Australian journalist slammed for saying boys school sport is better to watch than AFLW

Aussie media personality Steve Price has unloaded on women's sport, particularly the AFLW, claiming 'high school boys games are better to watch'.

Now Price is being slated for his remarks with a bunch of people calling him out online.

As us Australians are well aware, Price is never too far away from a controversial (or frankly idiotic) statement simply to make headlines.

But his latest comments in his Herald Sun column might just be his most contentious yet.

In an article titled 'Why female footy is substandard and doesn’t deserve focus or funding it gets from AFL', Price tees off on the women's game.

The standfirst reads: "If you leave an AFLW match thinking you’ve seen a great game you’re kidding yourself, because even high school boys are better to watch."

"AFLW is not elite sport and the female version of the Australian game of football is substandard. It is not deserving of the attention and funding it gets," Price continues writing.

"The VFL, plus all men’s metropolitan and country teams are better to watch, and the standard of play is superior to AFLW.

Seniors high school boys’ football is better to watch.

"While country and metropolitan football, until very recently, was starved of funding and ignored by the AFL, the women’s game has been promoted, funded and supported outrageously by an AFL pandering to political correctness and the age of equality and inclusiveness in all aspects of our lives.

"It gives me no comfort to make these points, but guess what? If you honestly look at a game of AFLW and come away thinking you have seen a great game of football then you are kidding yourself."

He added: "Elite female sport is every bit as good as elite men’s sport. Think Michelle Payne on Prince of Penzance winning the 2015 Melbourne Cup, Minjee Lee winning the US Women’s Open golf championship, the Matildas and the Hockeyroos or world champion swimmer Ariarne Titmus.

"The list is endless. Sadly, for me AFLW is not on that list and it’s a hard thing to say. I wish all the women playing well, but I won’t be watching."

Unsurprisingly, Price's comments didn't go down well with Aussie sports fans.

After The Project panellist tweeted a link to his column, fellow social media users wasted no time in going to town on him – and, if truth be told, rightly so.

One person commented: "I thought Steve was cancelled? The public are sick of hearing from this relic."

As another added: "What you know about football could be written on a stamp with crayon, but good onya for having an opinion."

Vice's Brad Esposito waded in, saying: "What a sad old man."

And ESPN's Matt Walsh simply replied: "Piss off, Steve."

Meanwhile, news host Patricia Karvelas called out the Herald Sun for even publishing the column.

"The fact that the Herald Sun thinks this is worth publishing is really sad," she tweeted.

"If he doesn’t like women's footy he can just not watch it’s that easy."

But in an even funnier turn of events, one bloke pointed out that Price had forgotten the word 'games' when saying 'high school boys are better to watch'.

"Steve Price shows interest in boys," the Twitter user joked.

Featured Image Credit: CH10/The Project/Alamy

Topics: Australia, Australia Afl, Aussie Rules Football

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry