her heat.
And fellow Aussies wildcard Sophia McCulloch and Steph Gilmore
also got the goods in their heats.
Steph Gilmore being back.
So Katie Simmers, you know, she's obviously one,
I think she's ranked third currently in the world.
So the heats are seeded.
And obviously the big dogs often get the wildcards.
Katie Simmers must be looking at that draw.
So she's got Steph Gilmore in the next round thinking, come on.
The wildcards are normally, you know, youngsters.
And you get the eight-time world champ.
Isn't that ridiculous?
So Katie Simmers and Steph Gilmore, hopefully tomorrow, fingers crossed.
But whenever it happens, it's going to be one not to miss.
And including Sophia McCulloch and Steph Gilmore,
all six Aussies are into the round of 32.
And you know what?
As we've said, we are going to spend some time with both Katie
and Molly Picklam on Wednesday night.
So if you're listening to this tomorrow and you are anywhere near the Gold Coast,
grab yourself some tickets.
It's going to be a really cool opportunity.
Like what I love about surfing is you just have young stars absolutely everywhere.
No discrediting the goats.
Steph Gilmore is iconic.
But I love the way that in surfing you just see these kids absolutely killing it out there.
And I'm really keen to – I've chatted to Molly in the past,
but I'm really keen to sit down and have them together kind of discussing
what it's like to be so young and dominating a global sport.
Yeah, these two have really started to create a real rivalry.
So it'll be interesting to see what they're like.
Apparently they're a really good mate.
They're obviously both Red Bull athletes.
So, yeah, it's going to be cool.
So as we've said, if you are anywhere near the Gold Coast, get here tomorrow.
In a bit of Super Netball news, the last place Giants –
have claimed their first win of the season,
defeating reigning premiers the Adelaide Thunderbirds 64-63.
That's a nice way to get your first win of the season, right?
That's right, Bez.
There is one between 64 and 63.
Didn't even use Excel.
It's been a long travel day from Sydney to the Gold Coast.
Oh, gosh, it's jet lagged.
The Giants looked confident with ball in hand
as Amy Sligar pushed Georgie Horges to try every trick in her arsenal in the first quarter.
A scrappy start to the second term left neither team able to score
during the first 90 seconds of the quarter.
And the same trend continued from there.
A five-goal halftime scoreline, 35-30,
meant neither team could take the foot off the pedal,
heading into a massive second half of action.
Despite opportunities throughout the third quarter
for both sides to take control and pull away,
it was another seesawing 15 minutes on court
that kept tongues wagging with the Giants still ahead
by five with a quarter to play.
With the T-Birds down by two goals as the final five minutes arrived,
it was Lauren Frew who kicked up a notch
with great accuracy from super shot range.
It was too little too late, though,
as Harton and Sophie Dwyer remained composed and clean under pressure,
and the Giants held strong to claim an important win.
I did your bit for you.
In some amazing football news,
Chelsea have been crowned Women's Super League Champions
Sixth consecutive season.
That's ridiculous, hey?
Champions of the world.
After Arsenal's 5-2 defeat to Aston Villa earlier on Wednesday,
the Blues went into their clash with Manchester United
knowing a point would secure the title.
Luckily, a second-half header from Lucy Bronze
meant a 1-0 win was enough to secure the Blues all three points
to clinch the WSL title with two games still remaining.
We've obviously clocked off because we lost to Tottenham this morning.
It means Sonia Bonpasta has added the league crown
to the League Cup title.
She's already won in her maiden season
in charge of the Blues,
with the FA Cup still a possibility
as they seek a domestic treble.
In a bit of ParaWorld Racing news,
Lauren Parker has begun her 2025 season perfectly,
winning gold in the Women's H3.
How's she begun it?
How's she begun it?
I was like, what did I say wrong then?
Did you see me scanning back to see, like,
what did I stuff up there?
She didn't hear you say it again.
Winning gold in the Women's H3 time trial
at the opening round of the 2025 UCI Parrot Cycling,
Parker repeated her wins from 2024 and 2023
comfortably ahead of her seven rivals
to win by one minute and four seconds,
averaging 35.64 kilometres per hour
over the 14.6 kilometre course on the Belgian beachfront.
That sounds nice.
Belgian beachfront?
Is it wrong that I didn't think Belgium,
Well, it obviously does.
Of course it does.
Quite narrow, isn't it?
Oh, we should stop talking about geography.
Let's talk about,
footy, state of origin.
New South Wales has stormed home in the second half
to defeat Queensland 32-12
to claim game one of the Women's State of Origin
in front of a record crowd of 26,022 legends.
The Blues held a 14-12 lead at halftime,
then kept the Maroons scoreless after the break
as Queensland struggled to contain the onslaught.
The Blues forwards dominated the middle of the field,
which allowed the backs to have plenty of attacking opportunities.
Debbie Tomprom, Ellie Johnston, she was massive.
She's just off the back fence every time she carries the ball.
It's a great saying.
I love off the back fence.
She had, as we said, a huge impact when the match was in the balance
during the second half, scoring a try and setting up another.
Blue skipper, Isabel Kelly, was named player of the match,
scoring a try and being a threat several times on that left edge.
And Jessie Southwell, I said to you before the game,
she's just got so much talent.
Just the X factor, hey?
Yeah, and she was on.
She had 13 run metres, three line break assists, two try assists,
and 12 tackles without a miss in her eight-point haul,
while Jamie Frassard scored a classy double on the wing.
Can we actually talk about, well,
I want to talk about Loz Brown bursting the pipe in the sheds,
but quick note on the watch party.
I know I touched on it in the intro.
Just to have a community of people come together to watch women's sport,
we went down to Wayward Brewing Co in Sydney,
and yes, we saw all your messages and requests for watch parties
in other cities, and we hear you, and we'll be looking to make it happen.
But it was so special to be down there,
and massive shout-out as well to our partner,
as Athlete's Foot, Adidas.
And Wayward, to be honest, all throwing gifts our way for trivia.
Everyone almost went away with some goodies.
Yeah, it was great.
So Loz Brown playing for Queensland, warming up in the sheds,
kicking the ball.
It's kind of crazy.
Some sheds you can warm up way more than other sports.
Rugby League has a real warming up in the shed vibe.
It is a warm up in the shed kind of sport.
But she's practising her kicking, sends one ball flying,
hits a pipe, and floods the sheds pre-match.
It wasn't just a little trickle.
It was water gushing, like, evacuate the shed situation.
It was genuinely not, yeah, like, water on the ground,
can't use the room anymore.
I'd be rattled if that happened to me pre-game.
I'd be concerned if someone was going to charge me for it.
What's the cost of this?
Who pays for that?
Who is paying for this?
In athletics, Sarah Billings has become the second
fastest Australian woman in history over 800 metres,
setting a personal best of 1.57.83 to finish just 0.05 of a second
outside the national record.
Billings bided her time before bursting through the pack
to finish behind only Ethiopia's Saigeh Deguma.
Meanwhile, Nicola Oleslagas and Eleanor Patterson
have continued their Diamond League prominence
with second and third placings respectively.
Too much second and third.
Yaroslava Mahuchik from Ukraine is so good.
She's just a force.
I mean, I respect her.
She's kind of like Ukraine's Jess Fox, I'm going to call it.
Yeah, except she doesn't kayak.
She jumps over tall bars.
Really tall bars.
Oleslagas cleared 1.98 metres on her second attempt
to separate herself from Patterson, who finished with 1.95,
while Mahuchik's clean sheet to two metres proved too slick.
Yaroslava in a kayak?
Versus Jess Fox jumping high jump.
I mean, Jess Fox is an athlete.
I don't know how tall Jess Fox is and how high she can jump,
but I can vouch that she is an athlete.
And I think that the kayak is so technical.
So we've got it covered, you reckon?
Got Yaroslava covered.
Are we saying we at Jess Fox?
Yes, I'm backing you in.
In some tennis news,
Irina Sabalenka has defeated Coco Goff to win the Madrid Open.
The world number one won.
17 points in a row early in the contest,
but had to save a set point in the second set on her way
to a 6-3, 7-6 victory.
Meanwhile, Aussie Daria Kasatkina was knocked out in the round of 32
and Madison Joyt knocked out in the round of 64.
Let's take a look at the key story.
The Ironman World Championships will return to a one-day,
one-location format in Kona in Hawaii in 2026,
reversing its previously stated commitment
to providing men and women with separate races
So Ironman CEO Scott DeRue has said,
Ironman's data collection uncovered two clear patterns
that athletes wish to race together in Kona.
It's like the Mecca, right, for them?
If you don't know anything about Ironman Triathlon,
you've heard of Kona.
And you picture them running around a volcano.
Fighting for their lives.
That's pretty much what it is.
And the two-day, he said their data collection said
that the two-day format did not lead to increased participation
Who, historically, have had lower Ironman participation
So as such, Ironman says it felt justified in eliminating
the women's-only race day and men's-only race day format
implemented in 2022 in favor of bringing back
the one-day mixed gender race.
What are your thoughts, Bez?
It's kind of similar to the double-header conversation
that we often have about team sports.
What do you think about this one?
It is a very interesting one.
So the double-header conversation, you know,
sometimes is framed in a way that, you know,
framed in a way that you know people are coming to watch the men's match and they get two for one
whereas you know there's this conversation is kind of saying i think the issue here is that
both um male and female races being held on the same day is actually taking the spotlight from
the women if they have their own day um it's sound from from you know the numbers say that
they get more attention so whilst they're saying that the numbers haven't increased
you know it hasn't been that long 2022 we've had two or three years that's the thing how is that
enough time to make a decision that the numbers haven't increased enough it's i think it's
problematic their justification to me doesn't make sense and you know as we've seen in so many
other sports if you give women athletes the time and you invest and you give them the spotlight
it will grow and i i don't know nearly enough about the iron man event i've definitely watched
it before and i love it and i i think i respect them the most really out of any athlete like what
they put their bodies
through is out of control but to me if you're saying we have an issue with participation rates
for women we're now going to merge the events and give the women it's going to be less than 50
broadcast time of what they had when they had their own day race to me you're not addressing
the visibility piece around increasing participation there either right i totally agree
interesting one it'll be um yeah quite interesting to see how that plays out and i yeah i just hope
that it doesn't keep more women out of the sport let's take a look at what to watch surfing
yeah shredding bra in the green room in the green room she reckons we're in the red bull room
the gold coast pro is back and there's an epic match-ups coming in the round of 16
eight-time world champ steph gilmore as we said competing in her first event
since 2023 we'll go up against the 2024 world champ the young star the young gun
the old gun and the young gun the older gun won't call it old gun yeah not old
older gun the older gun and the experience gun and the younger katie simmers and an all-australian
down tyler wright takes on sally fitz talking about how good's that the ogs yeah well not as
ogs the ogs but some solid ogs to right now so yeah keep an eye on the wsl page for when that
will happen hopefully mother nature sends us some waves we've got our videographer and producers
shaking their heads at us i do believe that mother nature in regards to the surf world is called huey
really discuss is it yeah it's called huey he's but it should be a woman i think it's a girl huey
a girl we need to wrap this up in football it's getting down to the wire in the a-league women's
with leg two of the semi-finals this weekend melbourne victory host adelaide on saturday at
2 p.m before the mariners head to melbourne to take on city on sunday at 2 p.m you can watch
live and free on network tent in rugby the welleroos are back on home soil after getting
back from i'm sure it wasn't a holiday in fiji but god some of their photos look beautiful
such a beautiful place they're back to take on the news deal and black ferns in the first game of this
series the match is this saturday 3 p.m in newcastle get there if you are anywhere near it
otherwise watch stan sport and it's super netball it's the battle of the birds in the super netball
on saturday when the fourth place queensland firebirds host second sitting adelaide thunderbirds
this is your favorite matchup actually firebirds and thunderbirds the game begins at 5 p.m aest
and you can watch it live and free on ko freebies that's the wrap that's the wrap it's been fun i'm
so sweaty the sun here is beautiful but i my back sweat on this pillow is not good i need to get out
of here see you guys if you're in queensland see you wednesday night at the live podcast otherwise
we'll see you guys next week bye