Jamila Rizvi and Ginger Gorman at the Wheeler Centre

‘Don’t feed the trolls’ – it’s the conventional wisdom of the internet. But who are the trolls? What motivates them? And, beyond ignoring them, how do we limit the destruction they wreak on people’s lives?

These are the questions Ginger Gorman started asking after she herself became the target of an online hate campaign. In 2013, the investigative journalist received hateful and abusive messages, including a death threat, in response to a story she broadcast on the ABC. This harrowing experience led her to a five-year investigation of the nature and impact of trolling itself, including interviews with psychologists, police, trolling victims and, perhaps most importantly, trolls themselves. She learned about highly organised global trolling syndicates, the economic cost of internet hate campaigns, and the failure of the legal system to hold trolls accountable.

In conversation with Jamila Rizvi, Gorman discusses anonymity, misogyny and the psychology of cyber-sabotage.

Nicole Hayes, Kirby Fenwick and Kate O'Halloran at the Wheeler Centre, with AFL photographer Michael Willson's shot of Tayla Harris projected behind them — Photo: Jon Tjhia

What's so great about AFLW? Apart from free entry, cheaper pies, and the fact that you can run onto the field and have a kick at the end of the match?

The AFLW has resuscitated the ailing suburban heart of Australian Rules football – pumping the stands of neglected neighbourhood ovals with boisterous fans of all ages and introducing Australians to a whole new raft of outstanding young athletes.

But the league is maturing and professionalising. As more matches are broadcast, as brands wise up to the sponsorship potential of the league, and as competition (both for draft picks and for the flag itself) intensifies, is the community spirit of the league at risk?

At our annual AFLW Season Wrap, our panel discusses all the thrills and spills of the season that was, previews the 2019 finals series, and looks at the changing tenor of the game.