Footy presenter Marlee Silva has opened up on how her dad used rugby league to break away from cycles of domestic violence he experienced during his childhood.
She also explained how the sport can be a force for change to educate and prevent family abuse in Australia.
Silva is a proud Gamilaroi and Dunghutti woman and is also one of the most exciting young presenters in Australian sport.
She is a regular face on Channel 9’s NRL commentary team but has also been using her platform to explore a variety of social issues, inculding gendered violence.
The footy presenter is also the daughter of Canterbury legend, Rod ‘Rocket’ Silva, who made 100 appearances for the Bulldogs between 1995 and 2001.
Silva, however, revealed that her dad, his brother and their mother were subjected to domestic violence when he was growing up, during her debut documentary Skin in the Game.
Marlee Silva (right) has opened up on how her dad Rod (left) experienced domestic violence when he was growing up
Rod (pictured right, with daughters Keely, left, and Marlee, centre) opened up on how footy helped break a cycle of domestic violence
During the one-hour long documentary, Silva investigates how rugby league can help to educate and ‘change the dial’ when it comes to issues relating to violence against women. During the documentary, Silva speaks to past and present players, as well as ARLC boss Peter V’ladys, on how rugby league can be a force of positive change.
‘My dad was a professional rugby league player for 14 years and he grew up – and so did my mum, unfortunately – in households that were marred by domestic violence,’ Silva said at the NSW Government’s Multi-Sport Coalition Launch.
‘It was my grandmother, my dad’s mum, who kind of gave him a footy and said: “Use this to get out of the situation”. And in one generation, my parents broke the cycle of poverty and cycle of domestic violence.
‘I have grown up knowing that sport has the power to do something.’
During the Skin in the Game documentary, Silva and her father Rod are seen returning to where he grew up in Mount Druitt in Sydney.
In an emotional scene, the pair discussed what it was like for Rod living as a young boy around domestic violence. The Canterbury great revealed that he was partly motivated to pursue a career in professional rugby league to take his family out of that situation.
‘There was a bit of domestic violence, unfortunately,’ Rod said during the documentary. ‘It was scary, all the screaming and that. But as soon as the cops came, someone was either getting taken away or everything was stopped.
‘We’d all go in the rooms and hide when mum and dad were fighting. So mum wanted me and my brother out of the house.
Silva made 100 appearances for the Canterbury Bulldogs, before hanging up his boots back in 2001
‘So she brought us a footy and we went into the street. That’s where I fell in love with rugby league.
‘As a young boy, me and all my mates, we wanted to make it so bad,’ he said.
When pressed on why by his daughter, Rod replied: ‘I saw it as a way out for mum and us. We’d been surrounded by a lot of things out of our control. So I just wanted to do something good and I wanted mum to be proud.’
Silva was reduced to tears following the moment.
‘It was really affecting, thinking about my dad as a little boy who just wanted to survive and wanted a better life for his mum,’ she told The Sydney Morning Herald on the moment. ‘I kept seeing him as a little boy in that house being scared or hungry, or not being able to sleep at night. And I’m so proud of what he represents and all the sacrifices that he’s made for me to have the life that I’ve had. And that’s what I hope to do justice to, in telling this story.’
She has also explained that her grandmother has impacted her growing up.
‘She has been the matriarchal figure, like so many Aboriginal women, she is everything in our family,’ the Channel Nine presenter told ABC News. ‘There are so many elements of her life and story that have directly influenced me. Like it’s through her stories and through her lessons that my mum and dad have raised me and my sister… she has been the greatest influence on us, for sure.’
According to the most recent figures collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Personal Safety Survey (PSS), which have been published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, approximately 3.8million adults reported experiencing physical or sexual family and domestic violence since the age of 15. That data was collected between 2021 and 2022.
During the documentary he explained that his mum had bought him and his borthers a football to ‘get them out of the house’
Alarmingly, one in six women and one in 18 men have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15.
Silva believes that rugby league can be a catalyst for change when it comes to attitudes towards women in relation to gendered violence and issues like inclusivity.
Earlier this year, the NRL was criticised for inviting US President Donald Trump and UFC boss Dana White to its games in Las Vegas. White Ribbon, a charity campaigning against domestic violence against women, is understood to have written a letter to NRL bosses over the invitations to end their partnership with the league.
Silva noted that domestic violence has been associated with the sport in the past but was hopeful that it could take some big steps to help educate and prevent domestic violence issues.
‘I’m not saying the sport is a perpetrator of [family violence],’ she told The Sydney Morning Herald. ‘But it has been associated with this issue and has an opportunity to become a leader in addressing it. My greatest belief is that we do see ourselves as a sporting nation. I believe in [sport] as a vehicle to create positive change.’
It comes as the chief justice of the Family Court of Australia, William Alstergren, had taken action to display a powerful message on the big screens at the Optus Stadium, ahead of Queensland’s State of Origin II victory.
Multiple big names from the NRL, including Isaah Yeo and Harry Grant, appeared in the video, where they called for men to ‘lead by example’ and called for the ‘end of violence towards women’ as part of a new campaign against domestic violence.
The powerful clip was seen by a crowd of nearly 60,000 people in the stadium, with several other big names including actors Hugh Jackman and Eric Bana, as well as musician Vance Joy, all speaking during the clip.
Silva believes that rugby league can be a catalyst for change when it comes to attitudes towards women in relation to gendered violence
‘Just to have that exposure at the ground so all those people from all over Australia get to hear and see our message will be huge,’
‘Kids go home from the game and say to their dad: “Why was that on?” and hopefully it stimulates a conversation.
‘This is the way to stimulate it and we want to show that there’s a real interest in this.’
Contact 1800RESPECT if you or anyone you know is being impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence
Call Lifeline on 13 11 14
Call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800
Call 13 Yarn on 13 92 76
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