WE need more sporting heroes like Donnell Wallam - and not just because she score the winning goal against the English Roses in Constellation Cup action.
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Wallam questioned the rules in a way that should get more Australians talking about what is truly important - what matters to us and where we draw the line in our game.
The Noongar woman was shaping up to become the first Indigenous netballer to represent Australia on the international stage in 22 years when last week it became increasingly apparent Wallam had objected to wearing a uniform with a Hancock logo.
Hancock, owned by billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, had offered a sorely needed $15 million boost to Netball Australia last month. Wallam's concerns primarily stemmed from Hancock founder Lang Hancock's racist comments in the past.
Instead of apologising for her father, Rinehart pulled her money out of the game.
In an increasingly competitive market for dollars in sport, particularly in the booming women's landscape, Wallam and her Diamonds teammates offered a defining moment in shaping the game.
To merely have played on without question would have been at greater cost.
Australian athletes are role models, whether they choose to be or not. Sport can be an incredibly powerful platform for community education and sparking meaningful conversations - we see this done well in Indigenous rounds, Anzac Day fixtures or, as a fortnight ago in Ballarat, the first AFLW regional Pride round match.
Plenty of rhetoric about Wallam and the Hancock pull-out has descended into a racist issue but there is also something bigger that is just as concerning at play.
When athletes in team sports question what is appropriate there is a general Australian attitude that they should pull their head in or leave concerns like sponsorship to those brokering the deals. That is never okay.
On a visit as Western Bulldogs captain to Ballarat in 2019, Easton Wood reinforced his strong stance against harmful gambling messaging infiltrating AFL matches.
Wood went against the grain in a league that demands players complete extensive training on gambling policy each year. This is a league that saturates coverage with sports betting ads made to feel as normal as a weather cross and a league that hosts its best and fairest night in a giant casino.
These are not always black-and-white issues because as Wood said at the time, as a high profile player he was a direct beneficiary from such funds - but he was also representing whatever he was wearing on his jumper.
These are considerations grassroots clubs must take into account, even amid gruelling rebuilds from pandemic impacts.
Players are playing for more than a game. They deserve to be heard, even when such conversations might seem uncomfortable.
Wallam feeling she could voice her concerns with the Diamonds is far more valuable than any $15million corporate deal for a sport boasting one of the nation's highest participation rates.
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