Sports fans across Australia were shocked when Channel Nine announced that The NRL Footy Show would not be returning in 2019 after a 25 year stint.
But amidst the cuts, Erin Molan will not only continue her role as host for the Sunday Footy Show but will also “take an even more prominent role on Nine’s sports broadcasts going forward,” according to Nine’s Director of Sport, Tom Malone.
“In recent years, Erin has equally brought a new energy, perspective and showed her passion for the game,” Mr Malone said.
He also labelled Erin as a “great broadcaster” and announced that she would be covering sports such as netball, tennis and cricket in her new role for Wide World of Sports.
With Belinda Russell and Deborah Knight at the Nine News desk.
Erin only joined the Footy Show panel this year after she unseated longtime serving Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin. And while the show may be over, it’s clear that it will always hold a special place in the Channel Nine presenter’s heart.
Re-sharing the same photo co-host Beau Ryan posted to Instagram, Erin captioned hers, “What an incredible privilege to be a part of for so many years… Have loved every second. Thank you so much to all the wonderful staff who worked behind the scenes – you are amazing. To the people I got to sit along side -Fat, @therealbeauryan and @therealbigmarn – plus @rwgirdler later on… you are all sensational and I thank you for the support both on and off camera. To the fans – you made the show. Thank you.”
Despite her success, fans of The Footy Show have labelled Erin as the reason why the show was axed.
While she has deactivated comments from her Instagram post, there have been a series of negative comments left on Beau Ryan’s original post.
“It’s gone downhill since @erin_molan joined. She ruins everything,” one wrote.
“@erin_molan have some guts to take the backlash and take ur photos off limited comments. You are the reason the show is gone. You are the reason we all switched off. You are the reason the ratings went drastically down,” another wrote.
The Footy Show‘s Beau Ryan shared this photo which Erin re-shared, but comments on her post have since been disabled.
Erin is no stranger to social media trolls and criticism. The sports journalist told news.com.au that a lot of it arose due to being a woman in the male-dominated sports industry.
“When I started I got a lot of ‘You should be in the kitchen’, and those were the nice ones,” she revealed, before adding, “I’ve copped some nasty tweets and comments. You always see them, but I’m much better at dealing with them now.
“To every young woman out there and every person out there, you determine your worth,” told fans in 2015.
“And if you feel you’re ever in a situation where you are not being treated with respect or the way you are being treated is not acceptable to you then you have every right to walk away and every right to stand up for yourself,” she added.
WATCH: Erin Molan announces her engagement on The Footy Show.
