• Sportsball sucks

    Hunter Fujack     |      March 9, 2024

    Australia punches above its weight in global sports, and has the reputation of a “sports mad” nation, but in reality most people don’t care much about most sports and a fifth of the population actively hate it all.

  • Women in sport

    Popi Sotiriadou     |      February 12, 2024

    Women’s success in sports can have substantial positive economic outcomes for their countries. More than this, they can contribute to a nation’s international affairs and influence relationships with other countries.

  • Lionel Messi: The man who fell to Earth in Hong Kong

    David Rowe     |      February 10, 2024

    When Lionel Messi failed to take the field in a pre-season exhibition football (soccer) match in Hong Kong, the furious reaction exposed the risks of staging celebrity-centred sports events without the main act.

  • Sport: Socially divided, spuriously unified?

    David Rowe     |      September 14, 2023

    Sport can still unite rather than divide us but must reinvent its structures and practices, rediscover its ethical mission, and reimagine who are ‘us’ to remain a positive and progressive force for social good.

  • Fair game: Lessons from sport for a fairer society and a stronger economy

    Andrew Leigh     |      September 13, 2023

    Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities & Treasury and the Assistant Minister for Employment argued that sport shows we don’t have to sacrifice egalitarianism and honour in pursuit of victory in a recent address at the National Library.

  • AFL must waltz like the Matildas

    Max Thomas     |      August 15, 2023

    The unprecedented popularity of the Women’s soccer world cup in Australia is a sign that Australia’s own football code needs to up its game to retain the interest of the next generation.

  • Women’s soccer kicks on

    Ruth Jeanes     |      July 25, 2023

    A concerted push by the media and sporting authorities has turned the Women’s soccer world cup into a major event, but ongoing investment will be required to sustain this surge in interest.

  • Go Matildas!

    Abbey Boyer     |      July 20, 2023

    This year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off on 20 July 2023 with the Matildas playing the Republic of Ireland and offers a unique opportunity to get children – particularly girls – into team sport.

  • What’s it all about, Gary? Politics and the sports presenter

    David Rowe     |      March 14, 2023

    Gary Lineker has enjoyed a wave of public and professional support after he was stood down by the BBC after tweeting his thoughts on the British government’s new asylum bill.

  • Rugby relations

    Daniel Millis     |      March 12, 2023

    Australia should make the most of its strong sporting relations with the Pacific as it embarks on a decade at the centre stage of world sport with rugby taking a starring role.

  • Show the game, not the gimmicks

    Sebastian Uhrich     |      February 1, 2023

    Sports fans, by and large, just want to watch the action without onscreen gimmicks or annoying distractions in the stadium, but TV directors and sports administrators are determined to force them on us anyway.

  • Bye, bye bowling

    Ben Knight     |      December 1, 2022

    Lawn bowling clubs were once common around Sydney, but changing demographics and soaring land values mean that many have been redeveloped, and more vanish every year.