DURING THE past 100 years of football, people have been making the game the most sensational of sports, as Ronald Dale Barassi said in the documentary on Monday 6 May on Channel 7.
But, sadly and angrily for me, the people –we supporters – barely rated a mention during the long and, at times, tedious program. If that’s the best the AFL can produce, I’ve been watching a game for more than 30 years that has little in common with the flat and unexciting documentary I watched.
If the AFL is now so financially successful as Ross Oakley so emphatically stated, then it should have invested some of its funds in the documentary (or even a series) instead of contenting itself with Channel 7 footage and a lot of cheap talking heads. Some in-depth research would have been appreciated, as would a perspective on the many colourful and legendary characters who made the game great, as well as a more sociological treatment of the mateship, the lifestyles and the antics of our football heroes.