A beautiful photo of NSW hero Millie Elliott celebrating her team’s State of Origin series sweep has taken an ugly turn.
The star forward and her teammates became the first women’s team to clean sweep an Origin series when they triumphed 12-4 over Queensland at Cbus Super Stadium on Thursday night.
The Sydney Roosters powerhouse stayed on the field following the trophy presentation as Blues players soaked in the victory.
She attracted the attention of cameras while holding her daughter Gigi.
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The 27-year-old returned to the game this year following an 18-month break when she and husband Adam prepared to celebrate the birth of their first child.
Gigi captured plenty of interest from photographers and one image of Elliott giving her eight-month-old daughter a bottle while standing on the field of victory has spread across cyberspace.
The image of Gigi leaning backwards taking a bottle has inexplicably stirred up a hornets nest of debate and criticism.
The image, shared on the ABC Sport Facebook page has received more than 7000 interactions and hundreds of comments.
While many have praised the champion second-rower for her on-field act, others flocked to the comments section to ridicule her.
One Facebook user identified as Greg wrote: “Yeah, you really needed to feed that kid right there. Cringy as f***”.
Another Facebook user identified as Adam wrote: “I understand being a Mum, but this is just being performative. Whoever was looking after the baby could’ve fed it”.
One user identified with the first name Buddy posted: “Using your kid as a photo opportunity my goodness. So sad”.
One person wrote in a comment hidden on the ABC Sport’s Instagram page: “This ridicules women’s sport. Grandstanding to the max. The kid couldn’t wait for 2 minutes? This is why I won’t watch women’s sport. It’s all about feminism and grandstanding”.
Other Facebook users said they were “shocked” to see such “disgusting” comments on the photo.
One user identified as Chris responded by typing: “How did I know there’d be a smattering of negative comments to this. Facebook plus toxic masculinity plus mum shaming — awful cocktail”.
Another identified with the name Lucy wrote: “Some foul comments from women here… shameful”.
Elliott said husband Adam was not in attendance and was watching on the couch.
The Rabbitohs star wrestled his way back into South Sydney’s starting side when the faced the Cowboys last weekend. He will next be in action for the Rabbitohs when they face Manly on Thursday.
Speaking with Channel 9’s Sam Thaiday after the game, Millie was asked about the issues of juggling her career with motherhood.
“It’s definitely got its challenges, but I’m lucky I’ve got such amazing support,” she said while holding Gigi on her hip.
“Not only with my husband Adam. He’s at home, watching on the lounge. Say hi dad. But my mum and all of my teammates and staff and coach.
“They’re so great. They let me bring Gigi to training and around the team room.
“It’s so special to have her a part of it. Having their support has definitely made things a lot easier.”
The four-time NRLW premiership winner said after the game her return to the Origin arena had been “absolutely brutal”.
“Such close games. Every one of them came right down to the end,” she said.
“It’s so good for women’s footy that we’re getting that product there leading into the NRLW. It’s awesome.”
