David Rowe

Waltzing Matildas - Openforum Australia's hosting of the Women’s Asian Cup this year has the potential to rekindle public interest in women's football and create some more epic moments for the Matildas.

Here comes another epic women's association football (soccer) tournament in Oceania but classified as an Asian Football Confederation event. The most valuable sport brand in Australia is the Matildas. Can they win it for the first time since 2010 and progress?
www.openforum.com.au/forums/waltz...

Sports diplomacy & the Winter Olympics & Paralympics The hands of the global sport mega event clock have turned to the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Hosted by the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo at venues across northern Italy, around two ...

Another mega media sport events, another sport diplomacy, sportswashing and PR disaster opportunity.
humanities.org.au/power-of-the...

You spin some, you lose more: how Albanese’s gambling rhetoric falls short Anthony Albanese states he’s taken more action on problem gambling than any government since Federation. How does this claim stack up?

Time for some real action on gambling harm in Australia, where the losses are the highest in the world per capita.

You spin some, you lose more: how Albanese’s gambling rhetoric falls short
theconversation.com/you-spin-som...

Why don’t Aussie sporting crowds sing like the Brits do? Blame the Beatles We’ve borrowed so much from British sporting culture – but their fans sing with gusto, and we’re so sheepish in comparison.

Vince Rugari explores British-Australian variations in sporting fandom. I find myself saying, "My rule of thumb is that a British football crowd of 5000 is noisier than a 20,000-25,000 crowd at Australian rules or rugby league.“ Plymouth Argyle is inevitably mentioned.
www.smh.com.au/sport/why-do...

The Ashes: Australian masculinity reborn amid English tumult After losing three Ashes series on the bounce and following much soul-searching about the decline of its national sporting prowess, Australia is giving England a pounding in the cricket. For many, all...

One from my archive as struggling England face the Adelaide Ashes Test. The media in Australia having fun with what symbolises success and failure. Then it was the moustache over health food, now it's the mullet over the beach break. Cultural Sociology the winner!
theconversation.com/the-ashes-au...

'There's a lot of grey': Does rugby union have an officiating issue? - upstart Over the past few years rugby union referees have come under increasing scrutiny from players, coaches and fans for their on-field decisions. Is it the referee's fault or is the sport just too complic...

Good piece by La Trobe Uni student Joshua Grobbelaar, with a few words from me, about regulating and refereeing rugby union. I & many others getting tired of arcane rules & constant whistleblowing to the point of the great media sport sin - reaching for the remote.
www.upstart.net.au/theres-a-lot...

Standing at the Threshold — Part One: what happens when a national ritual outgrows its story? YouTube video by Mindful Creativity Studio

On the threshold of this year's Melbourne Cup, the claimed 'race that stops the nation' beset by concern about animal cruelty & human gambling harm, Catharine Lumby & I venture to the (dis)course to take on the cultural politics of this somewhat tarnished sporting spectacle.
youtu.be/0KG8Vt1JaBA?...

Will time tear us apart? Exploring the appeal of Joy Division 40 years on The music alone, despite its unquestionable majesty, cannot entirely explain the enduring appeal of a band that existed for barely two years before its lead singer took his own life.

I did a quickfire Guardian interview after Australian PM Albanese was criticised in Parliament for wearing a Joy Division Unknown Pleasures T-shirt (I have one too). I don't recall any outrage when Joy Division Orchestrated played the Sydney Opera House in 2019.
theconversation.com/will-time-te...

Will the government’s online gambling advertising legislation ever eventuate? Don’t bet on it There are deep historical and immediate political reasons why the online gambling advertising legislation has been bogged down.

Tonight, ABC TV's Four Corners program asks why there's been so little government action to reduce online gambling harm in Australia. I recommend watching it (it's online too). I posed the same troubling question about the gamblification of sport last February.

theconversation.com/will-the-gov...

It Was 25 Years Ago Today: Revisiting Cathy Freeman’s Sydney 2000 Olympics Victory

Free event light refreshments provided.

Time: 4-6pm, Thursday 25th September, 2025

Place: IPSQ, PC-01.6.53 (LS), Western Sydney University

RSVP: Please email d.rowe@westernsydney.edu.au if you’d like to attend.

01 Feb 2001 - M/C Reviews: M/C Reviews: "The Olympics" feature issue website as it appeared on 01 Feb 2001.

To accompany my recently reposted reflections on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics, a review I wrote at the time of a famous event moment, adopting the persona of an irascible and self-centred sport fan obsessed with the cultural capital of 'being there'!
webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20010131...

The Sydney Olympics: How did the ‘best games ever’ change Australia? Sydney 2000 may not have seen a sustained increase in sport participation. But the Olympics did leave a mark on Australia.

The Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics commenced 25 years ago today. So, I've been doing media interviews, partly prompted by this piece written for the 20th anniversary. Debates continue over the legacy of the big, expensive party that was the Millennial Games.
theconversation.com/the-sydney-o...

This World Football Day, how hyperbolic is your adjective? – Australian Academy of the Humanities The 25th of May, like every day of the year, is globally themed. It ranges from the celebratory (Africa Day) to the tragic (International Missing Children’s Day) to the whimsical (Towel Day, in honour...

The United Nations, by resolution, declares an annual World Football Day. A chance to celebrate and critique a game that is by turns 'beautiful' and, shall we day, 'tarnished'.
humanities.org.au/power-of-the...

For anyone working in the area of community and rugby league, the Wes Smythe Award could support your work. Applications close on Monday 9 June 2025.
www.tombrock.com.au/the-wes-smyt...

Will the government’s online gambling advertising legislation ever eventuate? Don’t bet on it There are deep historical and immediate political reasons why the online gambling advertising legislation has been bogged down.

Legislation promised in Australia before the next election to deal with online ad gambling harm, but put on ice. Wouldn't be vested interest lobbying to blame, would it?
Will the government’s online gambling advertising legislation ever eventuate? Don’t bet on it theconversation.com/will-the-gov...

Sausages and cauldrons: Making law and policy in 21st Century Australia - Openforum The divergent fates of proposed federal legislation to restrict social media use by children and online gambling adverts for everyone highlight the complex interplay of public concern, political conve...

My first post - apologies if the image is a little disturbing. This piece starts with the old saying about law and sausage-making being similarly unsightly activities. It ends with new metaphors of cauldrons, spoons and competitive reality TV cooking shows.
www.openforum.com.au/forums/sausa...