Marlee Silva, proud Gamilaroi and Dunghutti woman, rising sports commentator and rugby league royalty reveals the real story behind Australia’s most loved sport in Skin in the Game, a deeply personal, high stakes reckoning about the future of NRL and who we are as a nation.
In this intimate documentary, premiering on Sunday 23 March on , SBS and SBS on Demand, Marlee, a self-proclaimed rugby league ‘tragic’ and daughter of all-time great of the sport, Rod “Rocket” Silva, investigates the positive power of rugby to shape us as a nation: where we’ve been, how far we’ve come and where we need to go.
Growing up living and breathing the sport, Marlee knows the power of rugby league to transform lives – but she also knows that it can hold a mirror to some ugly truths, especially when it comes to women and violence.
Against a rising tide of domestic and family violence in Australia, where one woman a week is killed by a current or former partner; and one in four experiences violence at the hands of someone they know, Marlee examines what the sport she loves can do to be part of the solution.
Skin in the Game provides unparalleled access to the players, their fans and families, as well as the sport’s leading influencers like rugby league broadcaster and former player and coach Phil Gould, NRL superstar Nicho Hynes, NRL Chairman Peter V’landys AM, NRLW player Lavinia Gould and more.
Revealing the hidden history of women in the game, and pursuing her mission across the sports field, the corridors of power and her own backyard, Marlee embarks on a powerful, deeply personal interrogation that reveals what needs to be done, and why we all have “skin in this game”.
Host, writer and executive producer, Marlee Silva, says that rugby league is a sport of opportunity, not just for the players, but as a platform where we can have tough conversations and show how much better we can be as a society.
"Skin in the Game began as a daunting journey, but even more daunting is the future of our society if we ignore the current culture of violence against women in Australia."
“When I think about having “skin in the game”, it’s not just my skin as an individual or my family, but who we are as a community. This one-hour documentary is a passionate quest to break down stereotypes and turn the dial.”
Watch Skin in the Game on NITV, SBS and on Sunday 23 March at 8.30pm with subtitles in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.
