CARL V FREM, 2.45PM TODAY; ADEL V GEEL, 1.10PM TOMORROW

Grateful Harris praised for AFLW stand THE FINALS:

TAYLA Harris has thanked her supporters after the AFLW star’s powerful call for change which has disarmed internet nasties and fuelled a possible rebrand for the sport.

Harris has endured a whirlwind 48 hours after a photo, taken by Michael Willson, of her playing for Carlton had been set upon by online bullies. The 21year-old was strident and selfless in calling out the abuse.

“If I can stand up here and say something about it and start the conversation ... if that helps one person or heaps of people, then that’s what I want to do,” Harris said this week.

Harris succeeded in galvanising support for the causes of de-sexualising images of women in sport and reducing online abuse.

Fellow AFLW stars, Matildas captain Sam Kerr and even Prime Minister Scott Morrison have backed Harris on social media and in spoken comments. Kerr took aim at Channel Seven, which deleted the picture in response to the online attack, tweeting “THE PROBLEM WAS NOT THE PHOTO”, before the broadcaster apologised and re-posted the image on social media.

Champion cyclist Anna Meares called the image “incredible”.

Premiership-winning Adelaide captain Erin Phillips led the support from around the league.

“There is a lot of trolls that get away with things that shouldn’t be allowed,” Phillips said.

The AFL has celebrated Harris’s actions, adopting a silhouette of the image in place of the AFLW logo.

Harris responded on Thursday by posting her thoughts on Twitter.

“Things have changed,” she wrote.