Welcome to The Wrap, a weekly podcast covering women's sports news.
Bez, what have we got around the grounds this week?
A-League women become the most attended season of any women's sport in Australia ever.
Super Netball is back.
Plus, run the city to surf with us to support the Rays Foundation.
For the key story, we'll chat about the campaign that's looking to save Canberra United,
which is one of the teams in the A-League women's that is in a bit of need of help.
My name's Chloe Dalton.
I'm joined every week on the show by my co-host, Bez.
We're recording on Gadigal land.
Let's take a look around the grounds.
In football, it's finals time in the A-League, and the Newcastle Jets finally won a final.
Finally won a final.
The Jets hadn't had any success in finals in the 16 years they've been in the comp.
That's a long time.
That is a long time, but that all changed in a 4-2 extra time win over Western United on Saturday.
It was all locked up at 2.
2-2 after an entertaining 90 minutes, and it's safe to say extra time belonged to Newcastle.
Melina Ayres scored her 36th career goal in extra time after coming off the bench.
Nine of those career goals have come in finals.
She is clutch, and with her previous clubs, Melbourne City and the Victory,
she definitely loves a bit of pressure.
In the second elimination final, nothing could separate the Central Coast Mariners
and Melbourne Victory over a long 120.
20 minutes that finished at 0-0.
That's a long time.
But upstep Mariners keeper and penalty shootout expert Casey Dumont.
Dumont was a victory legend before leaving to try hand at AFLW last season.
She did have a crack.
She then joined the Mariners this year and has not looked back.
She saved two victory penalties, and I love this,
stepped up to convert one of her own in the 4-2 shootout win.
And in some more epic Tilly's legacy news,
the A-League confirmed after the weekend's matches that this season became the most attended season
of any women's sport in Australia ever.
It's pretty cool.
A bit sad because it took over AFLW in 2023.
It took AFLW's record, but that's fine.
We'll just have to try and fight back in 2024.
Part of it is they do now play an amazing 22-round competition.
Yep, here for it.
Still plenty of weeks.
Three weeks of finals to come, so they will keep upping that number for sure.
In tennis, the Aussie Billie Jean King Cup team,
led by Captain Sam Stoza,
became the first of eight nations from the qualifiers to book their place
at November's Billie Jean King Cup finals in Seville.
They dominated Mexico in a 4-0 win,
and it was debutante Taylor Preston who sealed the deal
when she defeated Marcella Zacharias 6-1-6-1 at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.
Arena Rodanova and Daria Saville also won their ties,
and Saville teamed up with Ellen Perez to take out the doubles.
There were some pretty devastating,
devastating news for the team on the eve of the event,
with Storm Hunter rupturing her Achilles tendon during a practice session.
That's just devastating.
That's devastating.
The injury means that she will more than likely miss out on the finals,
and of course also the Paris Olympics which come before that,
which is really rough for Storm, sending healing vibes.
In some more football news,
the Tillys had a solid win last week against Mexico in Texas.
Hayley Razo opened up the scoring early,
bearing a shot from the edge of the box,
after just nine minutes.
Kaitlyn Ford doubled the advantage in the second half
when she cut in from the left and curled a screamer into the net.
Coach Tony Gustafsson told media after the game,
the challenge was just what they were looking for.
Their commitment, pressing, their tactical awareness.
We know they're good 1v1 with Jules.
They're good 1v1 attacking.
We said before the game that we really wanted to test our limits tonight.
We know Germany is going to come flying at us with pressing.
We know the US is going to come flying at us with pressing.
We said let's test our limits.
The next step towards Olympic gold will be back on home soil
with two friendlies against China set for May 31st in Adelaide
and June the 3rd in Sydney.
I love that they picked an opponent that's going to play a similar style
of football to their pool opponents in the Olympics.
They were very pressy.
The Southern Corp Super Netball is back.
And the Melbourne Vixens nabbed their first derby bragging rights
when they beat the newcomers.
The Mavericks 68-61.
There were multiple momentum swings,
but the experience of the Vixens won through in the end.
Sophie Garvin was excellent for the Vixens
and relished her time in the goal shooter bib
after spending most of last season at goal attack.
The West Coast Fever were very, very, very impressive
against the Giants in the opening match.
Very, very, very, very.
They always looked into control in their 19-goal win.
Janelle Fowler-Nembard.
Now, she might have a new addition.
She might have a new addition to her name
after getting married in the off-season.
But it's the same dominant performance on the court.
The Fever shooter finished with 64 goals from 64 attempts.
She's a shooting freak.
That's so impressive.
In athletics, the Australian Athletics Championship
saw some red-hot performances last week.
None better than the 800 metres.
This was a highly anticipated race.
My fingers were tingling.
On the piano, apparently.
Teenage sensation.
Claudia Hollingsworth ran a lightning-fast 1 minute 58.40
to set a new Australian Under-20 record
and take home the title.
Almost more impressive than the time was the field
that she actually beat, Bez.
There were four runners who broke the two-minute barrier.
Hollingsworth beat World Championship semi-finalists
Abby Caldwell, Olympian Bendiri Aboya,
and Australian record holder Katrina Bissett.
And they all ran under two minutes.
That is a stacked line-up.
Nicola Oleslagas and Eleanor Pattersons are both world champions
and pushing each other all the way to Paris.
Oleslagas got the chocolates in Adelaide with a 2.01 metre clearance
and a new championship record.
She then attempted a huge 2.06 metres but couldn't quite clear the bar.
It would have been a massive PB for the Olympic silver medalists.
Again, there's this group of women that are pushing each other.
We've obviously got that middle distance running.
We spoke about the marathon last week.
The high jumpers.
Mackenzie Little and the javelin is killing it.
In Rugby Union, it was the final round of Super Rugby W
and there was a pretty big upset when the Melbourne Rebels secured
only their second win in their six-year history
when they shocked second-place Fijian Drewa on Saturday night, 34-21.
Skipper Ash Masters was again huge for the Rebels
and the Drewa paid for too many errors that cost them at really crucial times.
The Western Force hung on for a really tight 38.
to 36 win over the ACT Brumbies.
That was also on Saturday.
The Force will head into their first finals match this weekend
on the back of that win and with some confidence
that they can knock off the Drewa,
who look to be struggling a bit at the moment.
On Friday night, the New South Wales Waratah survived a scare
from a fired-up Queensland Reds team
and kept their undefeated season alive with a 34-19 victory.
So it's now finals time, which is very exciting.
I mean, I'd like to have played for another couple of weeks,
And we have first.
First place, New South Wales Waratah is hosting fourth place ACT Brumbies
and the second place, Fiji and Drewa will host the Western Force in Fiji.
And it's win and you're in.
Win and you're in.
Win and you're in the big dance.
Just a quick one.
We'll talk about it in what to watch.
But if you're in Sydney, get along to Allianz on Friday night.
It's going to be an amazing match and, yeah,
really stoked to be playing a standalone at Allianz Stadium.
It's really cool.
We'll see you there.
Kezi Magbogor has been selected in the All-Euro League Women First Team
after a huge season for a club with a lot of letters,
She finished runner-up in the defensive player of the year voting
and led the league in blocks with 2.4 blocks per game
and was third in the league with 8.1 rebounds per game.
Hey, a little one to finish our Around the Grounds with.
We've actually partnered with the Rays Foundation for the City to Surf
that's coming up later this year.
Are you running it?
It's going to be, like, right before we start our season,
so I don't imagine my strength and conditioning coach is going to be
that keen on me running 4Ks.
That's convenient.
Will you be there, though?
No, absolutely not.
I run for a bus every now and then.
This is a call-out to all our TFAP followers, listeners,
and we know there's lots of run clubs these days.
It's a real thing.
It's very popular.
So if you want to pair a bit of a passion for running to support a good cause,
so every dollar raised will go towards helping change
So if you want to pair a bit of a passion for running to support a good cause,
change the lives of struggling young people,
Rays will provide these young people with six months of one-on-one mentoring,
which has proven to give them the skills they need to live life well,
which is really cool.
So I'll put a link in the show notes to give you a bit more info about how you
can run the City to Surf and partner with Rays and TFAP to raise some good
funds for a good cause.
Rays, it is an amazing, in all jokes aside, it's a really cool cause,
and if you are one of those people that enjoy running for long periods of time,
Let's take a look at the key story.
the Canberra United Football Club have been a part of the National League
for 16 years and have helped produce players and Matildas such as Michelle
Heyman, Hayley Razo, Ellie Carpenter, the list goes on.
But news out of the nation's capital is not great with financial issues,
meaning this season might just have been their last.
The team is run by Capital Football, who are responsible for grassroots
football and the A-League women's team, and they're the only stand-alone
team in the league.
So every other team in the A-League have a men and women's program that run
side-by-side that are all privately owned.
So, Capital Football, the owners, they have said they've invested more
than $2.5 million in Canberra United across the past two seasons and has
doubled the club's annual budget since 2021 to 22 in line with the increase
in matches for the club.
As we said earlier, there's a lot of matches, which is great,
which is also a bigger investment required from those clubs.
That investment is not enough to run the program into the future and ensure
the survival of the team.
Fundraiser has been launched and is being led by former Matilda Sue Reid.
Reid says that the club is chronically underfunded and have survived up to now
on the back of people doing jobs for free or very little payment.
The campaign has raised over $70,000 and is aiming to raise $300,000 to help
cover coaching and support staff, training facilities, uniforms, performance
support, accommodation, meals, nutrition and transport for next season.
Interestingly, the group has highlighted that there's a massive difference in
investment from the ACT.
The ACT government included $250,000 in the recent budget for Canberra United and offered
a 50% payment in advance of the agreement to help with upfront running costs, I guess
to help guarantee the survival of the club.
In contrast, though, it's been reported that the ACT government currently spends around
$2.85 million a year in a deal to bring the GWS Giants to the capital for three or four
I don't know that club.
No, never heard of them.
Sue Reid has spoken to this disparity, telling the ACT government that the ACT government is
not going to be able to do that.
Sue Reid has spoken to this disparity.
Telling Channel 7, our players run, they play, they stay back after every game and
connect with the community.
They go to schools, they run coaching clinics, all for free to give to the community.
So when we invest in women's sport, you're not just investing in sport.
I think, you know, we talk about, you know, comparison a lot and it's not necessarily
always the greatest thing to discuss.
But in this case, I think when we look at the ACT government's investment in this club
versus what they invest in a GWS Giants, it's not necessarily the greatest thing to discuss.
It's really important.
We're not saying that the GWS Giants shouldn't be getting the $2.85 million.
As you said, they sold out Monaco Oval on the weekend.
There's definitely a connection there between Canberra and the GWS Giants.
What we're saying is, and we've said it time and time again, there's enough pie for everyone.
Like, make a bigger pie.
You know, the $2.85 million for the Giants is great, but $250,000 for a local club that
is providing a pathway for your young women.
And giving back to the community time and time again and playing a 22-season competition,
You need to find more pie.
And I think the fact that this is happening around the same time as the data that's come
out about it being the most attended season of all time, like the data's there to show
that if the right investment is made, you're going to get results from it.
The most attended season.
And I think, you know, it vies with netball every year for like the most played sport
Like you're talking about a massive...
About the New South Wales increase in numbers, but huge increases in participation.
You know, it's just a no-brainer to invest in this.
And once again, Sue Reedy's doing an amazing job with this fundraising piece.
We'll definitely put a link in there if you want to get involved in that.
Whilst I support it and I think it's amazing, it just...
It gets tiring that we have to carry this load ourselves over and over again.
Let's take a look at what to watch.
The WNBA draft is here.
We said that last week, Bez.
It's not that far away.
Turns out we were right.
There has not been as much buzz about a draft for a really long time.
Kaelin Clark is sure to go number one.
Imagine if she didn't.
I kind of was thinking about that this morning.
Like imagine if Indiana Fever were like, psych!
We're going to have Cameron Brink, thanks.
After like selling tickets for $800 a pop.
Another stat, Clarkonomics, I think Indiana Fever had one primetime game last season.
They've got 23 scheduled for this season.
Who's making decisions that make sense?
Would you believe it?
But the picks after that are kind of anyone's guess.
There's a lot of predictions around, but there's some serious, serious talent.
Our very own Aussie, Nadia Opoch, is predicted to be selected in the top 15, which is pretty
You can watch live on ESPN via Fox Sports from 9.30 a.m. Tuesday today.
The Super Rugby WSemi finals are both on Friday.
The Fiji and Drua will host the Western Force in Super Fiji.
That kickoff will be 2.35 p.m.
Another long trip for the Force, the poor buggers.
And the mighty New South Wales Waratahs will be home alone on Friday.
Do you like the home alone call?
I'm going to do a little Macaulay Culkin splice.
We need to make that happen.
Home alone on Friday against the ACT Brumbies.
The Tars will be looking to get as many fans as possible to Allianz Stadium for the 5.45
Get the kids out there.
As we said, first standalone fixture at that venue.
Big shout out to the New South Wales Waratahs organization.
For investing in our program and getting us on that field because it wasn't cheap, but
they made it work and it's fantastic.
So get your tail blue on and come and cheer loudly for the girls.
It's an Olympic year and we're getting excited.
This week is swimming's term of the Australian Open Championships to be held at the Gold
Coast Aquatic Center between April 17 and 20.
Catch all the action live on the Nine Network.
And in the A-League, we move to the semifinals, which are two legs.
I've got two legs.
One at each home ground.
You have one at each home ground because that would be tricky.
The Newcastle Jets will host Premier's Melbourne City on Sunday at 3 p.m.
with the return leg in Melbourne on Sunday the 28th.
Sydney FC will travel up the highway to take on the Central Coast Mariners in the second
semifinal, which also kicks off on Sunday at 5.45 p.m.
So a bit of back-to-back viewing there on Sunday, aren't they?
Sydney will host the second leg the following weekend on Saturday, April 27th at Leichhardt
So make sure, as you said, broken records.
Keep breaking the records, people.
Get along to a game.
Or if you can't, 10 play in Paramount Plus will have all your needs sorted.
My hamstrings are too tight to have two legs in home grounds.
They are very long, though.
I'm excited to watch the WNBA draft.
See you probably on your couch tomorrow morning, the day of the release.