Original subtitles

[suspenseful instrumental music]

[man] AFL is war without weapons.

[crowd exclaims]

No padding.

[music builds]

Your chance of injury is 100%.

But I've come this far. I can't just stop.

[crowd cheering]

You can get tackled from any direction.

You don't really know where the contact's coming from.

If you are willing to put your body on the line and go all in,

some great things can happen.

[commentator] From the pocket! It's a goal!

[stirring orchestral music]

This 2025 season is unprecedented

by the number of teams that could win a premiership.

There is no doubt over the last four to five years

every single club across the league

have now got star players who are dominant,

which are making these teams really hard and unpredictable.

[Brian Taylor] This has to be the biggest game ever played in this state.

We're in a do-or-die scenario.

[Brian] Did it get over? No contact. It's a goal!

The pressure starts to rise and the anxiety

and you start to get a bit more tense.

Pressure's good. It's part of the game.

As soon as you stop feeling the pressure, you're probably done.

Marcus Bontempelli says signing a new contract isn't front of mind.

As I start to get older, legacy's important. I can't afford to wait.

Every club would love to have a conversation with you.

[Alister Nicholson] Free kick going Brisbane's way.

Every time they speak about you, it's always, "The number-one draft pick."

[Alister] Another one! What is going on?

You know me. More than anything, I was blown away by how much it blew up.

I was like, "Oh, I've let 'em down."

-Useless number-one pick. -Absolute little flop.

As a mum, it breaks your heart that someone

could say something about you, and we know it's not true.

I remember, I was like, "Jesus, this is taking a real toll on me."

Georgia, I always thought I'd end up with her.

No-one will intimidate you.

'Cause all you do is get suspended and fines.

[Caro Wilson] Toby was charged again.

No more of it. I'm sick of it.

I do some stuff that some people might not like.

-Dammit, I wanted that to hit your head! -[laughs]

I've done enough losing. I want to do everything I can to help my team win.

[crowd cheering]

The game's the easy part.

Beyond the field is obviously when you feel a bit more uncomfortable.

I'm scared about the change? Imagine what the 44 players under me are feeling.

We've lost a winnable game again. We gotta learn how to win.

[crowd cheering]

We play to win premierships. That's just the bottom line.

[exclaims]

[cheering]

[man] The stakes are high. The margin for error is so slim.

[Dayne Zorko] We experienced last year

what it is like to get to the top of the mountain -

Grand Final Day, that pure euphoria, that final siren,

the taste of the ultimate success.

[stirring music swells]

I don't want another team to feel that.

[stirring music crescendos]

[light acoustic music]

[boxing bag slapping]

[trainer] Hey, Tobes, just get a bit of a warm-up done.

Get a bit of shadow boxing done.

Um, just get loose and warm.

We'll get moving in about two minutes, alright?

[exhales rapidly]

[Toby Greene] I've always been competitive.

Maybe a little bit of a chip on my shoulder.

[trainer] Good. Just punching straight on. Bop, bop.

Lift those feet.

[Toby] Always pretty keen to play a physical brand of footy and...

lots of people out there that get highly offended or angry

with how I go about it.

I just think, "Well, if I see you in a boxing ring one-on-one,

"we'll see how you go,

"but until then, I couldn't give a fuck what you say."

[rock music]

Toby Greene, Greater Western Sydney Giants.

[crowd cheering]

I play in the forward line, try and create goals.

[James Brayshaw] Off the ground, Toby Greene!

And he slots it!

What a footballer this man is!

[trainer] Up, up, up, up. Four straight.

[Toby] The higher stakes the games, the more emotional you are.

-[commentator 1] Greene! -[commentator 2] Oh, Greene!

[Toby] No regard for your safety, really.

[rock music continues]

And that's when I'm feeling at my best.

[commentator] They will never surrender!

Come on. Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit.

Good. Come on. Right, right, right.

[Toby] Carefree. Risk-taking.

Hit, hit, hit. Good job!

[Toby] Yeah, always happy to push boundaries.

I thought it'd be good fun.

[commentator] And we are on!

[Toby] Sometimes stepped over the lines...

[grunting]

...of what's acceptable.

-[rock music fades] -[crowd groaning]

[umpire] Get the footage! Get the footage!

[Brian] Was it deliberate?

And they are attacking Greene.

[solemn music]

Oh, whew!

[exhales heavily]

[Sam McClure] Toby plays on the edge.

That's what makes Toby great.

It's also one of the things that gets him in trouble.

There's been multiple incidents

over the course of his career.

[reporter 1] Toby Greene referred directly to the tribunal

for making contact with an umpire.

[reporter 2] Greene has been charged

with making unreasonable or unnecessary contact to the eye region.

[Jordan Lewis] His rap sheet is as long as anyone in AFL history.

Eye gouging.

Kicking guys in an area where you probably shouldn't be kicked in.

Pulling hair. Just sort of ratbag behaviour.

He's been the villain. He's been the guy that you went to barrack against.

Public enemy number one.

[tense music]

[interviewer] Alright, so, like, what's the history been like with Toby Greene?

Any time there's a bit of a scrap...

[Brian] Toby Greene and Bontempelli going here.

...Toby's somewhere in the thick of it.

[Brian] They step toe-to-toe and Bontempelli didn't take a backward step.

[Marcus] Seemed to always cross paths and it would boil over

to the point where we'd end up in a bit of a barney.

So, yes, he is an antagonist.

[Toby] And he might call me soft, weak, insipid.

I don't know. Something like that.

[laughs] Um...

To be honest, these days, I really... Don't really care.

[trainer] Let's have a stretch, get the heart rate down.

[Toby] It's the most physical sport on the planet, no doubt about it.

I've always tread pretty close to the line

of what's acceptable and what's not and, um, gotta get that balance right

and make sure that... that, you know, you're playing every week.

[pensive music]

Alright, two kicks each. Gotta stop the ball inside the circle.

So once both players have done it twice,

you move down to the goal square and you can have one kick each.

You gotta take it in turns. First team to... You finish when you hit the post.

Middle, middle, middle, middle.

GWS Giants have been in incredible form throughout the year

and looking for a top-four finish.

At their very best, they look like they could be

a real premiership threat this year.

Abbey Holmes, host of the AFL on Channel 7 Australia,

I'm Survivor alumni. I'm a premiership player.

For Toby, you look at the evolution of him as a player, as a leader,

but he certainly hasn't changed his approach

in the way that he is so wired to win.

He's just relentless in chasing a premiership.

[Toby] I've been pretty good the last 3 or 4 years without getting suspended.

A fair bit of it's maturity.

A fair bit just understanding, you know, your role in the team.

And especially as captain now, like, that's just not on, not acceptable.

-[team exclaims] -Great pressure.

[Tom Green] We're in a really good stage in the competition,

in a position to win a premiership.

But this season is more even than any season that I can remember.

Someone's gonna be really unlucky to miss out, but...

So if we win out from here, we're in.

Talk to him!

[Tom] Toby, he's been massively influential every single week.

You want your captain out there with you while we're playing must-win games.

A lot's gotta go right to make sure you're a chance to win it.

And I don't want to miss big games and big finals.

I'll try and stop getting suspended,

but I won't really change the way I go about playing.

[player] Oh, shit!

There's nowhere to header it, though!

[laughter]

[mellow acoustic guitar]

-[Toby grunting] -[Georgia] Oi!

Here we go - something illegal.

You just shattered my chest.

You literally just shattered my... Whatever this is. That's a foul.

[Toby] Georgia and I, we met in high school.

So I played basketball against her as a kid.

And she was always this girl that was pretty much better than all the boys.

[both chuckling]

[Toby] And I knew straightaway, "I want to marry her and have kids with her."

[both grunting and laughing]

-[Georgia exclaims] -[laughing] That's a foul, tackling me.

Toby, you can't have an excuse because you didn't make a shot.

She certainly keeps me in line. She's very good at that.

-[Toby] Next score wins. -Next score wins right as you get it?

[Toby grunting]

[Georgia] Do you want me to say fiancée or partner or...

[interviewer] Fiancée's right, isn't it?

-Is that scary? -No.

-You tell me. Is that scary? -Yeah, it sounds scary to me, but...

I don't know. I guess I am.

Georgia Stirton is my name

and I'm Toby Greene's fiancée.

-[both laughing] -You cannot do that.

-You can't put your elbow out. -It's my space. Of course I can.

He is the opposite on the football field to what he is in real life.

I'm not saying he's an angel because he definitely has crossed the line at times

and has deserved some of the backlash.

[Toby chortles]

[Georgia] I even have friends that haven't met him ask me,

"What's he like? Is he angry?"

I'm like, "He is so far from angry."

He... I can't do anything to get him angry.

[upbeat music]

[Toby] Yes!

[Georgia] I sometimes just wish people could see there is a lot more to Toby.

You seen that before?

[Georgia] Our daughter is Isla. She's 18 months now.

For Toby, it's the first time something's come that's bigger than football.

[Toby] What are you doing?

Oh, you want a drink.

[Georgia] It just is amazing what little girls can do to tough men.

More?

[Georgia] I always knew Toby would be a great dad,

but I was a little bit worried of how it would be with a little girl

and the backlash when he does cross those lines.

[dramatic music builds]

[Georgia] People were saying, "I hope your family members die,"

or, "You should kill yourself,"

or I've had DMs saying, you know, "I saw him cheating with girls,"

and, "Does he bash you up?"

It probably affects me more than Toby.

[Toby] Yeah, mate, yep!

[dramatic music]

[Georgia] Toby's been good for a few years

and even though he knows the Swans are a big game,

he knows they're gonna get into him, you know,

he will actually either walk away or just, like, not give anything.

And that is so different to the Toby of, like, maybe six, seven years ago.

So there is a bit of trust in him that, you know,

he's not put himself in these situations now.

[dramatic music builds]

Friday night, bright lights, prime-time football.

Greater Western Sydney are looking

to cement a spot in the top four.

Sydney are trying to remain in the finals hunt

while their season has a heartbeat.

-So the stakes are massive. -[crowd cheering]

[commentator 1] This is gonna be a beauty.

They don't like each other. Let's make no bones about it.

[commentator 2] Isaac Heeney's the big gun. He's the energiser for his team.

Obviously the Giants will be aware of that.

[dramatic music continues]

[siren blaring]

[commentator 3] We're underway.

[crowd cheering]

And the Swans look to attack.

Heeney's the man!

Jones will be disappointed with that.

[crowd cheering]

[crowd exclaims]

[umpire] That's high! Free kick!

High! Free kick! Get inside.

[crowd cheering]

[commentator 3] It's getting a little nasty now!

Toby Greene hasn't seen a lot of it just yet.

[commentator 4] Just continuing to struggle.

[commentator 1] He's got the mad eyes going.

[commentator 3] Taking bodies on the way through.

-Heeney tries to break through a couple. -[umpire blows whistle] Holding the ball.

High! High! Straight to him.

[crowd jeering]

[dramatic sting]

Oh, fuck me. Like, what has he done?

-[tense music] -[crowd jeering]

[Toby] It was just an irrational decision in the moment

and, um, it wasn't personal.

It was just, um...

It was a bad minute for me.

[commentator 4] This looks much more like the Giants.

They're absolutely flying at the moment.

[music lifts]

[commentator 3] From 35 points down!

[siren blaring]

Six wins in a row!

[crowd cheering]

[Jordan] This is a huge victory for the club on the eve of a finals series.

The only cloud that once again hangs over this football club

is what will happen with Toby Greene

and the on-field actions that have reared its head again?

It will be a nervous 24 hours at the Giants,

waiting to see what happens if Toby is suspended

and what that might do to the rest of their season.

[tense music]

[Georgia] It was, you know, frustrating.

Yeah, again. Like, it's happened so many times.

It's just a lapse in control.

But, yeah, obviously you can't be doing those things.

[tense music fades]

[pensive music]

[applause]

[Nigel Carmody] Good evening, everyone.

Tonight at the centenary gala,

we celebrate the greats of this football club.

The top 25 will be named tonight.

[applause]

[woman] Hi, Marcus. Just arrived or you've been chatting?

-No, I've just walked in. -Not a bad strategy.

Yeah. We had training today, so I had a few bits and pieces to do.

-Alright, I'll let you go. Good luck. -[Marcus] Ta, thanks.

[Marcus] I was lucky enough to be named as part of the top 25 players

of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, which is pretty big for me.

We keep saying to everybody, "How did we get this guy?"

Yeah. Well, I'm just as lucky.

[interviewer] What do you prefer to be called? Marcus? Bont? The Bont?

Oh, in this setting, Marcus 'cause I'm not wearing the kit, not in the jumper.

[James] Look out, Bontempelli!

[Marcus] But when I'm in the red, white and blue,

I do feel like a different person.

I've almost got split personality.

[commentator] Bontempelli!

The Captain! The Finisher!

Oh, there's nothing this man can't do!

Marcus Bontempelli is The Bont.

[Alister] Bontempelli floats his kick!

The Bont is like some kind of Marvel superhero.

It's the hair.

It's the facial structure.

[laughs]

Marcus Bontempelli for me is a unicorn.

He's tall, he's athletic, he's highly skilled

and has leadership qualities that a lot of players don't possess.

[James] Oh! This is some play!

[Dylan] He's 12 years into his footballing career

and he'd be the best player in the AFL, and has been for a long time.

♪ Different ♪♪

[commentator 1] Surely not. Surely not!

[commentator 2] Oh, how good is The Bont!

[Marcus] When people ask me about dealing with pressure and expectation,

funnily enough, I'd look at myself as the kid who underachieved

or maybe hadn't quite yet reached his potential.

At two, Marcus Bontempelli.

[applause]

I feel like all the good things you've done or that have happened to you

have either been because of different circumstances,

you know, whether it's been luck...

I'm lucky that early in my career, I had some early success.

We won the premiership in 2016.

20 at the time. For me it was like, "Oh, how good's this?

"Like, won a flag. Unbelievable."

I mean, winning the next premiership

has been on my mind

for the best part of the last five years.

[dramatic music]

[Alister] Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs tonight.

It's a huge Friday night clash.

[James] Huge away game here for the Dogs.

Just sitting outside the eight,

they would love to find a way to snatch this.

And we are away!

[commentator] The Dogs' defence haven't been set.

You can see how scattered they are.

-[crowd cheering] -[James] Ashcroft! Goal!

[Marcus] In the games where teams have gotten the better of us,

they've probably just been a bit tougher in the contest.

[Alister] Brisbane on fire!

[Marcus] We're the ones that go to ground. They keep their feet.

[Alister] And what a moment, what an opportunity they squander.

[Marcus] When the intensity goes up, I don't reckon we do things well enough.

-[siren blaring] -[crowd cheering]

[Alister] That's now for the Western Bulldogs

eight losses this season to sides in the top eight.

[Marcus] We've struggled to consistently perform

at a really high standard for a whole sort of season and a period of time.

[dramatic music]

You know, on the brink of 30

and as I start to get older, closer to the end than I am to the start,

legacy's important.

I can't afford to wait.

[Abbey] Following the Brisbane loss,

if you're Marcus Bontempelli, you're thinking,

"In the back end of my career, are we going to be a serious contender?"

[Josh] Missing finals, it'll feel like another season wasted

for Marcus Bontempelli.

Maybe that's a key reason

why the contract decision's been pushed down the road.

Marcus Bontempelli says signing a new contract isn't front of mind,

as he enters the last year of his four-year deal.

-[dramatic music] -[whistle blowing]

[Marcus] Here we go, lads!

Stay out there, stay out there!

[Tim Watson] At this stage, he hasn't put pen to paper.

When are we expecting that to happen?

[Tom Morris] It's such an intriguing situation, Tim,

because conversations haven't begun yet to extend him.

The media has been just fascinated

that Marcus, the best player in the game,

and he still hasn't signed.

One more straight at ya. One more straight at ya. Nice. Well taken.

Who hasn't started it? The Bontempelli camp or... It couldn't be the Dogs.

[Morris] No, the Dogs are keen to start.

It's up to Bontempelli's manager, Tom Petroro, to reach out.

It would be the biggest player to move.

How the transaction would look would break records.

[Marcus] Oh, yes! It's on straightaway, Lobby.

You just gotta be ready.

It's not good enough, is it, Arch?

It's not good enough, that.

When he's ready, we'll talk about it.

[pensive music]

You know, I've played my whole career here, 250-odd games.

That's, like, half your life, which is a long time to spend in one place.

Mentally and emotionally, it gets harder and harder to find new ways

to invigorate yourself to go back to the trough.

[Jordan] I would assume, if Marcus looked at the club

and understood that his next premiership wouldn't be coming from that side,

that you would have to genuinely ask yourself,

"Am I better off elsewhere?"

-[pensive music fades] -[birdsong]

[funky instrumental music]

[steam hissing, crockery clattering]

Hey, Joel. How are you, mate?

Can I please get my normal porridge, please, to take away?

-[Joel] No worries. -Thanks, mate.

I'm gonna make a coffee. I'll be around.

[Marcus] You are only in the game for a short time,

meaning you've still gotta process what your life looks like after football.

So we purchased the coffee shop.

How are you? What are you after? Some takeaway or...

-What's your coffee normally? -Almond.

Small almond latte, is it? Yep. There you go, Stu.

-[Stu] Thanks. -[Marcus] All good.

[Marcus] And I just saw it as a great opportunity to invest in potentially,

but then secondly to explore my own ideas and creativity in a business sense.

-Oh, here he is. How are you, mate? -I'm good. How are you?

-[kisses] -What's that? What was that? Aw.

[Marcus] I grew up, family of six, three sisters.

Probably bullied and pushed around a bit and dominated.

If there was any sense of arrogance or confidence starting to seep in,

they were pretty quick to squash it...

which I lean into as a way to sort of drive you a little bit more

rather than get a bit complacent.

See ya, Archie. See ya, mate. You too.

Let's rock and roll.

[vehicle engine starting up]

[tense music]

[Marcus] The next game, I've got the Giants.

They're a bit of an old foe, the Giants, you know?

It is one headache to have to think about

when Toby Greene's in the opposition team.

And there's always been something that has boiled over

in games between us and the Giants.

So it's one in the calendar that you want to win, you know?

Certainly it is for me anyway.

[Sam] For the best part of 10 years,

the Giants and the Dogs have absolutely hated each other.

-[dramatic music] -[indistinct commentary]

[Brian] Bontempelli's the target! He's on the bottom of all of that!

There's certainly no love lost between those two.

It's one of the biggest rivalries in the game.

[Brian] Goodness gracious me!

[commentator] Oh!

-Bontempelli has been targeted all day. -[crowd booing]

Greene grabs Bont by the hair and slams his head into the ground.

[dramatic music swells]

[Sam] The rivalry exploded.

[crowd jeering]

There'd been a few things sort of leading up to that.

Marcus dump-tackled Brett Deledio

and then I just wasn't happy with that

so decided to pull his hair.

[Marcus] I was trying to set a bit of an example as well

and be physical at different points, which boiled over into another moment

where everyone ended up on top of each other.

And with Toby, he's probably keen to just get away with a little bit more.

He probably wasn't happy with me pulling his hair.

But I couldn't really care these days.

[interviewer] At any point, was it personal with Toby?

Yeah, yeah. Um...

Seem to always cross paths and butt heads.

So it's just one of those things that you do take personally.

[announcer] Please welcome your host...

[Dave Matthews] I actually observed the year we went to the All-Australian awards

and I saw Bontempelli move his name tag

so that he didn't have to sit next to Toby Greene.

An hour later, they're having an All-Australian photo on stage

and there's a lot of camaraderie.

And Bontempelli and Toby Greene are standing next to each other.

They hardly say anything to each other and don't really look at each other.

[Toby] Nah, we're not mates.

[interviewer] Do you guys get along?

Oh, I've never had a beer with him.

[tense music]

[crowd chanting] Bulldogs! Bulldogs!

[commentator] What a way to kick off Round 21.

[Hamish McLachlan] The 9th-placed Dogs, precarious ground -

win and stay alive, lose and fall off the cliff.

The 6th-placed Giants, they're just outside the four,

but any missteps and they're in trouble.

[tense music continues]

[Toby] Hey, mate. How are ya?

[Caro Wilson] Last Friday night, Toby chose to push his forearm

into the back of Isaac Heeney's head.

[reporter] The Giants have accepted his one-match ban for striking.

He's the one guy that we probably couldn't afford to lose.

How are ya?

[Ruby Schleicher] And now they're going to be

without their captain in a very important game.

[Adam Kingsley] You know, our record against the Bulldogs is not great.

The last time we beat them was two years ago.

Toby kicked four goals in a quarter

and was really the difference between us winning and losing.

Both teams are trying to make finals

and also being captain, you gotta lead by example,

so it was, um, disappointing.

[Marcus] Toby in trouble again.

Um, probably not the first time he's sort of...

Yeah, an elbow's ended up where it shouldn't.

Let's go, mate.

[Marcus] He's actually performed quite well

against the Bulldogs in the past.

So if you don't have to worry about that, that's a good thing.

[crowd cheering]

[Marcus] All about contest and pressure.

-Let's fucking go. -[player] Come on, boys.

[Brian] Dogs looking to survive.

Giants looking for a top-four finish.

[dramatic music]

[crowd chanting] Giants! Giants! Giants!

[Brian] Here's Bontempelli.

Beautiful to Darcy! Will he get the free?

No, but he recovers. And, yes, he got boot on ball!

And, yes, he kicks the first goal of the game!

[crowd cheering]

[Hamish] Bontempelli, brilliant tackle.

[Brian] Slides it long.

Naughton at the back, setting himself.

For his third goal. You bet!

[crowd cheering]

[commentator 1] Doggies are on fire and Giants can't do anything to stop it.

[commentator 2] How much are they missing a player like Toby Greene right now?

[exhales heavily]

[Dave] The hardest place for an AFL player or a sportsman to be generally

is sitting in the stands, watching, 'cause you're helpless.

And usually you're sitting there 'cause you're injured.

When you're there because of your own mistake, that's even harder.

[Hamish] Back to Bontempelli.

[Brian] Wow!

[Toby] Oh, my God.

[commentator] He made that look so easy.

[Hamish] Richards. Towards Darcy.

Might just bounce on through. It does!

[crowd cheering]

[siren blaring]

[Brian] This is a massive 88-point win

to the Western Bulldogs

over one of the highly fancied teams

in the competition.

[Toby] 88 fuckin' points.

[Jordan] For the Western Bulldogs,

winning convincingly against a top-eight side,

that is... that's gold.

It's the difference between making finals or packing your bags.

♪ Can't beat the boys of the Bulldogs breed ♪

♪ We're the team of the mighty West, woo! ♪♪

[applauding and cheering]

[Jordan] And then a devastating loss for the Giants.

One horror performance can certainly mean

that you are no longer spoken about as premiership contenders.

You are now back with the pack.

[dramatic music swells and fades]

[knife chopping]

[Isla shouting]

What's that?

Hello. What's goin' on?

[Toby] The suspension was more than fair.

Probably letting some anger or frustration out,

um, with maybe missing a tackle,

and... and it just happened to be Isaac.

I wish I sort of had that time back.

-[woman] Hello, beautiful girl! -[Georgia] Hello!

-Hello, Oreo! -Oreo, move. Come here, bud.

-Hello! -[Georgia] Come here, bud. Oreo, Oreo.

Aw! Mwah!

Hello, my beautiful girl!

-[Isla] Daddy! -[Kate Greene] What's happening?

[Isla babbles]

[Kate] Oh, really? Is that right?

My mum, oh, she's been a rock throughout my life.

[gentle music]

And she's been amazing with Isla as well.

-Very clever. -[Toby] Hey.

What did you have today?

Um... not much. Went to the gym.

[Toby] She's not happy about the suspension

'cause the backlash that I cop, the media, what they say,

she takes it all in.

-[interviewer] How's Georgia? -The same.

I don't think you'll like that onion.

[Toby] Growing up, she's had a huge role in my life.

She had to be hard and stern.

'Cause with my dad, I could do whatever I wanted with him as a kid.

That probably wasn't great for me, being a risk-taker,

and was a recipe for trouble.

The last, you know, 10, 15 years,

drinking and alcohol and drugs have probably taken a fair toll

on his body and brain.

You know, the way he functions now is not how he functioned 20 years ago.

The father of GWS star Toby Greene is facing jail time.

[reporter] Police allege that he headbutted one of their own

who was trying to kick him out of the MCG

after he was allegedly found drunk in one of the bathrooms.

When we made the Grand Final,

had just lost the Granny by a lot and...

hadn't slept much and found out the next morning at 6am

and there's reporters out the front.

Yeah, that was, um... that was hard.

[pensive music]

Three or four years before that, I think I, um...

I think I knocked him out in the change rooms

'cause he was drunk and carrying on, um, so, yeah.

[interviewer] Talk me through that. What happened?

He was just like... Yeah, came into the change rooms.

He was pretty loud and boisterous and he was extremely drunk

and I was just embarrassed and just told him to fuck off

and, yeah, punched him, so...

Yeah, it's hard. Like, the reason I love footy's because of him, and got into it.

That's what I'll take with me,

and then you learn your lessons from some things he's done that you can't do.

[birdsong]

[dramatic music builds]

[muttering indistinctly]

[vehicle engine starting up]

[dramatic music continues]

[radio host 1] Round 24. One to go, boys.

-One to go. You excited? -[radio host 2] Absolutely I'm excited.

There's so much to play for. This is it. You gotta get yourself into the eight.

You gotta qualify, then who knows from there? All balls go in the air.

[Marcus] We're in a pretty precarious situation at the minute

where we're sitting outside the top eight.

I guess you're intrigued to see, "Alright, how are we gonna...

"how are we gonna deal with this current challenge?"

and more or less intrigued to see which of the guys can really, um,

I guess, step up, you know, step up to the plate.

For us and Freo, we're playing for our season, really.

That's the position we find ourselves in and everything's on the line.

It's a tough position to be in. You know, there's pressure on.

If we don't win this game, you're into an off-season,

so, yeah, it's a big week.

Fremantle, they're playing some very good football

so we gotta expect that and be ready for that, you know, as a whole.

[crowd cheering]

[dramatic music swells]

It always comes down to the last round of who's gonna make it.

So Fremantle, Western Bulldogs, who's gonna get there?

Who's able to capitalise on

a whole year's worth of work to make up the eight?

[dramatic music continues]

[crowd chanting] Bulldogs! Bulldogs!

[Ruby Schleicher] Well, pretty simply put,

the Bulldogs, they win,

they're in the top eight, they're in a finals series.

They lose, they're out.

-[Hamish] A season definer. -[crowd chanting]

[Jason Bennett] This does feel like a final.

[Hamish] Let's go.

Jye kicks it long. He's got three.

[Jason] Fremantle pouncing on every opportunity.

Dogs are fighting for their lives at Marvel.

[Marcus] Yeah, oi!

[Jason] Bontempelli on his left. Does he go himself?

He does.

Sublime!

Dogs hanging on.

Bontempelli again.

[Nick Riewoldt] Season on the line, back in touch, the Dogs.

Gotta be perfect from here.

[Jason] Freijah. Left foot snap. Goal!

15 points. 2:30 to play.

[Hamish] Is it enough time for the Dogs?

[Nick] You lose momentum here and you let it get out of control,

your season's over.

Punch some fuckin' ball!

[Hamish] A quick handball to Bolton.

Drills the ball long.

It's lights out.

-The Dockers have won on the road. -[siren blaring]

They've muzzled the Dogs.

[sombre piano music]

[Marcus] Initially after the game,

the raw emotion is "coulda, woulda, shoulda", almost.

Like, we should've been in there, in my opinion.

We gave ourselves a look, but left it too little, too late.

Bulldogs are now out. They missed the opportunity to play finals.

And for 2025, that's all she wrote.

Righto, lads, we'll just head straight in.

You boys come as well if you want.

Yeah, I think overall, you know,

like, everyone will have different ways of processing and dealing

and, you know, there'll be frustration, there'll be disappointment.

But, yeah, you gotta be honest.

Another probably couple-of-goals margin,

we feel like, "Oh, we're not that far away."

So we've gotta think of this as just a chapter

as opposed to, like, the end of the book.

It's clearly a big decision for your life and your future.

The players in the game are getting more fluid with moving and open to moving.

Like, I think the loyalty aspect of football...

Is it diminishing? Maybe a little bit.

And could that be good for the game? Maybe.

-G'day, mate. -[man speaking indistinctly]

I might have to get it after.

-Are you going in here? -Yeah.

I'll see you there in a bit, alright? Thanks, boss.

-[reporter] We'll get this going. -Sure.

Well, Marcus, you've put the pen to paper.

How much of a relief is that, that it's all done and dusted?

It's nice now that, um,

especially with all that's been going on in my life,

to obviously get to it, get it sorted with the football club.

The Bulldogs has always sort of been my home

and obviously I'm hugely grateful

to be going on, you know, for another few years.

-Awesome, mate. All good. -Appreciate that.

[Marcus] The most important thing is the people that I want to do it with.

In a full-circle moment, it was a big decision, you know,

but to me it was sort of just something that was inevitable.

[Dylan] From an outside perspective of an AFL lover,

there's no Dogs without Bontempelli, there's no Bontempelli without the Dogs

and all he wants to be doing is holding up a premiership cup for 'em.

I'm too short! [laughs]

-Thank you. Legend. -Thanks, guys.

[Tom Petroro] He often talks about how he's grown up at the Bulldogs

and it's an extension of his family.

But through that period, he's had highs and lows,

but he's grown and he's developed

and in his eyes, he owes that to the club.

[Marcus] It's the place, really, that I've spent most of my adult years.

18, you walk in the door.

You feel connected to the place, to the suburb, you know, to the people,

to all the things you've been a part of and achieved,

but also the things that, you know, you haven't achieved.

I still feel like there's more to do.

[pensive music]

[radio host 1] First elimination final Saturday is gonna be awesome.

Win or go home is the situation here.

Giants, Hawks - one of these teams' seasons has to come to an end.

Well done, well done!

[radio host 2] Toby Greene, he's one of the all-time greats,

but he's still suffering from this white line fever,

which is costing his club.

[radio host 3] It is. That's a fact. That is true.

It's frustrating. But he's not gonna change now.

[yells indistinctly]

[Toby] In a final, I certainly wind myself up.

Once I'm in that sort of competitive mode,

probably not controlling my emotions as well as what I should.

So I've got to, yeah, be aware of it and make sure it doesn't happen.

[phone clicking]

[Georgia] In those big games, big moments, finals, I am just nervous.

He just has this white line fever that sometimes no-one can control.

I'm just not sure why we're 15 years in and you're still having... brain farts.

Before that game, you said not to get in trouble, so I didn't listen.

No, you did not listen.

Yeah, no, I... I... I shouldn't have got suspended.

[Georgia] To be honest, it does get tiring, defending him.

It's acceptable if you're younger and not experienced,

but you've been playing for 15 years,

you've gotta have a bit more self-control.

-[Toby] Lesson's learnt. -Is it?

Yeah, it was a bad game, that one. But that's fine.

But it's not fine 'cause all you do is get suspended and fines.

That won't happen again, especially with big games coming up

where there's a lot more on the line.

Okay.

When you go to forearm someone's head,

you didn't actually think about all the DMs that come flooding back,

all the media, your parents getting dragged through the mud.

Yeah, look, I don't care about 'em as much as they affect everyone else, so...

Yeah, but no-one will intimidate you.

No-one will scare you. I... I was.

Yeah, you just... No more of it. I'm sick of it.

-We're sick of it. -[Toby] I know.

[crowd cheering]

[Brian] There you have it - ENGIE Stadium,

the scene for this elimination final.

Hawthorn and the Giants.

-[player 1] Let's fuckin' go now. -[player 2] Come on!

[Jordan] In these big games, Toby can go one of two ways.

Brilliant performance, match winner,

stands out as the best player on the ground

or does he become the villain and do something stupid?

That will be the challenge, I think, for Toby.

I actually don't think I can watch. I feel that sick.

[rock music]

-Just channel your aggression, yeah? -Yeah.

-Make it productive. -Yep.

[Toby] Finals is all amplified

and you've sort of got a few more emotions going through you

than what you usually do during the season.

This first quarter's gonna be fuckin' electric.

Good luck trying to get a chain of handballs through us.

It's gonna be on. I can't wait, boys.

And we're gonna make mistakes with the footy, without it. Who gives a fuck?

Just respond next contest, like we have all year.

-Let's go. -[all shout]

We've been in this situation for the last few weeks. We have to win to progress.

-[dramatic music swells] -[Brian] We are ready to go.

[Jason] Hawks are launching again.

Clever finisher.

-[crowd cheering] -Hawks are rolling.

Oh, my God.

Within the space of two minutes, they'd pretty much kicked four goals on us.

[Jason] Hawthorn just flipping the elimination final on its head.

[crowd cheering]

Get a goal. Come on.

I am just on edge. I'm waiting almost for something to happen.

But you just hope and pray that he's not gonna do something.

[Toby] Ricc, Ricc, Ricc!

Get off!

[crowd jeering]

[players shouting]

Josh, Josh, Josh!

[grunting]

We're just a bit panicky. It's alright. We know what to do.

We haven't got it going yet. We fuckin' will.

Edge! Get closer!

Here!

-[crowd cheering] -Come on! Let's go!

[rock music]

-[crowd cheering] -Yeah!

Fuckin' come on!

I think a bit of a trademark of our team is we will play to the last minute

and we'll keep fighting and we can score quickly.

And that's exactly what happened.

[dramatic music builds]

[crowd cheering]

Yes, yes!

String, String, String!

[crowd cheering]

[Jason] Greene offers to hit up at half-back.

[Georgia] Oh, please.

[Isla exclaims]

Dadda! Go, Dadda!

[Brian] Toby Greene stepping to the plate

to put them in front.

[dramatic music builds]

Fuck, Toby.

Fuckin' shit!

[Toby] As soon as I marked it, I thought, "This is a goal."

So it wasn't like nerves or anything. I just kicked it horribly.

[Jason] Things starting to go the Hawks' way.

[dramatic music continues]

[Brian] This will absolutely send the Hawthorn fans into a frenzy!

[siren blaring]

[Jason] They are through to a semifinal in Adelaide.

Fuck!

People talk about, you know, growth in your game and all that type of stuff.

Like, I don't give a fuck.

You either win a premiership or you may as well finish last.

There's no in between for me.

[Tom Green] I know it's too simplistic to say that it's a wasted year,

but it just feels like a waste of a year.

-Yeah. -[sombre piano music]

Mmm.

Incredibly disappointing, innit? Fuck.

They're a really good team.

It just felt like we were a better team.

But history will say we weren't.

Like, being in the last four finals in winning positions

and haven't got it done, so... [inhales sharply]

Bit of local, couple of stitches

and that way you know it ain't gonna come apart

until the stitches come out in a week.

-Yeah, I don't care. -You sure?

Yep.

[Toby] No guarantees, you know? Like, footy's bloody hard.

And, yeah, that's why you gotta take the opportunities when you get 'em

and that's why you're bloody flat when you walk off the ground.

[gentle poignant music]

[playfully] Ohh!

Do you want to go play? You can go play.

There's Daddy. Look!

Want to go to Daddy, make Daddy feel better?

Can I have a hug? [kisses]

How you goin'? [kisses]

Daddy was fuckin' shit tonight. Sorry.

[Georgia] You know that exterior, he's tough and strong and all that,

but this little girl fully breaks him down.

He's soft as anything with her, yeah.

-You right? -[Isla babbling]

[interviewer] Are you a good dad?

Yeah, I'd like to think so. Yeah.

I think Isla likes me, so...

Um, I think I'm a pretty good dad at the moment, yeah,

and I like to think I will be forever.

[Georgia] He's not this idiot that everyone thinks he is.

I mean, he's had his moments of being an idiot.

I'm not saying he's an angel all the time.

But he is so committed to the sport

and if everyone could see how he goes about it,

everyone would think differently about him.

But, you know, I wouldn't put money on it that he never will get suspended again

and I definitely wouldn't put money on it that he won't get a fine again.

So he'll be still forking out money.

It's just kind of what comes with him.

[Toby] Yeah, I won't. I won't get suspended again.

-[interviewer] 100%? -Yeah, I'm done. Yep.

Just had to get that, yep, last one out of the way and now I'm done.

[both chuckling]

[dramatic music builds]

The GWS-Hawthorn game wasn't the only cutthroat final going on that day.

Over in Perth, Fremantle were getting ready to host the Gold Coast Suns.

[players] One, two, three, four, five!

[Sam] Nat Fyfe's one of the greatest ever midfielders the game has seen.

He's a two-time Brownlow Medallist. He's a superstar.

And he's at the end of his career. He's right at the end.

And he's trying to get one last crack at a premiership.

[crowd cheering]

But little did we know

the extraordinary lengths that Nat Fyfe had to go through...

just to get up for the game.

[driving music]