AFL women’s star Moana Hope says she plays footy for love not money

Inspirational AFL star Moana Hope, named as an ambassador who “goes against the grain,” says she plays football for love not money.

AFL women’s star Moana Hope. Picture: Tony Gough.

AFL women’s star Moana Hope says she doesn’t want a million dollars to play football.

“It’s not about me, and how much money I can make,” Hope told Confidential. “It’s: ‘Let’s set this up so generations of young girls can play the game they love. What we’re doing is ensuring that, when a new generation comes through, they’ll be paid way more money than we were.”

Her comments follow debate over gaping pay differences between male and female footballers.

The Collingwood star, who also works a full time job in traffic operations, said: “I feel a lot of people get lost in the money instead of playing footy because you love it. I don;t want a million dollars. I don’t care about the money. If I get a little bit out of it, that will go towards one of my biggest dreams in life, and that’s to get my mum a house.

“I can probably only afford enough to give her a deposit,” Hope said, then laughed: “To buy a house, I’d have to rob a bank.”

Hope, from a family of 14 kids, grew up in a two-bedroom housing commission home in Broadmeadows, two blocks from the childhood abode of Magpies president Eddie McGuire.

She is a full time carer for her sister Livinia, who has Möbius syndrome, which typically paralyses the face and eyes. “She’s my best friend and she makes my life 100 per cent better,” Hope said. “She looks at life like nobody else does.”

Meanwhile, Hope, alongside models Robyn Lawley and Magnolia Maymuru, have been announced as ambassadors for “women who go against the grain” to promote the new Star Wars movie, Rogue One, which opens today.

The ambassadors are asking Australians to join them by sharing their own rebellious side and how they redefine the status quo, through the campaign microsite — www.irebel.starwars.com.au