Women are breaking new ground almost daily in the extremely competitive Australian sporting market, with female players and pundits alike making waves.

The AFL, NRL and Australian rugby have launched women's competitions to sit alongside national women's cricket, basketball, netball and soccer leagues.

Female athletes, though, are still subject to abuse - highlighted by the reaction to a photo of AFLW player Tayla Harris posted on social media on Tuesday night.

Channel 7 removed the image when it attracted derogatory comments, but backflipped hours later and reposted the photo, saying deleting it "sent the wrong message".

Canberra exports Molan and Zelic are part of an increasingly powerful female section of the media, and both have faced struggles along their journey.

Molan became the first woman to host the NRL Footy Show, and although the show has been axed, she is the face of Channel Nine's rugby league coverage this season.

Zelic hosted SBS's coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup less than a year into the job and said the daunting induction helped her handle trolls at the same tournament four years later.

The pair have similar stories of resilience, admitting they considered giving up on their dreams before rising to the top of their profession.

Molan copped rejection letter after rejection letter, and worked as a security guard and on a building site before finally cracking into television news in Canberra.

"I had a million jobs. I worked at a night club in Ireland where I had to check women’s handbags for drugs and knives; that actually helped me for media which shows how brutal it can be," Molan said.

"I had almost 100 rejection letters from every major network in the country and overseas but then I got the call from Channel Nine in December 2010.

"I started on the Sunday Footy Show in 2012 which was pretty incredible and surreal. I’d worked very hard but that doesn't guarantee you success in our industry.

"It was a bit weird and exciting when people start to recognise you, but the novelty certainly wears off after a while once you really get to experience the highs and the lows of having a bit of a profile.

"Learning to navigate it all has been tough over the years, obviously the Footy Show stuff at the end of last year was tough - not so much the decision [to cancel the show] but the public aspect.

"That’s hard because people aren't particularly nice all the time. That’s something I've dealt with a lot over my career but it never really gets that much easier.

"I've got a baby now and a fairly good perspective on what's important and what actually matters, which helps, but of course nasty stuff will affect you from time to time. But on the whole, I’m pretty battle hardened.

"I'm surrounded by great family and friends and I've got a great job, people would kill for my job so I'm certainly not going to sit here and complain.

"There’s nasty stuff around but that’s part and parcel unfortunately of the media landscape today, and social media and all of that is just part of it. You get the highs you get the lows."

Zelic echoed those comments and said she had faced similar setbacks at the beginning of her career.

"Everything I pursued was a dead end and I started to feel like the wheels were coming off. I turned my back on the industry entirely and got a job in the public service," Zelic said.

"I knew that wasn't my forever, but didn't know what was, so I felt so lost and in career limbo. I always loved football and writing but never really imagined I could fashion a career out of it - but then it dawned on me at a Bundesliga game and I realised football is actually what I want to do.

"I’m at my happiest when I'm in a football stadium and pursuing the things I love and football is what I love, it’s in my DNA.

"It’s been a big journey and a lot has happened, but I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s been frustrating, it's been rewarding, it’s been emotionally exhausting, physically exhausting... but I wouldn't change it for anything at all."

Zelic was infamously heckled on social media for her correct pronunciation of players names at the 2018 World Cup, and while the support came thick and fast, the presenter didn't even know it was happening.

"The funny thing for me is I managed to stay well out of it because I didn't look at my notifications, I made that decision after I had a pretty awful experience at the 2014 World Cup on social media," Zelic said.

"You attract a lot of criticism and I've been the first to put my hand up and say I didn't deal with it well in 2014, because it hurt - it hurt because my motivation and intention in the game have only ever been genuine. I'm not in this career for fame or celebrity, I'm in it because I'm a kid from Canberra who grew up in a football-loving family that was able to turn her passion into a job. That's what happened, there's no real fairytale story to this. It was hard work."

Zelic backed more women to appear in sports media moving forward and encouraged anyone wanting to work in the industry to always be true to themselves.

"We’re getting used to more women being involved in sport because what we’re seeing is credibility to these women - with Hannah Hollis, Yvonne Sampson, Erin Molan - and they're all there on merit," Zelic said.

"People are starting to believe and buy in, and that's been the missing piece in a very complicated puzzle at times. But on the flip side of the coin, working in TV you're always going to attract criticism.

"If you do have public opinions, which I've never shied away from having, then you are going to attract a bit of stick and you have to just accept that not everybody is going to like you.

"I'd say to young girls starting out: don’t try to be like any of us because your biggest asset in this industry is your uniqueness and what you can bring to the table that's different.

"We've reached a place now where everyone is so concerned about being politically correct, and in some respects rightfully so... but we’ve become so concerned with rocking the boat that we’re not challenging any more. We’re not testing, we’re not trying, we’re not thinking outside of the box.

"The hatred is going to come whether you like it or not - if you do a good job or bad job it's always going to be there. So don't make it about that and just make it about your passion."