A Kiwi sports reporter based in Australia has publicly questioned why her former employer Fox Sports refuses to sign her on to cover the 2025 NRL season.
Tiffany Salmond, 27, told the Sydney Morning Herald that while female NRL reporters “must toe the line of being attractive, but not toosexy” in their jobs, the men “are allowed to be edgy, loud, have huge personalities and take up space”.
The freelance journalist said the double standards – and her alleged blacklisting – are the result of a conversative “boys’ club” culture in rugby league media.
Previously based in Auckland, Salmond made the move to Sydney earlier this year.
She first began reporting on New Zealand NRL games for Fox Sports in 2023, regularly covering Warriors matches while also accumulating a devoted fan base on social media.
Salmond was told ahead of moving to Australia that Fox Sports couldn’t rehire her to cover a third season due to “budgeting reasons”, but she forged ahead under the presumption that other opportunities would still be available to her.
Tiffany Salmond interviews Warriors great Shaun Johnson for Fox Sports in August 2023. Photo / Photosport
“When I moved to Sydney shortly after and let them know I was available for any other opportunities, I still believed there was an open door,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“But instead, a few weeks later, I read an anonymous quote from a senior Fox source in the Daily Mail saying I no longer worked for the network ‘in any capacity’.”
Salmond added that finding out through the media was “devastating”.
Speaking on why she was let go, Salmond told the Sydney Morning Herald she believed that audience interest in her had reached the point where if she had any more airtime, she’d outgrow the sideline role that first put her on air.
“Over a year later [since losing the job], I still receive constant messages asking where I am and why I haven’t been brought back.
“So if it’s not the boys’ club, then genuinely, I’d love to hear what it is.”
Salmond added it was unlikely she would return to rugby league media unless there was a significant change in the way the industry was run and with the people who reserved the broadcasting rights.
“Back then I thought maybe they just didn’t realise how much the audience connected with me. But in time, I saw the truth.
“They did see it, they just didn’t care. And they didn’t want any part of it.”
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
