Featuring Australian Rules Football players Michael O’Loughlin, Michael ‘Sonny’ Walters, and Tarryn Thomas, Warriors On The Field celebrates Aboriginal Australia and its long history and association with the AFL.
Produced by the Australian Football League, EQ Media and Amazon Studios, this one-hour documentary will launch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in 2021 in Australia and in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.
AMAZON Prime Video has announced at the Prime Video Presents event in Sydney Warriors On The Field, an Australian Amazon Original documentary presented by former AFL champion Michael O’Loughlin, will be premiering exclusively on Amazon Prime Video later in 2021. Directed by award winning director Professor Larissa Behrendt (Eualeyai, Kamillaroi), the documentary offers compelling insight that explores the deeply personal and poignant stories of three Indigenous AFL players and celebrates Aboriginal Australia and its association with the Australian Football League.
These Warriors On The Field, who are at different stages of their sporting careers, provide an insight into what the game represents to First Nations players. They share how they cope with being thrust into the very bright lights, big money, and unwelcome distractions that come with playing professional football. All three also recount their personal stories about the prejudice they face in the world of football. Warriors On The Field highlights that to really understand what makes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander player great, you must understand their connection to their culture and country.
Sharing their stories alongside Michael O’Loughlin (Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri, Narungga) is current AFL player Michael ‘Sonny’ Walters, a Noongar man from Fremantle Dockers, and up-and-coming North Melbourne star Tarryn Thomas, a Kamillaroi and Lumaranaana man originally from Sydney. Michael O’Loughlin began his football days in Adelaide, but spent his professional football career playing for the Sydney Swans. After retiring from the game in 2015, Michael was the Head Coach of the AIS-AFL Academy where he coached the Indigenous All-Stars team and was the Head Coach of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy. In 2015, he was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame. He is currently a director of the Sydney Swans and runs the GO Foundation with Adam Goodes supporting young Indigenous student – athletes in the game.
“Amazon Prime Video members worldwide will be able to discover first-hand the three Indigenous AFL players extraordinary backgrounds, the challenges they endure day-to-day and their spiritual connection to culture and country that means so very much to each of them,” said Tyler Bern, Head of Content, Prime Video Australia. “It is significant in 2021 that the challenges they have all experienced are told to help shape and change perceptions. Highlighting the important contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander footballers have made to Australia’s most loved sport is paramount. We are privileged that Michael, Sonny and Tarryn agreed to share their stories for Amazon Prime Video members globally.”
“While Warriors On The Field will showcase the contribution Indigenous players have made to the AFL, at its heart it is a series of very human stories that an audience will connect to. And it is about the transformative role connection to a country has for an Indigenous player,” said AFL director Larissa Behrendt.
David Alrich, Head of Factual and Executive Producer at EQ Media said, “Partnering with Amazon Prime Video enables a spotlight to be shone on these remarkable men and amplified around the world. It enables the conversation around discrimination to evolve on a global level.”
Torres Strait Islander woman and AFL Executive General Manager Inclusion and Social Policy, Tanya Hosch, said it was important to continue to showcase and celebrate the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to Australian Football. “It’s fantastic to have the Warriors On The Field documentary come to life with the support of both the AFL and Amazon Prime Video and provide a means for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players to share their stories and the importance of country and identity,” Ms Hosch said. “Our game has a rich history with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, so I’m looking forward to celebrating this through the Warriors On The Field documentary.”
Since 2019, Prime Video has commissioned 14 Amazon Original series in Australia including The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team, Making Their Mark, a series of 10 stand-up comedy specials by some of Australia’s best comedians, LOL: Last One Laughing AU, with Rebel Wilson, and the upcoming titles Back to The Rafters, Luxe Listings Sydney, Burning, Kick Like Tayla, Head Above Water, Warriors on the Field, Class Of ‘07, The Moth Effect and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.
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