Welcome to The Wrap, a weekly podcast covering women's sports news.
Bez, what have we got around the grounds this week?
The Chooks are the newest NRLW champs.
After a thrilling grand final victory over the Sharkies,
the Wallaroos have continued their unbeaten run in WXV2.
So the Wallaroos and Team Australia are off to a flying start
in the America's Cup.
And they are flying because those boats kind of fly.
They actually fly.
I thought you were about to say a thrilling grand final.
A thrilling grand final.
For the key story, we'll discuss a four-year strategy
by the English Football Association launched with the ambition
of building a sustainable future for women and girls football.
The results are encouraging.
Love some encouraging results.
I also love a sustainable future.
My name is Chloe Dalton.
I'm joined every week on the show by my co-host, Bez.
We're recording on Gadigal land.
The nominations for our TFAP Awards close this Friday.
These are the nominations.
So if you're listening to this on Tuesday as part of your weekly podcast ritual,
which you should.
You've only got a few days.
So make sure you nominate.
Do you have a favourite?
You've been keeping an eye on the nomination so far.
Do you have a favourite?
There's been a lot of nominations come in.
But I think my favourite so far, and just a little reminder to everyone,
this is a 16-month period that we're all in this.
So, yeah, my favourite one so far would have to be Courtney Vine.
And the nomination was really brilliant.
Just quite succinct and said, one word, penalty.
Is this for moment of the year?
Moment of the year.
And it was, let's be real, in my humble opinion.
It's going to be tough to beat in that category.
Moment of the year.
There's a few of them.
If you think about Fox sisters.
No, Amy Fox, for me, was really up there.
Well, I'm on Vine time.
But, yes, that's probably my favourite so far.
Just one word, penalty.
So, yeah, don't get overwhelmed by, like, the criteria or anything.
Get your noms in.
Whatever floats your boat.
Nominations close Friday.
FemaleAthleteProject.com forward slash awards.
Put the link in our bio and our show notes too.
Let's take a look around the grounds.
Bit of NRLW grand final action.
The Roosters have held off a furious second half comeback from the Sharks
to claim their second NRLW title, 32 to 28.
A Sharks error opened the door for Roosters and Dallium winner Olivia
Koenig to put her side up.
26-0 when she crashed over in the 15th minute.
I was impressed by her because I think to win Dallium
and then to perform in the grand final is a big statement.
Yeah, backing it up.
Wingers Jamie Fressard and Bridie Parker then crossed in quick succession
before Parker scored her second in the 26th minute before Jess Sergers
extended the margin in the final minute of the first half.
So they went into the break 24-0 up.
What were your thoughts at 24-0?
Shut the door on here.
Like, I did not think that second half was going to play out the way it did.
It was a cracker.
Just on that, sorry, I'm just segwaying my first half thoughts.
The kicking game from the Roosters.
Jocelyn Kelleher.
Just put the back three from the Sharkies under all sorts of pressure.
Which we actually saw the last time these two teams met was where the Sharks
struggled, so I think probably a pretty good scouting report done there
A scouting report.
That's AFL terminology.
Oh, do other sports not say that?
A little bit of preaching.
A little bit of preaching.
A little bit of preaching.
A little bit of preaching.
I thought we used to do a scout in basketball, too.
I thought it was a universal term.
It must be a hands-above-the-head sport thing.
For the Shark, Tiana Panatani crossed three minutes into the second half
before Quincy Dodd was over as well.
Another came courtesy of Georgia Hannaway in the 48th minute.
An error off the kickoff, however, halted the momentum,
and the Roosters kicked out to a 26-18 lead.
But the Sharks weren't done, with Ellie Johnson producing a miracle play to pull
her team within two with still eight minutes to play.
The old catch the ball between the legs.
But as we said, Dahlia medalist Olivia Koenig looked to have put the game
to bed with a 66-minute try, her second of the game.
Tiana Panatani came back again, like a bit of a last-chance effort
to get them back in the game, but that was where it finished up.
The Roosters held on to secure a 32-28 win.
We had Corbin Baxter on.
We had her on the podcast, and we got her to do her prediction.
She predicted Roosters by a try.
20-14, she said, didn't she?
Yeah, look, the scoreline.
Okay, we didn't have to point that part out, but I thought she nailed it otherwise.
Taryn Aiken was named player of the match after the Roosters' halfback finished
with two try assists and three line break assists.
An exceptional kicking game.
A couple of fun facts from you, Bez.
Millie Elliott became the Millie Elliott.
That was really fast.
Millie Elliott became the first woman and just the second person to win
For three different clubs, she gets around.
Broncos, Knights, and the Roosters.
Oh, yeah, because I saw.
Who commented that?
I think on Millie Boyle's post, she said something to Millie like,
I told you, you win every time.
I forgot that she'd been at all three.
I was thinking two, but all three.
So I don't think she's ever lost a grand final.
That's a nice stat to put in the pocket, isn't it?
Because they're the only three teams that have ever won premierships, too.
And a crowd of 40,623 were in the house at Acor Stadium to watch the decider.
It would have been even better if it was at Albuquerque.
Yes, it would have been, but.
That was still a great crowd.
Tell us about the Wallaroos, Bez.
Wallaroos have beaten WXV2 host South Africa 33-26 to put themselves in the
box seat for a chance at winning the WXV2 title.
The Aussies were dominant early.
They raced out to a 21-5 lead after 15 minutes with tries to Pessy Palu,
G-Fred, and Eva Kapani.
I like how she's just G-Fred.
She is just G-Fred.
She's just G-Fred.
That try for G-Fred, though,
A result of some pretty beastly lead-up work from Maya Stewart,
who has just got spiders on her right now.
South Africa eventually worked their way back into the contest,
and just after the half-hour mark, they got it down to 21-12,
but then tries to Maya Stewart, her of the spiders all over her,
and Desiree Miller looked to put the game out of reach.
But there was a late fight back from the hosts.
Two late tries had the South Africans looking for a draw at the very end,
and I was very nervous, some sweaty palms going on there,
but it was Ash Masters, who was playing her 33rd Wallaroos game,
equaling Liz Partu as the most capped Wallaroo.
She's about to take over.
She will become the most capped Wallaroo against Scotland
if she plays on the weekend, which is pretty cool.
Ash Masters came up with a massive turnover on the try line
to put to bed any chances of a draw.
So that win puts the Aussies top of the WXV2 ladder,
and they will play Scotland, who are coming second,
so almost like a little default grand final, which is perfect for the title.
And can I quickly touch on?
I was on the Sia Khaleesi interview post-match.
Captain of the men's Springbok side.
He was there at the game watching in the women's Springboks jersey,
and he said it is our duty as men in the game to make sure
that we intentionally be there, not just at games, at trainings,
helping where we can, because if the women's game grows,
the whole of rugby grows, and we all benefit out of it.
What a great man.
He is an exceptional rugby player, an amazing captain,
and a really good human.
The girls were seeing a lot of photos on socials
of the girls getting around him, lots of fangirl photos.
I'm not surprised.
And he was loving it.
He's a big Manistewa fan.
In cricket, Australia have gotten off to a winning start
at this year's T20 World Cup with a comfortable victory over Sri Lanka.
Having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 7 for 93 in the first innings,
opener Beth Mooney anchored the chase as Australia eased to a 6-wicket win
in their first match of the tournament.
Megan Shute and Sophie Molyneux starred with the ball with 3 for 12
and 2 for 20, respectively.
In the second innings, Australia's deep batting lineup always looked in
as Mooney's unbeaten 38-ball 43 not out saw them home
with 5.4 overs remaining.
In some surfing news, we had the Portugal challenger
and Australian surfer Sally Fitzgibbons has won the Challenger Pro
in Portugal, beating France's Taya Zabrowski, Mike Wazowski,
her second consecutive win sees her stay number one
in the Challenger rankings.
as lock in a spot on next year's World Surfing Tour.
Oh, how good, Sal.
She just perseveres, doesn't she?
She is the definition of resilience and just get back up and go again.
She stays in the fight, does Sal.
On the final day of surfing, Sally scored a 13.6 out of a possible 20,
while her opponent could only manage a total of 10.8.
She said after her victory,
I'm so proud of my team enduring it all, getting cut from the tour hurt,
but channeling that into the passion and inspiration and, in particular,
desire for the Challenger Series.
Well done, Sally.
We are super stoked for you.
In AFLW, Geelong has held off a surging Sydney to keep the AFLW season alive
with a three-point victory.
I was saying there's a chance.
The cats to win the grand final.
She's still holding on.
The cats led at every change before the Swans mounted a serious
fourth quarter challenge to reduce a game-high 21-point lead.
Lexi Hamilton's goal brought the Swans within four points late
in the last quarter.
Is that the over-the-head one?
No, I don't think that was.
I think that was someone.
I didn't think that was Lexi.
I thought it was someone else.
Love the scissor kick over the head.
But the cats held on to win 44-41.
The victory is only the second of the year for Geelong.
I didn't know it was only two.
There's still a chance.
It's been close losses.
That's only that you think they're going to still win the grand final.
I cannot believe with the confidence that you predicted that.
I'm not getting off the cat.
I respect the perseverance.
Taking some Sally Fitz inspo.
To back the cats.
I bet they're not very happy for my backing.
In some sailing news, the first ever Women's America's Cup has started
over the weekend.
Tell us, how does it work?
So we've got 12 teams competing, America's Cup teams,
which are known as Group A, and then the invited teams known
as Group B, which includes Australia.
The Group A teams are New Zealand, Great Britain, Switzerland, the U.S.,
Italy, and France, whilst Group B teams are Spain, the Netherlands,
Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Australia.
The Cup starts with a qualification series,
which will see participants compete in a series of fleet races.
The top three teams from each group will then progress to the semifinal
series before a final match race to determine the overall champion.
Who have we got in Team Australia?
So Team Ando Australia consists of the best in the world,
with the quartet of skipper Olivia Price, fellow helm Laura Harding,
and trimmers Annie Wilmot and Lisa Darminian.
So far, four of eight qualification races have been sailed,
and Australia sits third on the overall standings in Group B,
and the top three qualify.
Oh, we're looking good.
They came third in race one, first in race two, sixth in race three,
and second in race four.
Australian skipper Olivia Price told media,
these boats are wild and they are the most fun sailing boat I've ever sailed
To be able to do this is incredible and bridge that experience gap between us
This is the first step and something I'm super passionate about,
but to have Australia back in the America's Cup is something very dear
And the AC75s are?
All comers 75 feet.
I don't know about the AC part.
I've definitely made that up.
I think it's air conditioned.
I think it's an air conditioned boat.
Because when you're looking at these boats, you know,
and weight is super important.
An air conditioning unit is very needed out in the water.
Okay, but a 75, I reckon the 75 is definitely length.
I reckon you're bang on.
75 foot is for sure.
I've nailed that.
Oh, we've got America's Cup is AC.
Thanks, producer Soph, for coming through with the facts.
Actually coming through with the comments.
It's a public holiday Monday, and the brains are all having a holiday.
Sorry, guys, we have tapped out.
We have tapped out.
Okay, pull it together.
In sports climbing, Australia's Oceana McKenzie has finished second
in the overall Women's Boulder Climbing World Cup Series for 2024.
The final event of the year has been held in Seoul, Korea.
And whilst Oceana finished seventh, missing out by just one place
on making the final, her current world ranking points
were enough to give her overall silver behind the USA's Natalia Grossman
and in front of Japan's Mao Nakamura.
Let's take a look at the key story.
The English Football Association, known as the FA,
what does that stand for, do we think?
I'm going to say Football Association.
Have provided an update on their women and girls football strategy
called Inspiring Positive Change.
They launched in 2020 with the ambition of building a sustainable future
for women and girls football.
In the last four years, the number of women,
women and girls playing football has increased by 56%.
The Inspiring Positive Change group set the target of 75% of schools
to be offering girls equal access to football by 2024.
That target was met in 2023 and has now been surpassed
with 77% of schools offering equal access.
So they met it ahead of time and have now surpassed it.
Yep, and only going up.
Oh, I love to see that.
There has also been a significant increase in the number of women
and girls taking up coaching and refereeing.
Yes, the number of female coaches being developed rose by 88%
between 2020 and 2024,
while the number of female referees increased by 113%.
Which is probably a necessity based on player numbers increasing.
You need coaches and referees because of those player number increases,
but it's just so important to have females in those roles.
I'm a big advocate for this.
I think people give referees a very hard time
and they love to take the piss out of them.
But you cannot increase the number of girls playing.
Without increasing the number of people refereeing the girls' games.
So stop yelling at the referees, parents.
And it's an interesting one.
But it is an interesting one.
You look at opportunity in regards to representing at the highest level.
You can do that with a whistle in your hand.
You know, we've got an Australian referee that I know,
Ella Goldsmith, over at WXV2 in South Africa,
refereeing at the top level.
Like, it's really cool.
She was a player, picked up a whistle, been travelling the world.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Blowing that whistle.
Blow the whistle.
The girls' talent pathway has been completely overhauled
since the launch of the strategy,
with the aim of making the professional game more accessible and inclusive.
73 emerging talent centres have been established
to offer localised, high-quality training environments,
which has led to significant increases in players
from underrepresented groups.
Cannot read today.
And economically deprived areas at 112%,
being able to access the talent centres.
The introduction of the Discover My Talent program ensures any talented girl from any background
can be referred onto the England radar,
whilst the 21 professional game academies are delivering crucial work
to prepare young players for senior football.
The duration of the strategy has coincided with exponential growth
across the domestic women's leagues and competitions.
The Adobe Women's FA Cup final has sold out at Wembley Stadium for the last two seasons.
Attendances in the Barclays Women's Super League are up 239% since 2021.
And it has also become the most socially followed women's league in the world.
That's really cool.
Just numbers backing up.
You know, this program is really great.
The FA's Director of Women's Football, Baroness Sue Campbell,
said it is remarkable what has been achieved in just four years across all levels,
with more women and girls stepping forward to play, coach, officiate and participate as fans.
But there is still more work to be done for the sport to reach the heights we know it can grow to.
It is our continued...
It is our continued mission to increase diversity
and make the women's game an accurate representation of our society.
We're seeing an improvement, but we cannot rest on our laurels
and we need to ensure every woman and girl, regardless of their background,
can access football and enjoy the benefits it brings.
What I love about this whole strategy is I think it's very multifaceted
in terms of addressing all the different types of participants in women's football.
But at the same time, it's also addressing the...
the diversity and equity piece.
It's not just saying,
hey, let's get white girls and women who can easily access football involved.
Let's make sure we're addressing this properly.
Yeah, it's looking at the game across, like you said, all areas and building from the bottom up
and including everyone in that, which I think is really important.
Let's take a look at what to watch.
In Cricket, Australia will be looking to continue their dominance at the T20 World Cup
with the final three of their pool matches to be played out in the next week.
The first game is against rivals, New Zealand.
New Zealand on Wednesday, 9th of October at 1 a.m.
And then take on Pakistan on Saturday, also at 1 a.m.,
before rounding out their group matches in a not-to-miss game
against India on Monday, the 14th of October, also at 1 a.m.
You can catch all the action live and free exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
In Sailing, we're heading into the pointy end of the America's Cup
with semifinals taking place on Friday, the 11th of October at 10 p.m.
AEDT for the Big Dance.
The Big Dance kicks off at 10 p.m. on Saturday night.
You can watch all the action from the Women's America's Cup,
free to watch on the America's Cup YouTube
or on the competition's official website.
Basketball is heading down to the wire in the WNBA finals
with the five-game final series taking place this week.
At the time of recording, the Liberty have beaten the defending champs, the Aces.
So they will be one of the teams in the final,
and we are still waiting on the winner of a game five
Minnesota Lynx or the Connecticut Sun to see who the Liberty will face.
The first game of the final series will take place this Friday,
11th of October at 111 a.m.
You wrote 111 a.m.
11 a.m. this Friday, AEDT.
Game will be live on ESPN2, which you can get via Foxtel.
It's going to be a cracker.
In AFLW, it's the Battle of the Birds this weekend with third place,
Hawthorne taking on eighth place, West Coast Eagles on Saturday.
I'm really glad you did that.
Side note, have we been watching the Peregrine Falcons live stream on YouTube?
The Peregrine Falcons at 367 Collins Street in Melbourne?
We'll take this offline.
I think we should.
I'm going to check it out.
The last time the two sides met was two years ago when the Eagles went down in a three-point
The match kicks off on Saturday at 1.05 p.m.
And you can watch it live.
Live on Foxtel and KO Sports.
In rugby, the Wallaroos are so far undefeated on the WXV2 competition, and they will look
to be securing the crown when they take on Scotland on Sunday.
And get around the girls.
Kicks off at 2 a.m.
You won't regret it.
You can watch it live on Stan Sports.
Go, the Wallaroos.
And in a bit of duathlon news, the Capital Duathlon, Canberra's premier multi-sport event,
doubles as the stage for the Australian.
Standard Duathlon Championships.
The action kicks off on Sunday at 5.45 a.m.
Follow all the action on Sunday via the Oz Triathlon website and social channels.
Is duathlon which combination?
I don't like swimming.
Wrapped it up with a little bit of a kick in the guts to your swimming career.
See you next week.