Matildas our most loved team as Wallabies, cricketers win us back over
The Wallabies might have crashed out of the World Cup in their worst performance ever, but apparently we still love them.
What’s more, Australians are so forgiving we are starting to let the Australian cricket team back into our hearts after the relationship almost died in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.
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But still the team we feel the most strongly about is the Matildas – the Australian women’s soccer team – despite their disappointing World Cup campaign earlier this year.
Talking about love for these teams is perhaps too strong a term. What we are talking about is our level of emotional connection, as revealed in the 2019 BenchMark EC ladder released on Tuesday morning.
Compiled by True North Research, the ladder is based on interviews with more than 4300 Australians aged over 16 in September and October. Respondents had to be at least “somewhat familiar” with the teams involved and were asked a series of questions about their level of emotional connection.
The Wallabies have moved up to sixth on the ladder and have seen their support grow strongly among women and people aged between 16 and 24. Admittedly, the research was done before the World Cup exit, but it came at the end of a tough year for rugby dominated by the Israel Folau scandal.
The men’s Test cricket team were propping up the bottom on the ladder this time last year after being caught sandpapering the ball in Cape Town. But with Tim Paine taking over as captain and steadying the ship, they have moved up to seventh of the 62 teams on the ladder. Retaining the Ashes in England probably didn’t hurt. And the Twenty20 team is at fifth.
Going out in the round of 16 at the World Cup appears to have done nothing to damage our connection to the Matildas. In fact it may have helped, according to True North director Georgie Maynard – sharing the devastation of a loss can bind fans even further to a team.
“The Matildas’ heartbreaking early exit at the World Cup hasn’t made Australians any less committed to backing them,” says Maynard. “We all shared their disappointment, but we also buy into their resolve to come back stronger. Australians’ support for the Matildas is resilient, and as fans, we want them to turn it around.”
And so much for all rugby league fans hating Melbourne – the Storm top the NRL emotional connection list, closely followed by South Sydney and North Queensland.
In AFL, Geelong is the team most people feel a strong connection to, with Hawthorn, Sydney, premiers Richmond and the Western Bulldogs all close behind.
The Queensland Reds top the list in domestic rugby, ahead of the Brumbies. The Western Force, now out of Super Rugby and playing in the NRC and the Global Rapid Rugby championship, come in third.
And proving that a team doesn’t have to win to have a strong connection with fans, Queensland Firebirds, who finished bottom of the Super Netball ladder, finished with the top BenchMark score.
BenchMark Emotional Connection ladder
1 Matildas
2 Australian Women’s Sevens
3 Socceroos
4 Wallaroos
5 Men’s T20 team
6 Wallabies
7 Men’s Test cricket team
8 Opals
9 Kangaroos
10 Diamonds
11 Australian women’s cricket team
12 Australian Men’s Sevens
13 Boomers
14 NSW Blues
15 Queensland Maroons
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