Introducing ROAR

The remarkable Australian story of a group of football pioneers, and visionaries, who changed the game for women and girls in sport - on and off field.

February 3, 2017 marked a red-letter day in Australia with women playing the first ever Australian Rules football match for Australian Football League premiership points.

The milestone was more than a century in the making.

A nation was captivated: millions of Australians tuned into the television broadcast of the first AFL Women's League match, a horde of spectators forced a stadium lock out, and the events made news headlines globally.

The inaugural AFLW season was a watershed moment for the country, culturally, with Australia's most dominant domestic football code including women like never before.

Walkley Award-winning journalist Sam Lane charts the birth of the AFLW from its origins - when women's football was viewed as a niche, side-show distraction to the electrifying first AFLW season that exceeded expectations and upended established norms. She speaks with the trailblazers who, through grit, collaboration and lateral thinking, pushed through roadblocks, scepticism and derision - overcoming sexism, homophobia and patriarchy - in this giant step towards gender equity and inclusion.

ROAR spotlights and features the impact of Sam Mostyn, Debbie Lee, Jan Cooper, Chyloe Kurdas, Michelle Cowan, Peter Gordon, Gillon McLachlan, Mike Fitzpatrick, Peggy O’Neal, Jen Watt, Peter Jackson, Colin Carter, Josh Vanderloo, Tayla Harris, Darcy Vescio, Katie Brennan, Daisy Pearce and more.

This six-part audio series is a story about a movement bigger than sport - charting the experiences of footballers, coaches, executives and administrators in an uphill battle to realising a dream.

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. We acknowledge these traditional custodians and pay respect to Wurundjeri Elders past and present.

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