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ROAR

ROAR

By: Sam Lane & Podshape
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The incredible story of a team of AFLW pioneers who built a league of their own.

It took 121 years, but on the evening of 3 February 2017 the first women’s game of Australian Rules Football for AFL premiership points finally took place. The nation was watching - millions of Australians tuned in – and a horde of spectators forced a stadium lock out. The inaugural season of the AFL Women’s league was a game-changer for Australian sport and for the country, culturally.
Walkley Award-winning journalist Sam Lane charts the birth of the AFLW from its beginnings - when it
was viewed as a niche, side-show distraction - to the electrifying first season that exceeded all expectations. She speaks with the trailblazers who, through grit and lateral thinking, pushed through a male hierarchy in this giant step towards gender equity in sport, overcoming sexism, homophobia and patriarchy.

Featuring Tayla Harris, Darcy Vescio, Katie Brennan, Daisy Pearce, Sam Mostyn, Jan Cooper, Chyloe Kurdas, Debbie Lee, Peter Gordon, Josh Vanderloo, Peggy O’Neal, Peter Jackson and Gillon McLachlan, this 6-part audio series charts the experiences of female and male AFL executives and AWFL footballers in their uphill battle to realising a dream. From facing long-held dismissive attitudes to women’s football, to finding the strength to empower themselves on and off-field, to eventually convincing the AFL to back the vision.

This is a story about a movement bigger than sport.

2025 Sam Lane
Episodes
  • The Night Australia Roared

    The Night Australia Roared
    Nov 25 2025

    On February 4, 2017 a stadium overflowed as fans were turned away after the gates had to be locked at a sporting event that changed Australia forever.

    In this sixth and final episode of ROAR Sam Lane takes listeners inside AFLW’s opening night, re-living the audible, visual and tangible power of that monumental competition launch game.

    You’ll hear the passion and emotion of Debbie Lee, Peggy O’Neal, Colin Carter and the AFL’s Commission chairman of the day, Mike Fitzpatrick as the ROAR of that unforgettable night lives on.

    Download and follow ROAR. You might even share it with someone you think might like, or learn from, it too.


    This recording would not have been possible without the generous philanthropic backing of Ian Darling and the Shark Island Institute.Recorded and produced by Mushroom Studios. Published by Podshape.

    ROAR was recorded in Melbourne, Victoria, where the traditional owners of the land are the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I acknowledge these traditional custodians and pay my respects to Wurundjeri Elders past and present.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    23 mins
  • The Reality Check

    The Reality Check
    Nov 23 2025

    An AFL women’s league had arrived at last, but did this spell equality for women? Not by a long stretch.

    In this fifth episode of ROAR Sam Lane digs into the growing pains, and shockwaves, catalysed by the AFLW’s debut season: the unpaid hours for players, coaches and support staff, the missing sanitary bins, and the instantly iconic ‘Erin Phillips kiss’ at the AFLW’s first competition best and fairest awards night.

    Here you’ll hear from the AFLW’s first premiership coach and great disrupter, Bec Goddard, Debbie Lee, Peter Gordon and others, in this unfolding story of persistence, progress, pride and power.

    Download and follow ROAR. You might even share it with someone you think might like, or learn from, it too.


    This recording would not have been possible without the generous philanthropic backing of Ian Darling and the Shark Island Institute.Recorded and produced by Mushroom Studios. Published by Podshape.

    ROAR was recorded in Melbourne, Victoria, where the traditional owners of the land are the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I acknowledge these traditional custodians and pay my respects to Wurundjeri Elders past and present.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • Building the League

    Building the League
    Nov 16 2025

    From ball size, to player pay and the strategy behind the AFLW logo’s colour scheme, everything was on the whiteboard.

    In this fourth episode of ROAR Sam Lane uncovers compelling detail about the AFL’s radical reinvention as it built a new-wave competition for women and girls from scratch — rewriting established norms and convention. Who re-wrote the rules? Who brought radical re-imaginings to life? You’ll hear it here.

    Make sure you download and follow ROAR. You might even share it with someone you think might like, or learn from, it too.

    This recording would not have been possible without the generous philanthropic backing of Ian Darling and the Shark Island Institute. Recorded and produced by Mushroom Studios. Published by Podshape.

    ROAR was recorded in Melbourne, Victoria, where the traditional owners of the land are the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I acknowledge these traditional custodians and pay my respects to Wurundjeri Elders past and present.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    30 mins
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.