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Ten AFL documentaries that need to be made

Roar Guru
28th January, 2021
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Roar Guru
28th January, 2021
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This is purely opinion based of course and if you have others, please comment them below and let me know but here are ten documentaries that would not only grab my attention but would be essential viewing.

The king dethroned
I empathise with Anthony Stevens and Sally McMahon here greatly, do not get me wrong, but this would be elite viewing. Denis Pagan took North’s under-19 side to grand finals like he was getting out of bed and after a stint at Essendon’s reserves, he returned to the senior group with which he played in the ’70s and took them to eight consecutive final series, three grand finals and two premierships, thanks much to one of the best players to ever play the game.

A 21-year-old when he was handed the captaincy, Wayne Carey was one of the best leaders of men ever and it all came crashing down thanks to an explicit affair with vice-captain and best mate Anthony Stevens’ wife (at the time) Kelli, that split the club apart. Carey’s book and Stevens’ Open Mike appearance do touch on the topic of course, but a documentary showing the rise of the Roos in the ’90s and then it falling apart would put most of Australian television to absolute shame.

The other Richmond
Jack Dyer and Dustin Martin have the appeal for documentaries of course but it seems like everything in between was revolved around one man. It wasn’t Michael Roach, Royce Hart or even 1980 premiership coach, Tony Jewell. The man this documentary would cover is Graeme Richmond.

For just an administrator on paper, GR was the man in charge, the dictator, the epitome of the man, for better or worse. From an under-17s coach, under-19s coach, secretary, treasurer, committee member and vice-president, GR arrived in 1951 and left in 1986. In 1967 he became a life member of Richmond, in 1983 he became a life member of the league and was a Hall of Famer at the Tigers in 2002. Listen to any former Tiger around that time though, he was the judge, jury and executioner for players, coaches and everything in between.

Senior/Junior
A three-part series perhaps but Gary Ablett Sr rocked up to Hawthorn in 1982 and 38 years later, Junior departed the Cats and in that time, they became two top-ten players of all time without a shadow of a doubt. Both men have resumes that any player would love five per cent of and it just spews off the page while researching.

The more interesting aspects of the documentary would be the off-field stuff, especially for the Generation Z supporters. Senior’s troubles with illicit substances and a sexual matter that will not be speculated about here, the alleged assault that happened to him in 2006 and the suicide of the man that allegedly assaulted, plus the half-hour video on COVID-19 being false.

Junior’s rise to one of the best players of all time wasn’t always inevitable; famously in 2006 he was confronted by teammates in a Leading Teams exercise and transformed himself. His much talked about trade to the Gold Coast Suns, where he won a second Brownlow, the homecoming and his last game, leaving everything he could out there.

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Gary Ablett and Daniel Rioli

(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Get Mick’d
When Mike Sheahan announced his retirement from his popular football interviewing show Open Mike, the first thoughts were to the players he never got to. Players like Peter Daicos and Tony Lockett came to mind straight away, as well as Wayne Carey who was reportedly set to end the series as Sheahan’s No.1 footballer of all time but it’s Mick Malthouse whose life dissection would be addicting viewing, from start to finish.

In 1972, the boy from Ballarat went to St. Kilda and then went to Richmond and won a flag as a tough back-pocket player. In 1984, he became Footscray’s most successful coach between the 1961 grand final loss and the run of finals from 2007-2010. His controversial exit before a merger proposal would be engrossing, how he got West Coast to be one of the best teams of all time, taking Collingwood from a wooden spoon to two grand finals in the early 2000s and then to a flag in the crazy year of 2010, before his controversial end in 2011.

He then had an interesting time at Carlton and is still the last coach to take them to the finals (and that SEN interview that ended his career forever).

Millennium Lions
Leigh Matthews, Jason Akermanis, Simon Black, Justin Leppitsch and Mal Michael all featured on Open Mike and the season highlights of 2001-03 are on YouTube so there is definitely footage around to get a grasp on why the beginning of the century and millennium belonged to the men in South Queensland.

The three-peat put Brisbane in many eyes as the best team of the modern era and boy it’s not hard to see why. Champions on every line, plenty of underrated guns and of course, the man in charge was pretty handy as well. How the struggling Bears went from Peter Knights’ inaugural tenure to Robert Walls, the Matthews signing and then from 2000-2004 being by far the best team in the land and a documentary on that journey would be fantastic viewing.

Rain, McHale or shine
A pun I’m really proud of but it’s more than the name. Collingwood have won 15 premierships, but only two since 1958. So, how did the other thirteen come about? Jock McHale, more than anyone else.

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At the Pies from 1902-1949, McHale was a part of nine of them, being a premiership player in 1910, playing coach in 1917 and coach of seven premierships, is a legend in the Hall of Fame and is the most Collingwood person that’s ever existed, yes, including Eddie McGuire.

Given the deep dive into such a long way back, possibly more narration than other projects but historian insights, interviews from the past and present experts and an exploration on why Collingwood were the best side in the first 50 years of the competition would be a fascinating watch.

The Kennett curse chronicles
Yes, there’s footage all over YouTube but since most of the players involved have recently retired (with still a few sprinkled around), an actual sit down and dissection of the absolute bonkers rivalry that will be full of pain from both sides and an earning of the most hateful respect from the fans involved ever.

Weirdly enough, this documentary shouldn’t begin on the fateful day in 2008, where a certain former Premier bragged about the psychological edge that Hawthorn had over Geelong. It should begin on the 22nd of April, 2007. Geelong had been there abouts since 2000 but not getting that push required to be champions and after the 2001 preliminary final, Hawthorn had gone completely down the drain. That four point win to Hawthorn began the rivalry, no doubt. Player interviews, the heartbreak Hawthorn went through with coming so close so many times, finally coming to a head in the preliminary final of 2013.

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City of Churches: Back-to-back
The Western Bulldogs were lauded (rightly so) for their journey of finishing seventh and travelling to West Coast and GWS to take down two teams finishing above them to take home the first premiership at the Whitten Oval since 1954. But, what about the two Septembers that Adelaide had?

With no Tony Modra or Mark Ricciuto in 1997, both top five all time Crows, Adelaide won a home final before travelling to Melbourne three times to beat Geelong, that controversial win over the Dogs and then the Saints, who had won 15 straight, in the grand final. In 1998, Adelaide finished fifth, lost a final, recovered to beat Sydney at Sydney, destroyed the Dogs in Melbourne and then proceeded to take down the best team in the competition in North Melbourne.

An added bonus: Malcolm Blight’s stories are always a hit. A doco on those seasons and a dissection of those insane final series would be enthralling.

Kardinia bridesmaids
Only one other team has lost four grand finals in seven years without winning one, ever (Collingwood lost four in five years from 1977-81). With no disrespect to North Melbourne and Carlton during that time, Geelong ran into three of the best teams of all time: ’89 against Hawthorn is the most talked-about game of all time, in 1992 and 1994 they ran into a West Coast team that was beyond insanely talented and in 1995, Carlton’s veterans lost twice during the home-and-away season and destroyed them in the fourth grand final.

Interviews featuring the likes of the Geelong players from that time, the opposition players (particularly the West Coast boys) and trying to answer the grand question of “why couldn’t they get the job done?”

Buddy
Known by one name, loved by two fan-bases and respected by all, is the man often larger than life. He’s the last man to kick 100 goals in a season, has won two flags, lost three and is the best forward of the last decade and a half.

Lance Franklin

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

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Any of Sydney’s recycled big forwards (Tony Lockett, Barry Hall and Lance Franklin) deserve their own (a series maybe?) but as a lone piece into the mental health struggles of a superstar, a higher-profile career than most and a recreation of the Kokoda trail would be a joy to watch.

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