Sport the great unifier for Hannah Hollis

FOX League presenter Hannah Hollis may have a diverse upbringing across multiple states, but Sport was the great unifier in her life, and paved the way for her media career.

Hollis (pictured top, far right) was born in Darwin, grew up in Canberra, moved to PNG, attended boarding school & university in Melbourne, and moved to Sydney for work. There have also been stints broadcasting Sport in Brisbane.

“I love what it does to communities”

“I grew up in a sporting household and I’ve played sport my whole life,” she tells TV Tonight. “I love what it does to communities and how it can generate cohesion within diverse groups of people. It had a beautiful ‘cut through’ ability to unite communities who may not otherwise be united.

“At the end of the day you can’t really say you’ve had a bad day when you’re talking about footy.”

Hollis is currently a presenter on Queenslanders Only and League Life having been poached by FOX Sports Head of Television Steve Crawley.

“I was always pitching to be on the Sports desk”

But she began her career as a cadet journalist at SBS in 2012 covering Indigenous stories, international politics and affairs.

“I was always pitching to be on the Sports desk but it’s such a competitive department. I would pitch stories for NITV and Living Black that were sport related to show what I was capable of.

“In 2013 I got to do the NRL finals and in 2016 I had the opportunity to host League Nation Live in Queensland with Justin Hodges. I would go to Queensland every Tuesday film League Nation Live and went back to do my general news reporting.”

“If there are successful role models the kids can look up to it doesn’t matter what they’re playing.”

Hollis maintains that while Sport unites communities, this is particularly evident in Indigenous communities with both NRL and AFL popular across the country.

“I have family in Darwin who play Aussie Rules but also love Rugby League. Growing up in Canberra you have the Brumbies and Raiders, you don’t have a Soccer team necessarily but the Central Coast Mariners would always play friendlies in Canberra. We don’t have AFL but North Melbourne would often come to play, so you get used to cheering for a lot of sport, particularly in Indigenous communities,” she continues.

“If there are successful role models the kids can look up to it doesn’t matter what they’re playing.”

While NRL has both individual Indigenous players and the Indigenous All Stars team, there is also he NRLW with 4 teams playing in September. Footy’s come a long way for the girl from Darwin.

“There’s nothing more powerful”

“It’s been so special to watch these women coming from all different types of backgrounds, who have played footy for a long time but not professionally, are now living out their dreams and in front of their kids.

“There’s nothing more powerful and special than that.”

Ahead of the 2019 Premiership season, Hollis is tipping the Roosters to win the Premiership but the Panthers to be the “minor Premiers.”

“So they might finish at the top of the ladder but come the Grand Final the Chooks are hard to stop!”

Queenslanders Only airs 8pm Tuesdays and League Life airs 7:30pm Wednesdays on FOX League.