Sporting Nation Episode #1.2 (Season 1, Episode 2)
TV Episode | 56 min | Documentary

Sporting Nation

Episode #1.2 (Season 1, Episode 2)

TV Episode | 56 min | Documentary

By the mid 70s Australia's capacity to produce regular swarms of amateur talent, although undiminished, was achieving less in a more professional and competitive global sports environment. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics Australia won no ...See moreBy the mid 70s Australia's capacity to produce regular swarms of amateur talent, although undiminished, was achieving less in a more professional and competitive global sports environment. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics Australia won no events of any kind. The Fraser government established an expensive state-funded institute. If we wanted national prestige from sport, we were going to have to pay for it. In the meantime, the pattern of domestic sport was changing. Television had discovered live cricket and then live football, and it was on for young and old. For migrant kids like Robert DiPierdomenico, playing footie was how you got accepted. Others, like Les Murray wanted to play soccer - the game they brought from Europe. Joy Damousi, Bob Hawke, Hugh Mackay and Roy Masters explain how migration transformed the nation and was more easily accepted when kids with funny names helped our teams win at the football. As team sport expanded and needed more players, the visibility of indigenous Australians in sport also increased dramatically. In 1983 Australia won the Americas Cup with John Bertrand at the helm. It was such a significant moment for Australia that the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, encouraged the entire country to get on the turps. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 the Australian women's hockey team, coached by Ric Charlesworth, exemplified the comeback in Australian team sport and Kieren Perkins delivered one the great underdog performances of all time. We were ready for Sydney. Bring it on. See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
21 cast members

Name	Known for
John Clarke Self Self See fewer	The Games (1998)
John Bertrand Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)
Raelene Boyle Self Self See fewer	Yum Cha (2008)
Ric Charlesworth Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)
Joy Damousi Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)
Robert DiPierdomenico Self (as Robert Di Pierdomenico) Self (as Robert Di Pierdomenico) See fewer	The Flying Doctors (1986)
Mark Ella Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)
Martin Flanagan Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)
Malcolm Fraser Self Self See fewer	The Norman Gunston Show (1975)
Gideon Haigh Self Self See fewer	Howzat! Kerry Packer's War (2012)
Bob Hawke Self Self See fewer	A Country Practice (1981)
Rechelle Hawkes Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)
Alex Jesaulenko Self Self See fewer	The Alive Tribe (1997)
Tim Lane Self Self See fewer	CrashBurn (2003)
Nicole Livingstone Self Self See fewer	Wide World of Sports (1981)
Hugh McKay Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)
Roy Masters Self Self See fewer	The Final Winter (2007)
Les Murray Self Self See fewer	The Chaser's War on Everything (2006)
Kieren Perkins Self Self See fewer	Home and Away (1988)
Don Talbot Self Self See fewer	What Makes a Champion (1959)
Kathy Watt Self Self See fewer	Sporting Nation (2012)