Whether we’re cheering on the Dolphins swim team in the pool when the Commonwealth Games start this week, juggling January’s summer holiday commitments with the Australian Open schedule or heading to the pub for an AFL or NRL grand final, watching athletes in action is a sport in itself for Aussie fans.
The peaks and valleys of competition offer buoyant triumphs and heartbreaking failures, which become etched into our public consciousness, as detailed in the 2023 Tubi documentary 10 Sporting Moments That Changed The World.
Sports fields, locker rooms, and running tracks have also long served as the perfect backdrops for film and television.
Audiences can dive into inspirational tales about real- life British sprinters in the Oscar-winning 1981 Olympic historical film Chariots Of Fire (Disney+), or US college footballers in the 2013 drama Underdogs (Tubi) and 2016 biographical film Greater (Tubi).
For those looking for laughs, there are wisecracking golf comedies like Will Ferrell’s new series The Hawk (Netflix) and Adam Sandler’s 1996 film Happy Gilmore (Binge) and 2025 sequel Happy Gilmore 2 (Netflix); or Aussie satires like this year’s AFL series Ground Up (ABC iview), and the classic 2002 lawn bowls film Crackerjack (Apple TV).
Meanwhile, sporting scandals also make for great drama: Margot Robbie scored an Oscar nomination for her performance as disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding in the 2017 dark comedy I, Tonya (Apple TV).
‘PURE DRAMA’
Even though he spends his days covering the real deal, News Corp Australia’s national sports editor Heath Kelly tells The Watchlist that he can watch Rocky (HBO Max) on repeat, and says that because sport is “pure drama”, the 1976 boxing film offers incredibly rich material for storytellers.
“When they nail the characters, there’s nothing better than a great sports story,” he adds.
Kelly cites the ongoing Netflix comedy series Running Point as a prime example
of how to seamlessly blend fact and fiction for laughs.
Loosely based on the life of Los Angeles Lakers boss Jeanie Buss, it stars Kate Hudson as a basketball league nepo baby who is forced to prove herself when she takes control of the family-owned team.
He also enjoys returning soccer series Ted Lasso (Apple TV): “[It’s] funny, which is a start, but also really heartfelt. It shows how sport can be a unifying force across all layers of society, and it captures that perfectly.”
Johanna Griggs, co-host of the Seven Network’s coverage of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, agrees.
“[It] has so many layers of the power of sport explored through humour, compassion, kindness, and lifting up everyone around you,” she tells The Watchlist.
“Plus, it gives us loads of heroes and even the occasional villain.” Potentially about to explore her own villain arc on 10’s reality series The Traitors, Olympic swimmer Shane Gould recalls how 1992’s New Zealand swimming drama Alex: The Spirit Of A Champion (Prime Video) hit home with its tale of a teen sports star “who set aside boyfriends for training”.
Fox League commentator Mick Ennis believes sport is so ingrained in our psyche that even projects delving into niche aspects of the game can be fascinating.
“Moneyball (Binge) is a film I’ve always enjoyed because I’ve been fascinated by recruitment in sport,” he tells The Watchlist of the 2011 biographical baseball stats film starring Brad Pitt.
“It’s even more relevant now with the PNG [Papua New Guinea Chiefs] and Perth Bears entering the NRL [from 2027] as team-building and player recruitment will be crucial to their success.”
However, first-hand industry knowledge can occasionally have a downside.
Presenter Sarah Jones of the Fox Footy channel finds it hard to suspend reality in some dramas – particularly if they feature a press conference: “because I know what they’re really like”.
As a child, she recalls loving the 1993 Jamaican bobsleigh comedy Cool Runnings (Disney+) because “it was fun and funny, but also a great underdog story that taught us never to underestimate anyone”.
Meanwhile, her fellow Fox Footy commentator Leigh Montagna is a fan of the 1992 basketball comedy White Men Can’t Jump (Disney+).
“It developed my love of basketball and showed how sport brings people from all walks of life together for a common goal,” he tells The Watchlist.
Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus – who is Seven’s swimming reporter for Games – echoes Kelly’s choice of Rocky as a classic underdog story.
In a case of life imitating art, Sylvester Stallone even had to fight to play the titular boxer in his own screenplay when producers wanted to cast a bankable star such as Robert Redford or Burt Reynolds.
“The film showcases the epitome of what sport is: self-belief, work ethic, an underdog mentality and perseverance,” Titmus tells The Watchlist.
“Rather than solely focusing on winning, the journey to triumph is what makes you a better person and athlete.
“My coach Dean [Boxall] would always refer to Rocky when I was training.”
Seven Sport presenter Emma Freedman, who is co-hosting the Games coverage, also loves an inspirational tale, pointing to a 2000 American football film with a soundtrack of classic Motown and rock hits from the ’60s and ’70s: “Remember The Titans (Disney+) is a true lesson in what sport is all about; putting aside differences, learning from peers and true teamwork,” she says.
For Olympics swimmer Giaan Rooney – who is commentating poolside from Glasgow 20 years after captaining the Australian swim team at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games – The Swimmers (Netflix) made a lasting impression.
The 2022 film tells the true story of Yusra Mardini and her sister Sara, who swam alongside a boat of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria to help lighten the load, eventually helping 18 people to shore.
“Yusra went on to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics as an athlete for the Refugee Olympic Team,” Rooney says.
“A full-circle moment where swimming quite literally saved her life before giving her a purpose.”
That same spirit of resilience and courage will be on display in Glasgow from Thursday.
“While at times the Commonwealth Games are downplayed, it’s a serious event with great athletes from all over the world,” Kelly says.
“Trust me, when Australia starts winning gold, the whole country will get behind them because we love seeing our athletes perform on the international stage.
“Records will be broken at these Games,” he adds, “and it’s also one of the great lead-in events to the Olympics in two years’ time.”
Find a new issue of The Watchlist out today in the Sunday papers. For more, click here.
Credit: Source link