Australia Wins A World Cup Match. Richmond Gets The Front Page
Photo: The Mercury 15 June 2026
It is almost as if the Mercury is waiting for me to wake up, make a cup of tea, and experience my first wave of indignation before I have even taken the first sip.
Every now and then the newspaper lands in my inbox and presents me with a gift.
This morning's gift was particularly thoughtful.
Australia had just won a FIFA World Cup match.
The biggest sporting tournament on the planet.
Billions of viewers.
A victory over Turkey, a nation of around 87 million people where football is not simply a sport but a national obsession.
And there on the front page sat a group of adorable AFL supporters.
Which, apparently, was the bigger sporting story.
Now before anyone starts sharpening their keyboards, let's be clear.
The kids on the front page look fantastic.
Good on them.
They look like they are having a wonderful day.
This is not a criticism of the children.
It is a criticism of the adults who looked at a World Cup victory and decided:
"Nah."
Editorial Priorities
To be fair, football wasn't completely absent.
Nestory Irankunda made the front page.
In a small teaser box tucked into the top corner.
Which is rather the point.
Australia wins a World Cup match.
Football gets a teaser.
Richmond gets the front page.
Editorial decisions are about priorities.
The Mercury showed us theirs.
The World Cup match kicked off at 1pm Australian time.
Nobody was caught by surprise.
There was no midnight deadline drama.
No unfortunate timing.
No excuses.
There was an entire afternoon and evening available to consider the sporting stories of the day.
Somewhere, presumably, a discussion took place.
Options were weighed.
Judgements were made.
And after careful consideration someone concluded:
"Yes, Australia winning a World Cup match is important."
"But have you seen these kids in Richmond scarves?"
What Exactly Does Football Need To Do?
Genuine question.
What exactly does football need to do to become the main story?
Win a World Cup?
Host a World Cup?
Colonise Mars?
Discover intelligent life?
Cure male pattern baldness?
Australia wins at the biggest sporting event on Earth and still finds itself playing support act to a discussion about AFL loyalties for a team that won't play a game until 2028.
If this was satire, people would say it was unrealistic.
Yet here we are.
The newspaper itself contains an article explaining that the FIFA World Cup is the most watched sporting event in the world.
The Mercury literally tells readers this.
Then places the match report on page 30.
Page 30.
At that point you almost have to admire the commitment.
The Question Nobody Wants To Ask
Nobody is suggesting the AFL story shouldn't exist.
Of course it should.
It's a perfectly reasonable story.
The question is why a World Cup victory was considered less important.
That's the bit I struggle with.
The Socceroos are representing Australia on the biggest sporting stage on the planet.
The World Cup attracts audiences measured in billions.
Football is played in every corner of Tasmania.
Thousands of Tasmanian kids pull on football boots every weekend.
Yet somehow the biggest football story in the world still feels like an afterthought.
The Tea Hadn't Even Cooled
By the time I had poured my tea, football had already been shuffled into the corner of the front page and onto page 30.
Which is impressive really.
Australia managed to win a World Cup match.
The Mercury somehow managed to make it feel like a supporting act.
Football supporters are often told we have a chip on our shoulder.
Perhaps.
But every now and then the evidence arrives wrapped neatly in newsprint.
The Mercury knows the World Cup matters.
It reported it.
It promoted it.
It even put Nestory on the front page.
Then it decided the main sporting image for Tasmania was AFL supporters attending a game.
And the newspaper landed in my inbox and seemed to say:
"Here you go Victoria."
"Have a whinge."
Honestly?
At that point the blog practically writes itself.