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Posted: 2023-09-01 21:16:21

With the warm glow of the Women's World Cup beginning to fade, now is the time to take a deep breath, reflect on what the tournament meant for hosts countries Australia and New Zealand, and look forward to where its legacy might lie.

In the giddy aftermath of the Matildas' run to the semi-finals, the players partied, Nikki Webster was unfrozen from her carbonite slab to clamour out Strawberry Kisses one last time and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk handed the team the keys to Brisbane and promised them a statue outside Lang Park.

All good fun.

Nikki Webster sings with The Matildas

Nikki Webster joined the Matildas to perform the most popular song from her seminal Follow Your Heart album.

But wait … the gnarly jocks at the back have something to say.

"Matildas did well……Statue? No. A Gold/First Place is a statue and over the top celebration worthy achievement," tweeted basketball bad boy Andrew Bogut.

"Anything below is good, have a celebration or two, then move on.

"This goes for all Sports btw. A for effort, N for No statue."

Tennis hot head Nick Kyrgios also voted 'no'.

"Agree. Great effort! Statue for fourth is nuts but they had us all on the edge of our seats! Next time."

All the bad boys in our comments section also thought it ridiculous, even offensive, that someone should get a statue for finishing fourth at the World Cup.

Richard on Facebook was, frankly, embarrassed by the decision: "A statue for winning a purple ribbon? Typical of the 'everyone gets a prize' generation. This idea is nothing short of embarrassing."

So, do they have a point?

It's true, the Matildas finished fourth at the World Cup after losing their semi-final against England and the third-place play-off against Sweden, but if you didn't realise this was about more than the final result, you would have to have an extremely dim understanding of the human condition.

Yes, you could argue about the practicality of Palaszczuk's idea of mocking-up this group celebration photo in statue form.

Sam Kerr wearing sunglasses with a photo of the Matildas and Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk presented the Matildas with the keys to the city and promised a statue.(Getty: Bradley Kanaris)

Creating a sprawling nine-figure bronze sculpture would seem an excessive expense, unless the Queensland government plans to invest in a couple of Chilean copper mines.

Then again, not all the decisions to decorate Lang Park have been well thought-out.

The plaques commemorating every Queensland Origin player embedded in the ground out the front are beginning to seem excessive, seeing as we are currently up to 230 individual Maroons players and counting. But they also haven't been added to since 2021.

Lang Park mural

The Broncos' captains mural at Lang Park is missing some recent additions.(ABC News: Dan Colasimone)

And what about the Broncos' captains mural? Another half-thought-out idea, which inexplicably hasn't been updated since Darren Lockyer led the side. Thoughts and prayers for Corey Parker, Sam Thaiday and Justin Hodges!

Anyway, I'm sure Palaszczuk's idea can be finessed a little – perhaps the Matildas statue could focus on Cortnee Vine's winning penalty against France at the ground, the high point of Australia's campaign, or be more of a flat relief sculpture (as suggested in Nine newspapers).

But back to the question of whether they deserve it.

If you don't think the Matildas earned a statue outside Lang Park, you might want to think about your threshold for statues.

The World Cup was a defining moment for women's sport and a generational touchpoint for millions of Australians. It has rightly been compared to Cathy Freeman's exalted run in 2000, or our America's Cup win in 1983.

As far as the nation getting swept up in a single, feverish cause, this was up there with Bradman or Phar Lap.

And this is not just hyperbole, the numbers bear it out.

Nearly 2 million people packed the stands to watch the games across Australia and New Zealand, including capacity crowds in Brisbane for every Matildas game, and near-capacity crowds for the matches not involving Australia.

The decibel level at Lang Park during the Matildas' quarter-final against France was higher than any sporting contest previously held there, including Origin.

A woman in a yellow football shirt looks to kick a ball very hard.

The Matildas have inspired a whole generation of girls and boys.(AAP Image: Darren England)

That match was the highest rating sporting event on Australian television since Freeman's race at the Sydney Olympics, with 7.2 million watching on Channel 7 alone, before you add in those who streamed the match and everyone watching in pubs, clubs and fan zones.

That record was smashed again in the semi-final, with 11.15 million TV viewers making it the most watched event in Australia. Ever.

That's more than double what State of Origin games rate, or AFL or NRL grand finals.

Sport management academic Dr Hunter Fujak estimated the total number of Australians who watched was more like 17.1 million, or about 64 per cent of the population.

A seismic, generational event.

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