Page 13: From kebabs to f-bombs, new footy doco a warts-and-all look at hub life

What happened behind the scenes of a footy season like no other will be revealed in a new Amazon Prime documentary.

Richmond’s sensitivity around coach Damien Hardwick’s extracurricular activities was one of the club’s focuses when approving the final cut of a much-hyped, warts-and-all Amazon doco on the AFL.

While every club involved in the Making Their Mark series had a say (it was written into their contracts) insiders say the Tigers pored over every minute.

The highly anticipated seven-part sports documentary to be released on March 12 on Amazon Prime.

Given Hardwick is passionate during match-day speeches, often drawing on family values and loyalty, any perception of double standards was a concern for the club given what transpired after its Grand Final victory.

In December, it was revealed the premiership coach was leaving his wife, known via Tigers press conferences as “Mrs Hardwick”.

The series also goes behind the scenes to the “kebab shop” brawl near a Gold Coast strip club involving Tigers players Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones.

Damien Hardwick in stills from AFL documentary Marking Their Mark.

Production sources say it now makes sense why there was such sphincter clenching from the club hierarchy throughout filming. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Produced by Eddie McGuire’s JAM TV, Making Their Mark follows players and executives from six clubs.

Under the spotlight are West Coast Eagles ruckman Nic Naitanui, Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew, Greater Western Sydney skipper Stephen Coniglio, Carlton forward Eddie Betts, Adelaide captain Rory Sloane and the senior leadership of Richmond, Peggy O’Neal, Brendon Gale and Hardwick.

COVID-19 struck just weeks after the cameras started to roll at the AFL 2020 season launch in March. The pandemic and its impact on the game quickly became the narrative as the clubs entered locked down hubs.

Embedded camera crews were flying interstate with the clubs and it was no secret that by midseason Tigers chief executive Gale was called in to help a grumpy coach struggling with hub life.

Other sources close to the filming crew say the Tigers coach was “very co-operative”.

Club sources confirmed there were “minor adjustments” to the doco, but said it wasn’t Dimma left on the cutting-room floor.

They found the four-letter language from the players jarring, as did the AFL. It’s surprising there is any footage left given the f-words were flying faster than the Sherrins.

Insiders say the club was wary of double standards in the documentary, after Hardwick was filmed giving rousing speeches about family and loyalty.

Other clubs were relieved at not having cameras in their hub-corridors, which may have picked up the rat-a-tat-tatting on female staffers’ doors.

A series on the fallout after hub life could be the second instalment.

But we digress. Making Their Mark, the brainchild of JAM TV came to fruition with now former AFL executive Darren Birch, and is said to be ground­breaking and likely to lead to even more access to players.

The AFL found the excessive swearing throughout jarring.

Making their Mark, the supposed brainchild of now former AFL executive Darren Birch.

Richmond keeps the club tightly guarded against the media.

But cameras became part of the club. Crews followed the same stringent COVID rules and some wore the Tigers’ colours.

“Footy fans are going to be frothing,” an AFL insider said.

Those who have seen the doco describe it as groundbreaking.