Welcome to The Wrap, a weekly podcast covering women's sports news.
Bez, what have we got around the grounds this week?
She doesn't have her microphone.
She's grabbing it.
We have a microphone.
The Cronulla Sharks are unbeaten in the NRLW.
Georgia Redmayne was the player of the match in the 100 final.
And the Tour de France comes to a very exciting close.
Oh, it was so, whoa.
There's a lot of emotions and anger about that situation, isn't there?
There's a lot of emotions.
There's a lot going on.
We will get to that.
For the key story, we're going to chat about a really cool move for women's football in England.
The FA has transferred control of the Barclays Women's Super League and Championship
to the newly established Women's Professional Leagues Limited, the WPLL.
We'll get into detail about what that actually means in the key story.
My name is Chloe Dalton.
I'm joined every week on the show by my co-host, Bez.
We're recording on Gadigal land.
I'm pretty good, thank you.
Hey, tell you what.
It was really cool to see how many people got their equal t-shirts.
It was an excellent pre-order and I can't wait to see everyone in them when the Paralympics starts in, what are we talking?
Nine days, I think.
Well, eight days by the time it comes out.
We'll get all your orders shipped out next week once the pre-ordered goods arrive.
And make sure you're rocking them when you're cheering on our Paralympians over in Paris.
Let's take a look around the grounds.
The Canala Sharks have beaten.
Reigning premiers, the Newcastle Knights, 14-12 to maintain their unbeaten run in the NRLW this season.
The game was back and forth from the get-go with the Sharks trailing 8-6 at the break.
But the second half, Canala dominated, restricting Newcastle to limited scoring opportunities.
And a Taylor-Preston penalty 20 minutes from time was the only thing that could split the two sides.
The result marks the first time the Knights have suffered back-to-back defeats since 2022.
They have been a dominant force in that league, haven't they?
Sharks coach Tony Herman told the media it certainly does feel good for and zip after our first month.
The girls focused on that a lot through the preseason.
We're in a pretty good spot, but there's a long way to go.
It's a short comp, but there's still a long way to go.
I love that from him.
He wants to say we're doing well.
I wish the comp was longer, but we're doing well.
That's a real, that's code for make it longer.
Yeah, let's play each other more.
In some awesome Hall of Fame news, the NRL has announced it will formally,
induct its first female players into the NRL Hall of Fame.
The 2024 Hall of Fame class includes Natalie Dwyer, Katrina Fanning, Tasha Gale,
Veronica White, Karen Murphy, and Tani Norris.
Did you play against any of them?
Tasha Gale did dabble in the 15-a-side game, and I did play, I think, against her.
She was playing for the Dirty Reds of Des Moines, and I played with her,
representing Sydney and New South Wales, actually, I believe.
She's a good footballer.
We haven't touched a lot on your playing career.
That's because it was short.
And you didn't like doing the beep test.
Back to the Hall of Fame.
Unlike these absolute legends.
They are legends.
ARLC, the Australian Rugby League Commission Chair, Peter Volandis,
said each of the inductees has played a significant role in the growth of the
women's game and the game itself.
They are extraordinary individuals who worked extremely hard to put women's
rugby league on the map.
Women's rugby league is as popular as it is now because of the efforts of the inductees.
Amazing to see them being recognized because we now see a semi-professional league of NRLW,
but there's so many women who've paved the way for the generation now who get to enjoy
the rewards of it.
These young girls that are absolutely killing it on television every week these days and
in front of big crowds, they are standing on the shoulders of giants.
You know, it's a lovely little cliche, but it's true.
Each of the six inductees,
played more than 15 tests for the Gillaroos in the 90s and 2000s.
You're going to say 1900s?
They're not that old.
They'd be offended that I said that.
Interesting, Bez, you and I were watching the men's rugby on the weekend.
The Wallabies against South Africa.
And one of the players, Noah Lola, had something written on his jersey.
We still haven't worked it out.
Was it for a milestone game?
We're unsure, but we were speculating how many matches he had played for the Wallabies.
And we were wondering what they celebrate.
But at the end, and then we were comparing that to how many matches the Wallaroos have played.
And I guess in this case, the Gillaroos.
So playing 15 tests back in that day, they probably played for the Australian team for...
Probably 15 years.
Not even exaggerating.
Like between 10 to 15 years to get that amount of test matches under their belt.
Because they just didn't play.
One of the inductees, Katrina Fanning, who played in the inaugural Gillaroos test against
New Zealand in 1995, told the Wallabies...
For a kid who didn't really want to play to now have women in the Hall of Fame, it's like
one of the last glass ceilings in sport.
We have got people in all other roles, but it was one place we weren't represented.
We have done that because people respect what has been done in the game and where it is
In some cricket news.
So they've been playing cricket in the...
In the, I was going to say Northern Hemisphere summer, but just really the England.
And it's called the 100.
So the London Spirit have won the 100 for the first time after a thrilling four-wicket
victory over the Welsh Fire in the final at Lords.
They were set 116 to win, and it came down to four being needed from the last three balls
before Deputy Sharma lofted Hayley Matthews over long on for six.
She was like, I don't need four.
Thank you very much.
The Welsh Fire looked on track for victory when Shabin Ismail took three for 24.
She bowled Meg Lanning, Heather Knight, and Danielle Gibson to keep her side in contention.
However, there was too much on Deputy's decisive strike as the Spirits claimed the
trophy on their home ground.
Aussie star Georgia Redmayne picked up her second play of the match award in a row.
She's killing it.
Taking wickets and scoring runs.
Spirit captain Heather Knight told the Guardian, it was a bit of a scrappy one, but we've committed
to how we want to play.
We've talked about being really positive and taking the game on.
And just a little reminder about what the 100 is.
It's a 100-ball cricket tournament involving eight teams in major cities across England
Which is some of the world's best cricket players, including a lot of Aussies.
The match also set an attendance record for a women's game at Lords with 22,000 spectators
Have they played a women's Ashes at Lords?
Because I just thought that at Lords, what's capacity at Lords?
I thought for an international match they would have topped that already.
They mustn't have played there.
They've definitely played in Manchester.
They mustn't have played at Lords because they would have, I'd say.
In a bit of cycling news.
Kassia Nui-Edoma has won the 2024 Women's Tour de France by four seconds.
This is eight stages of racing, 24 hours on a bike.
I feel my bum feels so sore just thinking about that.
Not 24 hours straight, clarifying.
But still, 24 hours back to back.
No rest days like the men have.
We'll get to that though.
24 hours, but over 24 hours, only four seconds separated them.
It was obviously the narrowest margin in the history of either the women's or men's race
with Nui-Edoma clinging onto the yellow jersey, despite an Alpine assault from the defending
champion, Demi Valerin.
In a nail-biting drama that came to a head on the 21 hairpins of the steep climb, Kassia
fought off all her main rivals during a stage in which at one point all seemed lost for
As the leaders began the climb to the ski station, that just sounds grim, doesn't it?
Climbing to a ski station, that is high up.
And in summer, it just looks so desolate.
Like it's, is that the right word?
It's just nothing.
It's just mountain and pain.
Mountain and pain.
That's pretty much what it looks like.
So as they began that climb, there were five riders in the play for final victory.
Cassia, lacking any teammates, was under intense pressure with the top three on the general
classification separated by just 10 seconds as they closed on the finish.
In the end, the closest tour in its history was played out in the final few meters of
a 950 kilometer race as she was chasing down Demi Valering.
So Demi Valering was out in front and she won the stage.
So she wins the stage and she has to win the stage by a minute and I think eight seconds
and she wins it by a minute and four seconds.
So she sits down on the floor, obviously completely spent because she's riding a bike where people
So, and then waits and the look on her face as she sees Cassia cross the line with four
seconds up her sleeve to keep that yellow jersey.
Just on that, we spoke earlier, you know, obviously the Tour de France this year was,
I felt, got a lot of publicity and it was great.
People were really on board.
SBS did an amazing job with the cover.
They really replicated what they did for the men.
The issue was they did that for the men for 21 days.
I just, you know, eight days.
Yes, it's a, it's, it's a great start, but we need more.
These, these women need to be, I mean, we just looked up for Tadej Pogacar.
He won in 83 hours versus 24 hours, 83 hours and 48 minutes.
So yeah, I just think next year, let's add some extra days and extra stages on these
women deserve it.
They're amazing athletes.
And I love that the research has shown that women can actually perform.
Better in these endurance events that over time as their events get longer, they can
potentially be better than the men.
Like, I think that's amazing and challenging this idea that the women couldn't possibly
do more than eight days of racing.
And I was, I think I was raging at you probably by messaging that you weren't responding to
Sometimes I get lots of messages on all different platforms.
You're just used to it when I start raging about something, but I was raging about the
one time trial that was included.
So the men actually often do two time trials, actually finished the Tour de France this
I don't know if you can see the time trial in Nice, but the women's time trial went for
It was, it was literally 10 kilometers.
So Grace Brown has come off the back of winning a 30 something kilometer time trial at the
Olympics, finishing only two minutes behind Remco Evenpool, who won the gold in the men's
time trial, exactly the same course, two minutes.
And then I go to the Tour de France and it's literally a 10 kilometer time trial.
I can ride 10 Ks, probably not that fast, but I can definitely do it.
Bez is going to do a triathlon soon on the side.
I take that back.
That's a rant that I rescind.
But I think, I just think, yeah, I think what they've got now is let's call it nice, but
even better if like these girls, these athletes can absolutely do more.
Even better if I like it.
I feel like, I feel like I took over your story there.
In some golf news.
America's Lauren Coghlan has won.
She's won her second LPGA tournament within the month, finishing four shots clear of the
She claimed the victory with a stunning back nine that included three birdies and saw her
single putt, her last seven greens.
That is some clutch putting.
Having won her first LPGA tournament in Canada on her 103rd attempt in July.
How good is that?
A hundred and three of the same course.
A hundred and three events.
A hundred and three tournaments.
She finally cracked it.
She only had to wait until her second tournament back to double her tally.
Coghlan was the only player in the field that included five of the world's top 10 to shoot
all four rounds in the sixties.
Meanwhile, Australia's Gabriella Ruffles finished tied for sixth.
Lauren Coghlan told me that if you would have told me, let alone beginning of this year,
but beginning of last year, I wouldn't believe this is what I've done.
And it's incredible.
It's just how hard I've worked to get here.
And it's amazing.
I just also think that golf is one of those things that once you start,
it's a big thing.
It's going to be like tennis.
Like once you start, you're in form, you're seeing it, you're feeling good.
Get on a roll real easy.
Thank you for the segue.
World number one, Inga Sviontek has gone down in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open.
She was defeated in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 by world number three, Irinia Sabalenka.
The Belarusian recorded five service aces and won 53.3% of serve points.
Meanwhile, in the other.
Semi-American Jessica Pagula beat Spain's Paula Bedusa 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in a much tougher
second semifinal that was briefly suspended due to rain.
Pagula, who won the Canada Open last week, will now aim to become the first woman since
Yvonne Gulagong in 1973 to win the Canada and Cincinnati titles in the same year when
she takes on Sabalenka in the final, which will be finished by the time this ep goes
How good's Yvonne?
Let's take a look.
Let's take a look at the key story.
So, Women's Super League.
So, I like this, in a league of its own.
In a historic move for the women's football, for women's football in England, the FA has
transferred control of the Barclays Women's Super League and championship to the newly
established Women's Professional Leagues Limited, or WPLL.
The transition marks a new era of independent governance aimed at driving growth and professionalising
Each club participating in these leagues will act as a shareholder.
This independent entity, led by CEO Nicky Dowsett, represents a significant step towards
accelerating the growth of women's football in England.
The WPLL aims to prioritise player welfare, fan engagement and long-term sustainability,
reinforcing the sport's competitive and commercial potential.
The WPLL will be run by an all-female executive leadership team.
How good is that?
The chief executive, Nicky Dowsett, said, women's football will be a key part of women's football.
Nicky Dowsett said, women's football in England has witnessed unprecedented growth in recent
We are fiercely committed to building on this momentum by creating a thriving landscape
which prioritises the welfare and development of players, fosters and excites a vibrant
fan community and nurtures the sport's growth.
We look forward to building upon this solid foundation and elevating women's professional
football in England to unprecedented levels.
Sounds like COVID with that amount of unprecedented.
The four principles which define the new company's identity.
Entity and operations as it works to distinguish and elevate women's football in England
Dedication to women's football.
For the first time in England, there is an independent and dedicated organisation with
a singular focus on advancing women's football.
I do love that they've actually split it from the men's game.
It needs a singular focus.
And they will cater to the uniqueness of that sport.
Building the foundation for growth, so building a solid framework to support the continued
expansion of women's professional football.
Football ensuring long-term sustainability.
Develop a progressive company culture committed to a culture of innovation, experimentation
and continuous learning.
And collaboration with stakeholders.
So the success of women's football relies on the collective efforts of all football
stakeholders including clubs, players, coaches, referees, fans, broadcasters, commercial partners,
governing bodies and leagues.
So the WPLL said it will be supported by the Premier League through a cooperation and funding
This is a UK £20 million interest-free loan.
The loan is in addition to the UK £20 million the Premier League has invested into developing
women's soccer at all levels between 2022 and 2025.
Dawn Airy, Chair of the Women's Professional League's Limited Board of Directors said,
We're excited to harness the full potential of women's football.
We know that with a unified vision and collaborative effort, we can shape an exhilarating future
for women's football, inspiring and delighting both the current and next generation of players
Let's take a look at what to watch.
In NRLW, the third-placed Eels take on the fifth-placed defending Premier's Newcastle
Parramatta will be looking to claim their third win in a row, whilst the Knights will
be hoping to bounce back from their first back-to-back losses in more than two years.
You can catch all the action this Saturday at 11am live and free on the Nine Network.
And the Open in golf.
First established in 1976, the AIG Women's Open is the final of five major championships
It also provides the chance to qualify for the Women's Women's Golf Championship.
It also provides the chance to qualify for the Women's Women's Golf Championship.
It also provides the chance to qualify for the Women's Women's Women's Open Championship.
It also provides the chance to qualify for the Women's Women's Women's Women's Open Championship.
It also provides the chance to qualify for the Women's Women's Women's Solum Cup, the
final event to earn qualification points or world rankings.
The Open tee is off at around 9pm on Thursday night and will run until early Monday morning.
You can catch all the action live on Fox Sports.
See you next week, friend!
Guess what's next week?
Get the alarms back on!
Join the 3am Broadcast Channel if you haven't already.
We'll have you covered.
once again with all the content you need across the Paralympics and we're doing a 10-day countdown
where each day we're going to highlight an athlete that you should watch during the Paralympics. I
think it's a really important opportunity to spotlight athletes who might have historically
not had the same media coverage as their able-bodied counterparts. See you next week. Bye.