Bruce McAvaney

New decade - new heroes - new villains. It was a decade in which the Grand Final winners told the story. It was a decade of dominance in differing degrees.

At the heart of this true story is Damien Oliver, a young jockey who loses his only brother in a tragic racing accident, hauntingly reflecting of the way their father died 27 years earlier. After suffering through a series of discouraging defeats, Damien teams with Irish trainer Dermot Weld, and triumphs at the 2002 Melbourne Cup in one of the most thrilling finales in sporting history.

When the last quarter of an Essendon versus Carlton game was broadcast on Easter Sunday in 1957, a new era in television and sport was born. A ride which for 45 years has seen magical moments, controversies, heroes and characters all pass by on our TV screen. Heart of the game is a fun and nostalgic look back at the 45 years of football seen through the camera lens...and from the armchair.

An Irish schoolboy, recruited on a mission funded by Rupert Murdoch, becomes the champion of a game on the other side of the world.

It was the decade to change the face of football as we knew it. There would be three new teams: Adelaide, Freemantle and Port Adelaide. We would farewell Fitzroy and watch others like Footscray, Richmond, Melbourne and Hawthorn battle for their existence. For the first time non-Victorian Clubs would take premiership honours. The West Coast winning twice and Malcolm Blight's Adelaide doing the seemingly impossible by winning back-to-back flags against the odds. It was a decade in which the feats of goalkicking maestros Jason Dunstall and Gary Ablett were overshadowed by the record breaker Tony Lockett. We marvelled at the great champions. Robert Harvey sealed his greatness with a pair of Brownlow medals. Wayne Carey was named All Australian captain three times and Carlton's veteran Craig Bradley just got better and better through the nineties.