On the boundary line, colonial identity in football

In this very personal journey, Barry Judd tells the story of three key figures in AFL history: Tom Wills, Joe Johnson and Syd Jackson. Judd shares something in common with these three men: that their identities cannot be clearly defined as Aboriginal or Anglo-Australian. Credited with inventing the Australian Game, Tim Wills is one of the most tragic figures of Australian sporting history. From Judd's unique perspective, Wills is examined as a man caught between the Aboriginal culture in which he grew up and his colonial heritage. Despite Joe Johnson's recent acknowledgement as the first Aborigine to play football at the elite VFL/AFL level, his true identity is not as clear as the AFL would have us believe; Syd Jackson was forcibly removed from his Aboriginal family at the age of five. During his remarkable WAFL/AFL career, he openly embraced his Aboriginality and did so in a time when racial tension was high. Following the lives of these great sporting legends, Judd embarks on his own quest for identity and self-discovery.