The AFLW prepares to celebrate Pride but it leads to division between some of the players on one of the teams in the latest episode of “Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW.” The teammates must try to find a way to be true to themselves while also allowing for religious expression. And a woman who has dreamed of playing in the AFLW since she was a kid finally gets her chance with her parents there to cheer her on.

A lot of the episode features four women who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and their support for that community. They show the women modeling the new Pride jumpers for the upcoming round of games. It’s incredibly moving to hear these women talk about their life experiences and how seeing someone where the Pride flag and Rainbow colors would have spoken to them when they were younger. They are hoping to be that light of inspiration for a new generation of children who may be experiencing the same issues. This will, of course, spark controversy from those opposed to the LGBTQIA+ community, but this episode does a great job of showing them just wanting to be seen and not shoved in a corner like many were for years.

This episode also presents an interesting dichotomy when it comes to one of the teammates and her internal struggle between her loyalty to her teammates and her religion. She is Muslim and her religion prevents her from wearing the Pride flag on her jumper. After her request to wear her traditional team jumper was denied by the league, she had to decide whether to go against her religion and wear the Pride jumper or sit out the game. I don’t pretend to be an expert on the Islamic religion, so I don’t know how all of that works, but the episode does a great job of demonstrating her conflict and how she wants to be loyal to both her teammates and her religion.

It was also a struggle for her teammates because they wanted to show their Pride without making someone on the team feel left out. In the end, both sides worked on a compromise that, at least in terms of the docuseries, seems like it was good for all of them. She sat out the game but still attended to show support. Her teammates seemed genuinely happy to have her there and respected her decision not to play. It was nice to see that kind of camaraderie and I hope we all can learn from that.

The third story of this episode is that of the rookie player getting to play in her first game. She has loved the AFL all her life and couldn’t wait for the opportunity to play in the AFLW. She works on a farm, spends a few hours of her day driving to and from practice all in hopes of one day being in a game. She finally gets the call here and the sheer joy on her face when she learns she will play is a moment that will bring a smile to the most cynical person. She ends up having a solid game and you can tell the coaches are impressed by her. I hope to see her playing more in the AFLW.

Overall this series has been really good. I’m very invested in the journey of these women as they helped make their own Football League a reality in Australia. It’s great to see how they grow and strengthen each other. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Ranking: 4 stars

What did you think of this episode of “Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW?”

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Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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