‘They have our full support’: Matildas stand with netballers after winning the Don award
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As Kyah Simon accepted Australia’s highest sporting honour on behalf of the Matildas, she also made it clear her team was right behind the netballers in their pay dispute with Netball Australia.
The Matildas were awarded the Don award for 2023 by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on Friday at a ceremony at the MCG, with the award recognising the team or athlete that has most inspired the nation.
Kyah Simon of the Matildas poses with the Don Award, and Socceroos great Tim Cahill poses with his medal after being inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the MCG on Friday.Credit: Getty Images
Simon, who is recovering from injury, accepted the award on behalf of her teammates who are preparing to face Canada in two friendlies, and stood up for her netball colleagues who have gone more than two months without pay as the dispute over their collective bargaining agreement rolls on.
Simon was one of the Matildas who stood up to Football Federation Australia (now Football Australia) in a two-month strike in 2015, which ended in a significant growth in pay in national team contracts and improved conditions that helped lay the groundwork for the emergence of international stars including Mary Fowler.
They further improved their conditions during pay deals in 2019, and most recently with a new CBA for the A-Leagues.
Diamonds defender Jo Weston spoke through tears on Thursday as she described the ‘devastating’ impact of its pay war with Netball Australia.Credit: Simon Schluter
“We can really empathise as it was only a few years ago that we, the Matildas, were fighting for our CBA rights,” Simon said.
“The rights that, we felt, were appropriate for us as female athletes and footballers.
“We just recently signed off on our A-League CBA here in Australia. I really feel for the girls – I know what they are going through, fighting for your rights, for what you truly deserve and you are being starved of.
“I hope they can come to a resolution fast. It really does affect people’s livelihood, and not just on the pitch but your life off the pitch.
“They have the full support of the [Matildas] girls and hopefully, they can come to a resolution in the near future.”
The Matildas celebrate Cortnee Vine’s match-winning penalty in the World Cup.Credit: Getty Images
The Matildas’ run at the World Cup captured the attention of the nation and Simon admits she is still reflecting on the achievement, adding she knew that the investment for FA and the players had propelled their side among the highest rating national teams.
“It is something we as female athletes have been fighting this fight for – it’s the approach where you invest and the benefits follow,” Simon said.
“There is always room for improvement, no matter what industry you are in, but it does show what a little bit of investment can do and the ripple-on effect that can go beyond the pitch.”
Simon said the challenge for her side was to continue building up to Paris 2024 ,where the team hopes to again challenge for a medal.
“To accept this award, being the most prestigious sporting award in Australia, is remarkable,” Simon said.
“The fact that we weren’t able to take a medal away from the World Cup, which as athletes was quite disappointing for us, but thinking back on and reflecting back on the tournament, we were able to do something much more in terms of inspiring the next generations to follow their dreams.”
The Sydney 2000 Australian women’s water polo team, who actively lobbied the International Olympic Committee for the women’s game to finally be admitted to the Olympics – which had previously been repeatedly rejected – was awarded the Dawn award for a team whose courage changed sport for the better.
Eight members of the gold medal team from Sydney 2000 were there to receive the award, and they also expressed their support for the netballers and were proud to share the day with the Matildas after their big year.
“It was really hard and it was a fight that had been going on for 20-odd years,” former goalkeeper Liz Weekes recalled.
“It just so happened that, in 1997, it was a really exciting time in Sydney and officials from the IOC were visiting the city to check on the Games’ progress.
“It presented us with a great opportunity to voice our case, again and again.
“We organised a protest at Sydney Airport and then a few of us gatecrashed an IOC press conference to state our case.
“That was the pivotal moment because they realised this bad noise wasn’t going to go away, and they’d better do something about it.
“It was a life-changing moment for all of us and, particularly now, a lot of us have daughters playing water polo.
“Hopefully, it’s a legacy we’ve left that will change their lives too.”
Cahill taken aback by hall of fame honour
Socceroos great Tim Cahill was also honoured on Friday after he was elevated to the hall of fame earlier this year.
“I retired five years ago and was a little bit taken back when I got the call and didn’t understand what this award was and the impact you make on Australian sport,” Cahill said looking out over the MCG.
“I scored a few goals here and I never really looked up properly – this is the first time I’ve noticed the flags.”
He also called on the state and federal governments to make more investments into sporting infrastructure for codes beyond the AFL and NRL.
Lucas Neill, right, and Tim Cahill salute the crowd after beating Japan in a World Cup qualifier at the MCG in 2009.Credit: Justin McManus
Cahill, whose son Shae is pushing for his A-League debut with Brisbane Roar, had some simple instructions should he get his chance.
“My son came back here because the A-League is a competitive league,” Cahill said.
“I made the comment the other day ‘Just play and have fun’. There is too much that goes into every moment an athlete makes.”
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