Steve Price trolled after declaring high school boys are ‘better to watch’ than AFLW players

Steve Price has been bombarded with criticism online after he declared that high school boys are ‘better to watch’ play footy than AFLW players. 

In an opinion piece written for the Herald Sun on Friday, the media personality slammed the standard of the women’s league and questioned the level of coverage and funding of the matches. 

Price had a dig at the low scores of the women’s games and said there would be drastic decisions made to the competition if the same was happening in the men’s matches. 

‘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,’ Price said in his scathing review. 

Online trolls have gone after media personality Steve Price (pictured) following his comments where he declared that high school boys are ‘better to watch’ play footy than AFLW players

In an opinion piece published on Friday, the Herald Sun columnist slammed the standard of the AFLW (pictured) and questioned the coverage of their matches

‘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.’

He added there should be a reduction in the number of teams within the AFLW – suggesting there is not enough talent for 18 teams. 

The radio broadcaster also said that in his opinion the male players in the second-tier Victorian Football League were ‘superior’ to those in the women’s league. 

‘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,’ he said.

Tickets to an AFLW game are free for children while adults pay $10 each.

While Price said ‘female sport is every bit as good as elite men’s sport’, and praised several successful female athletes and teams, his blunt view of the AFLW was met with heavy criticism on Twitter (pictured is the Adelaide Crows)

Price said a recent game between the Gold Coast Suns and the West Coast Eagles had 860 people turn out to watch. He guessed the spectators were mostly made up of friends, family and staff. 

The commentator said opening up the stadium for such a small number was ‘ridiculous and embarrassing’ to the AFL. 

The decision to scrap the minute’s silence after the Queen’s passing was another gripe Price had with the AFLW.

While Price said ‘female sport is every bit as good as elite men’s sport’, and praised several successful female athletes and teams, his blunt view of the AFLW was met with heavy criticism on Twitter.

‘If he doesn’t like women’s footy he can just not watch it’s that easy,’ one tweeted.

‘Couldn’t disagree more…you’re 100% wrong, I went to the Hawks v Swans game last Friday and walked away thinking ”Wow how good was seeing that live”. Everyone do yourself a favour go see a live game,’ another commented. 

A third said: ‘If you leave a Steve Price piece thinking you’ve read a great article you’re kidding yourself, because even high school students are better to read.’ 

‘No one asked for your opinion.. if you don’t like it, don’t watch! Plenty of people do and love seeing the changes coming with the new seasons…move on mate,’ another user wrote. 

The AFL Players’ Association also hit out at Price and said his comments were ‘offensive and inaccurate’

One woman said: ‘It took the female cricketers time to catch up to the men… now look at them. It’s a process…clearly too difficult a concept for some.’ 

The AFL Players’ Association also hit out at Price and said his comments were ‘offensive and inaccurate’.

‘Nearly 600,000 women and girls play football in Australia, and viewer and membership numbers are growing every year,’ they wrote.

‘We continue to be inspired by our AFLW members everyday and the competition is a critical part of Australian football’s future – it’s time people get used to that. We can’t wait to watch them this weekend at the footy.’