WA-raised Channel 7 sports journalist Abbey Way has hit back at sexist trolls online, after a comment praising Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe was met with misogyny from male AFL fans.

The 29-year-old reporter has made a name for herself as a rising star in Seven’s cricket and racing coverage, and was hand-picked as one of eight people in the network’s Olympic Games 2020 team.

The Perth-bred talent was set to join AFL coverage before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic after impressing as a host on the Brownlow Medal red carpet last year.

But that didn’t stop the trolls accusing her of “wanting” the player who won that very medal when she left an innocent comment on the 7AFL Instagram page this week.

Way - an avid Fremantle Dockers fan - left a crown emoji on a post praising the team’s captain Nat Fyfe.

“Lady wants a Fyfe,” a man named Jameson Negri wrote responded to the comment, tagging four male friends.

While one of the men only replied to the comment with a reference to Fyfe, the commenter continued his needless attack on the Channel 7 reporter by calling her a “bitty” - a slang term for bitch - and accusing her of deleting a comment.

The troll then said “she got a blue tick and she tryna censor me (sic)” to which the friend responded “Welcome to China”.

Refusing to brush-off the sexist remarks, Way called the men out on her own Instagram page.

“I usually leave this but I don’t want a bar of it today,” she said.

“‘Lady’ is a sports journo at the network that made this post AND a Freo (Fremantle) supporter. Grow up.”

The remark is the latest in a string of vitriol aimed at female sporting personalities online, with the controversy surrounding a photo posted to the same Channel 7 Instagram page last year resulting in a fierce debate about sexism in sport.

The image of Carlton star Tayla Harris mid-kick should have inspired young women to lace up their boots and run out onto footy fields but was instead met with vicious and disturbing abuse from - mostly male - sexist trolls.

The sheer amount of negative comments lead to the Channel 7 page deleting the post - which received backlash - before Harris re-posted the image herself with a message for her critics.

“Here’s a pic of me at work … think about this before your derogatory comments, animals,” the post read.

The 23-year-old’s defining moment has since been immortalised in bronze, a permanent reminder to those hiding from the ramifications of their abuse behind a computer screen.

While Way may not have that reminder to look at, the support of a lone commenter is a reminder that while the select few can have a negative impact, there is support for women in sport from “real” men.

“We’ve asked around the real men, and it turns out we just feel sorry for how basic the blokes above are,” another commenter wrote.“Don’t let it faze you, keep up the good work.”