Marlee Silva is a rising star in sports commentary and media. She has multiple podcasts and books under her belt and is a regular in Nine's NRL commentary team. Now, her media prowess and die-hard love of rugby league culminate in her documentary debut, Skin in the Game. In it, Silva, a Dunghutti and Gamilaroi woman, explores the issues that plague rugby league and broader Australia. Skin in the Game is an ambitious feat. In just over an hour, Silva looks at the country's crisis of violence against women in conversation with experts; allegations involving NRL players, the code's handling of such cases and the role it plays in the national conversation; pay disparity between the men and women's competitions; and the male-dominated sports media maelstrom that perpetuates Australia's attitude towards women through its gendered reporting of female players and officials in the sport. Skin in the Game is a mirror for the nation with Silva's own family story at its heart. As the eldest daughter of former NRL star "Rocket" Rod Silva, the game is in Silva's blood. It was the role rugby league played in changing the trajectory of her dad's life that was the catalyst for a documentary. "I've always wanted to put dad's story, or part of dad's story, on screen," she tells ABC Entertainment. As part of filming, Silva returned to the home where Rod and his mother experienced family violence. Silva says reckoning with her grandmother's experience and being at that place was an emotional moment. "She has been the matriarchal figure, like so many Aboriginal women, she is everything in our family," says Silva. "There's so many elements of her life and story that have directly influenced me, like it's through her stories and through her lessons that my mum and dad have raised me and my sister … she has been the greatest influence on us, for sure." While her dad's story was always going to feature in the documentary, as filming began and the national conversation turned toward the epidemic of violence against women at the hands of men, she knew Skin in the Game had a responsibility to play a part. According to advocacy group Destroy the Joint's research project, Counting Dead Women Australia, 79 women were killed due to gender-based violence in 2024. In the year prior, 34 women were killed by a current or previous intimate partner. In April 2024, the Prime Minister declared violence against women a national crisis. Silva believes sport is a way to "shift the dial" in Australia and, through the documentary, she says she wanted to discover how rugby league can drive "much needed change". Silva says when growing up, a big challenge was the perception of what women can and can't do. She has since seen firsthand how the inclusion of women in one of the nation's most-loved sports can influence and change the views of men. In a poignant scene, Silva speaks to her parents about her father's past views on women's participation in rugby league — from playing to commentating. "Do you remember what you said?" Silva asks her father. "Just that rugby league wasn't for women," he replies, before adding, "It is so bad thinking back." As a sports reporter now herself, she says pursuing the career was almost in defiance of her dad's beliefs that women shouldn't be rugby league reporters. Silva's experience reflects the research that, when we see women platformed and respected in sport, perceptions of women change for the better. But despite her dad's changed views, Silva acknowledges there's a long way to go in rugby league and Australia accepting women as serious professionals in sport. Skin in the Game highlights the lengths the women's playing group has to go to maintain a semi-professional career in contrast to the men's competition. We see Brisbane Broncos forward Lavinia Gould take Silva through her morning routine, rising before dawn to work as a forklift driver to subsidise her NRLW salary so that she can support her children while pursuing her dreams. Despite there being a long way to go, Silva remains hopeful for the future. "I think there's also a really good culture that's being built with a lot of the leaders in the space, like we talk to Nicho [Hynes] in the doco, he's a really good example of that and so many of the young men that I've sat down with in my podcast are very much of that same calibre," says Silva. Watch Skin in the Game on SBS On Demand.