Australian sport in 2023: Matildas mania flips the script in bumper year | Jack Snape

27/12/2023 17:00

Looking back it's hard see past the women who took the country by storm, but plenty more Australian athletes were dominating at home and abroad

A year with two of the greatest men's footy grand finals Australia has ever seen, yet here we are. Sensational success in the pool, sidelined. Glenn Maxwell's extraordinary World Cup double-ton? A blip. World cups and world championship golds, merely worth a mention. Even Big Ange, squeezed.

Instead, looking back on 2023 through an Australian sporting lens it's hard to see past the Matildas. In the stands, 651,773 spectators enjoyed their matches. On television, the team upended decades of declining ratings to set a new viewership record. In coffee shops, petrol stations, dog parks and workplaces – they became the focus of conversation.