Novels and Plays
Scope
This section includes novels and plays. Screenplays have not been included. The works cited are either specifically about Australian Rules football, make use of football as a setting or theme, or refer to football in ways that are important to the structure of a work. Some poems are untitled. Many works listed here were found using the Australian Literature Gateway (Austlit) database, using the search term ‘Australian Rules football’
Some works here were annotated by Dave Nadel (DN) for the 2005 printed edition of Reading the Game.
Novels
Bennett, Robert, The Big Ruck, Angus & Robertson: Melbourne, 1975.
A novel in the 'pulp fiction' genre. DN.
Carter, Paul D., Eleven Seasons, Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, 2012.
Dalton, John, Violent Saturday, Horowitz: London, 1964.
A novel in the 'pulp fiction' genre. DN.
Farrell, David, Beyond the Boundaries, Peg Publications: Glenelg, SA, 1997.
A young man in a country town is worried about his football team and his soul. This is a work about football in country communities, with the allied theme of modernism in the Catholic Church. The distinctiveness of these themes tends to spoil the continuity of the novel. DN.
Fitzpatrick, Peter & Wenzel, Barbara, Death in the Back Pocket, Crossbow: Jolimont, Vic., 1993.
A murder mystery where the main suspects are the deceased footballer’s team mates. DN.
Flanagan, Martin, The Call, Allen & Unwin: St. Leonards, NSW, 1998.
A ‘fictionalised’ biography of the life of game’s first rule-maker and modern founder, Tom Wills. DN.
Flanagan, Martin, The Call, One Day Hill: Camberwell East,Vic., 2006.
Greenwood, Kerry, ‘The Vanishing of Jock McHale's Hat’, in Knight, Stephen (ed.), More Crimes for a Summer Christmas, Allen & Unwin, North Sydney, NSW, 1991, pp. 97-106.
This crime fiction work was also published in the Advertiser, Adelaide, 9 January 1992, p. 12 and 10 January 1992, p. 10. TH.
Linnett, Ken, ‘Sequences from the Seventies: Three Works of Fiction’, Neptune Press, Newtown, Vic., 1981, pp. 79-107.
Contains an essay with a football theme titled ‘Sandersson’. TH.
Oakley, Barry, A Salute to the Great McCarthy: A Novel, William Heinemann: Melbourne, 1970.
A novel about an unusual individual who plays football, written in the tradition of Oakley's other two books published around the same time. DN.
Wearne, Alan, Kicking in Danger: The Footy Novel: A Damien Chubb Mystery, Black Pepper: North Fitzroy, Vic., 1997.
Damien Chubb is a former footballer who works as a private detective, hired to find a kidnapped full forward in this comic detective novel. DN.
Wilson, Tony, The Players, Text Publishing: Melbourne, 2005.
Plays
Dickins, Barry, Royboys, Current Theatre Series, Currency Press ;Sydney; 1987.
Hopgood, Alan, And the Big Men Fly, Australian Theatre Workshop, Heinemann Educational Australia: South Yarra, Vic., 1969.
Hopgood, Alan, Here Comes--Bucknuckle: The Story of a Racehorse and a Sequel to and the Big Men Fly, No.22, Australian Theatre Workshop/Heinemann Educational: Richmond, Vic., 1980.
The sequel to And the Big Men Fly.
Myles, Bruce, Flanagan, Martin, & Playbox Theatre (Melbourne Vic.), The Call, Current Theatre Series, Currency Press in association with Playbox Theatre, Melbourne/Sydney, 2004.
A tragic story of genius and loss, of a man who leaping at the sun fell down in a dazzle of healing light.
Richards, Ted, ‘Endgame’, Age, Saturday Extra, 9 May - 26 September, 1998, p. 2.
Serialised in seventeen parts in the Melbourne Age.
Timlin, John and Hibberd Jack, Goodbye Ted, Playscripts: Series 2, Yackandandah Playscripts: Montmorency, Vic., 1983.
Williamson, David, The Club, Currency Press, Sydney, 1982.
Scope
This section includes novels and plays. Screenplays have not been included. The works cited are either specifically about Australian Rules football, make use of football as a setting or theme, or refer to football in ways that are important to the structure of a work. Some poems are untitled. Many works listed here were found using the Australian Literature Gateway (Austlit) database, using the search term ‘Australian Rules football’
Some works here were annotated by Dave Nadel (DN) for the 2005 printed edition of Reading the Game.
Novels
Bennett, Robert, The Big Ruck, Angus & Robertson: Melbourne, 1975.
A novel in the 'pulp fiction' genre. DN.
Carter, Paul D., Eleven Seasons, Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, 2012.
Dalton, John, Violent Saturday, Horowitz: London, 1964.
A novel in the 'pulp fiction' genre. DN.
Farrell, David, Beyond the Boundaries, Peg Publications: Glenelg, SA, 1997.
A young man in a country town is worried about his football team and his soul. This is a work about football in country communities, with the allied theme of modernism in the Catholic Church. The distinctiveness of these themes tends to spoil the continuity of the novel. DN.
Fitzpatrick, Peter & Wenzel, Barbara, Death in the Back Pocket, Crossbow: Jolimont, Vic., 1993.
A murder mystery where the main suspects are the deceased footballer’s team mates. DN.
Flanagan, Martin, The Call, Allen & Unwin: St. Leonards, NSW, 1998.
A ‘fictionalised’ biography of the life of game’s first rule-maker and modern founder, Tom Wills. DN.
Flanagan, Martin, The Call, One Day Hill: Camberwell East,Vic., 2006.
Greenwood, Kerry, ‘The Vanishing of Jock McHale's Hat’, in Knight, Stephen (ed.), More Crimes for a Summer Christmas, Allen & Unwin, North Sydney, NSW, 1991, pp. 97-106.
This crime fiction work was also published in the Advertiser, Adelaide, 9 January 1992, p. 12 and 10 January 1992, p. 10. TH.
Linnett, Ken, ‘Sequences from the Seventies: Three Works of Fiction’, Neptune Press, Newtown, Vic., 1981, pp. 79-107.
Contains an essay with a football theme titled ‘Sandersson’. TH.
Oakley, Barry, A Salute to the Great McCarthy: A Novel, William Heinemann: Melbourne, 1970.
A novel about an unusual individual who plays football, written in the tradition of Oakley's other two books published around the same time. DN.
Wearne, Alan, Kicking in Danger: The Footy Novel: A Damien Chubb Mystery, Black Pepper: North Fitzroy, Vic., 1997.
Damien Chubb is a former footballer who works as a private detective, hired to find a kidnapped full forward in this comic detective novel. DN.
Wilson, Tony, The Players, Text Publishing: Melbourne, 2005.
Plays
Dickins, Barry, Royboys, Current Theatre Series, Currency Press ;Sydney; 1987.
Hopgood, Alan, And the Big Men Fly, Australian Theatre Workshop, Heinemann Educational Australia: South Yarra, Vic., 1969.
Hopgood, Alan, Here Comes--Bucknuckle: The Story of a Racehorse and a Sequel to and the Big Men Fly, No.22, Australian Theatre Workshop/Heinemann Educational: Richmond, Vic., 1980.
The sequel to And the Big Men Fly.
Myles, Bruce, Flanagan, Martin, & Playbox Theatre (Melbourne Vic.), The Call, Current Theatre Series, Currency Press in association with Playbox Theatre, Melbourne/Sydney, 2004.
A tragic story of genius and loss, of a man who leaping at the sun fell down in a dazzle of healing light.
Richards, Ted, ‘Endgame’, Age, Saturday Extra, 9 May - 26 September, 1998, p. 2.
Serialised in seventeen parts in the Melbourne Age.
Timlin, John and Hibberd Jack, Goodbye Ted, Playscripts: Series 2, Yackandandah Playscripts: Montmorency, Vic., 1983.
Williamson, David, The Club, Currency Press, Sydney, 1982.