Dressing room
As she did with an oval ball, Honey Hireme-Smiler is the leader for women behind the microphone – this time with league – as Sky Sport strives to make their voices on screen more reflected from their audiences. Merryn Anderson reported.
Honey Hireme-Smiler is ready to make history this weekend, believes the first woman to comment on an NRL match when she takes the microphone for the Warriors’ first home game in almost three years.
Despite her vast knowledge of the game and expertise in front of a camera, the former Kiwi Ferns captain and NRLW player admits she’s still a little nervous.
“History tells us that in the industry, female commentators are often discriminated against and the credibility of women working in sports media is often questioned,” says Hireme-Smiler.
“Some believe ‘female commentators don’t know what they’re talking about’ – especially in sports dominated by men.”
But more and more female sports experts are proving that dubious assumption wrong on our television screens, with Sky pushing to include more women – especially Māori and Pacific Island – in their commentary and presentation teams.
Among the six strong Sky teams covering the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next month are five experts – Courtney Tairi, Storm Purvis, Rikki Swannell, Ravinder Hunia and Kristina Eddy (Karl Te Nana is the Strange Man).
The move reflects not only the current audience for sport in New Zealand, but also who we see on the field.
Hireme-Smiler, who also represented New Zealand in rugby and sevens, will give her view of the Warriors vs Wests Tigers game on Sunday afternoon along with former Warriors player Adam Blair and commentator Glen Larmer.
Honey Hireme-Smiler (right) with Kiwi Ferns debutant Amy Turner after the Kiwi Ferns victory over Tonga.
Last weekend, she was part of the commentary team at Mt Smart Stadium for the Kiwi Ferns’ decisive 50-12 victory over Mate Ma’a Tonga – her first time mentioning an international women’s league match.
Hireme-Smiler’s expertise in commentary comes from decades of experience – playing rugby league since the age of five in Pūtaruru, and playing in four Rugby League World Cups between 2003 and 2017. She also played for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the first NRLW -competition.
“For me I approach [commentary] just like if I were to play in a test match, ”she said before the weekend.
“My preparation gives me the confidence to name what I see, to convey those messages so that our viewers are interested, informed and hopefully excited and entertained.”
After commenting on rugby and sevens, Hireme-Smiler hopes to bring her own turn to the league commentary and balance her passion for the game with her cool head.
“I think it’s important for passionate fans and viewers to remember that these athletes are also human in the intensity of an 80 – minute football match and to expect very good moments along with the bad ones,” said Hireme-Smiler, who in the box for all of the Warriors’ home games this season.
“It’s my job as part of the commentary team to promote the game, the players and entertain our viewers.”
Sky Sport recently launched their ‘See the Possible’ campaign, a commitment to women in sport.
The campaign is not only to promote and showcase more women’s sports, but also to support the way stories are told – writers, commentators, producers and presenters.
For some of the Sky team, it is a representation of the direction in which Sky is moving, with a gradually growing number of women working both on screen and behind the scenes.
“It’s so cliché – if you can not see it, you can not be – but it’s completely true,” said Taylah Johnson, one of Sky’s rugby commentators and presenters.
Johnson is one of the growing number of women in the Māori and Pacific Islands working for Sky, who grew up with rugby but never really saw people who looked like her on cover.
“For a long time, sports media coverage around the world was truly European. But we reflect our audience, and also the teams that play. And I think that is also very important, ”she says.
“More people want to see people like them on screen, and we really reflect the population in New Zealand.”
Al Sky’s team is also highly qualified, with Johnson representing Samoa in rugby and sevens, and New Zealand in BMX.
Kirstie Stanway attended the broadcasting school and in 2015 started an internship at Sky. She was told that when she was six months old, her uncle put her on a beanbag before an All Blacks test – and that was the beginning of her love for all things sports.
She works seven days a week, on television and radio (as host of SENZ’s riding program, The Run Home, with Stephen Donald), but emphasizes that her work never feels like a job. “It is quite full, but we have to go and watch sports,” she says.
“People pay to do it, we sit there and are paid to be on the sidelines and talk to these athletes. It’s so wonderful, it never feels like a chore. We are so happy to do what we do at the end of the day. ”
Former Silver Fern and current Sky employee Courtney Tairi agrees and says she is looking forward to Mondays, when all her friends complain about the start of the work week.
Seeing women on screen has inspired a whole new group of people to pursue sports media, says Tairi, who joins fellow netball player Purvis in the Birmingham team.
“They can now see it as an opportunity, as an option for them,” said Tairi, who is also a netball coach. “I know a lot of netball girls will ask me how I got into it, and they start thinking about it.”
Johnson remembers a moment when a young woman approached her at a Super Rugby match she was working on.
“She said ‘Can I take a picture?’ and I thought she was talking about the players and she was like ‘No, with your Taylah’, ”she recalls. “She said: ‘I have been following you for years and I like what you do a lot. As a brown girl herself, it is very nice to see you in these spaces and also to thrive in space. ‘
Sky also ensures that all presenters and commentators are in a space where they are comfortable and knowledgeable – Tairi made a joke that she had to ask to work on netball, after she started hosting league, another of her passions.
Johnson praises Sky for this, in line with her personal values.
“I would not want to be on to something I would not consider myself an expert on because it would devalue the product,” she says. “I will not sit there and pretend I know netball and I do not think anyone will do it for rugby.”
The trio praises women who were forerunners for them: Melodie Robinson, Jenny-May Clarkson, April Ieremia, Bernadine Oliver-Kerby and Swannell; all role models for any woman who wants to pursue a career in sports media.
Hireme-Smiler is also grateful to those who paved the way.
“I had the opportunity to collaborate and learn with some of the best female hosts and commentators in Aotearoa,” she says.
“Sky continues to give current and former female athletes opportunities to try it and I also really enjoy sharing and supporting them. I enjoy hearing a wide range of comments, expertise and opinions on sports across all codes of other women.
“Sky is investing in changing the face of what sports commentary looks like by following a more diverse approach – more female voices will attract a wider audience.”
There is also no shortage of women waiting in the wings, Johnson says all that is needed is someone to give them the chance.
“It’s the biggest thing, to just open the door,” she says. “We were all ready and waiting, but now we’re actually making the effort to do so.”
* The Warriors vs. West Tigers game Sunday at Mt Smart Stadium is sold out, but coverage will be live on Sky Sport 4 from 3 p.m.