'This moment is for you': how women's sport rocked 2017 and pointed to the future

The Adelaide Crows broke the dam wall and the Matildas had a year of unrivalled highlights but pay disparity remains• Sam Kerr: ‘Everyone wants to jump on board and be a Matildas fan’With three seconds remaining on the clock and Brisbane trailing by a solitary goal in the AFLW grand final, Nicole Hilderbrand’s long bomb looked set to land in marquee forward Sabrina Frederick-Traub’s safe pair of hands. Instead, Rhiannon Metcalfe punched the ball clear and Erin Phillips pounced, desperately attempting to clear a congested forward 50. In a last-gasp effort, Frederick-Traub lunged at best-on-ground Phillips, with a tackle that could easily have been rewarded with a holding the ball decision. But it was too late; the siren sounded. The Adelaide Crows became the first AFLW premiers. It’s not uncommon for a grand final to produce tears but, when the siren finally sounded on season one of AFLW, they fell unlike any other. Lions players were in agony and the Crows elated but there was scarcely a dry eye among a largely neutral crowd on the Gold Coast, either. As the premiership cup was held triumphantly aloft by the coach, Bec Goddard, with co-captains Chelsea Randall and Phillips beaming at her side, the commentator Jason Bennett perfectly summed up what so many were feeling: “For the generations of women in football who refused to take no for an answer, this moment is for you.” Related: Huge spike in women's participation figures tell revealing story | Kate O'Halloran Related: Sam Kerr: 'Everyone wants to jump on board and be a Matildas fan' W-League players benefited from collective bargaining – seeing their average wage double to $15,500 a year Related: Susan Alberti: 'If it's the right thing to do, I'll do it to the bitter end' Continue readingread full article

Source: TheGuardian

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