How next G-G Sam Mostyn kicked goal for female sport

‘Practical’, ‘determined’, ‘compassionate’ – Sam Mostyn has been driving force for women in sport in this country, with former AFL chief Gillon McLachlan once describing her push for equality as ‘relentless’.

Sam Mostyn with AFLW footballers in 2018. Picture: Michael Willson / AFL Media

There was a time when nobody on the AFL Commission really saw a need for the code to back a women’s league.

Well, no one, that is, except Sam Mostyn – the next governor-­general, who was the first woman to join the commission in 2005.

Most of the others sitting around that AFL board table didn’t see a women’s league as part of the strategic future of the code.

“I saw my sister play once … that’s enough,” was the sentiment from some. Others felt women were already catered for with the local competitions, like AFL 9s and junior Auskick.

Mostyn, once a sporty teen who would have loved the opportunity to play the game, felt differently.

“Early on, I just wanted the respect and acknowledgment that girls and women wanted the same opportunities to play footy as boys and men,” she said in a 2017 interview.

Not one to sit back and pontificate from the boardroom, Mostyn decided to travel the country to take the pulse of where interest in women’s footy really was.

What she saw was female footballers psyching themselves up in women’s competitions being played at footy ovals from Perth to Melbourne, Cape York to the Tiwi Islands.

Everywhere she went, Mostyn saw the same thing: the love women had for Australian football. She felt they deserved a bigger stage and their own national competition. And she told the AFL Commission as much. “I had a pact with myself that even when the looks around the table were ‘Oh no, here we go again’, it was recorded in the minutes, it was a reminder it was an issue we hadn’t dealt with,” she said.

She encouraged commissioners to games and down to the rooms after matches to meet the female footballers when they played locally or in exhibition matches. Mostyn supported by female commissioners Linda Dessau and Simone Wilkie – and trailblazing manager Jan Cooper – together made AFLW happen.

“To not act on behalf of the women and girls who loved this game would have been unconscionable,” Mostyn has said.

“I took my place at that commission table very seriously, on behalf of the football community who weren’t being heard, to advocate for them.

“As Linda Dessau and Simone Wilkie joined the commission, momentum grew with many great women champions around the game, from Western Bulldogs’ Susan Alberti to AFL manager Jan Cooper and decorated footballer Debbie Lee.

“Their relentless commitment helped make this league happen.”

Current AFL chairman Richard Goyder on Wednesday praised her appointment as the next governor-general.

“On behalf of all within football, I congratulate Sam for her ­appointment … and for her willingness to continue to serve the Australian community,” he said.

“The AFL, and all those across football who have worked with Sam during her time both with the AFL and with the Sydney Swans, are thrilled with today’s announcement by the Prime Minister, and we know that Ms Mostyn will bring great dedication and her outstanding values to this leadership role for our country.”

AFL chief Andrew Dillon said Ms Mostyn had made an enormous impact on football with her work at the AFL.

“During her time as an AFL commissioner, Ms Mostyn was a driving force in the establishment of an elite pathway for women and girls in the game, leading to the creation of our AFLW competition, and powered the work for the AFL’s Respect and Responsibility Policy,” Mr Dillon said.

Former AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has credited Mostyn as a “singular force” in the boardroom. “She was just relentless,” he said. “You need people with that conviction and focus to make change.”