The Club (1980)

Boardroom and dressing-room intrigues spill on to the field at the Australian Rules football club.

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers:

David Williamson (play), David Williamson (screenplay)

Stars:

Jack Thompson, Graham Kennedy, Frank Wilson

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Thompson	...	Laurie Holden
Graham Kennedy	...	Ted Parker
Frank Wilson	...	Jock Riley
Harold Hopkins	...	Danny Rowe
John Howard	...	Geoff Hayward
Alan Cassell	...	Gerry Cooper
Maggie Doyle	...	Susy
Lou Richards	...	Commentator
Toni-Gay Shaw	...	Stripper
Jack Harris	...	1st Club Official
Frank Raggatt	...	2nd Club Official
Jim Cain	...	3rd Club Official
Gary Files	...	2nd Football Commentator
Ed Turley	...	Tony
Scot Palmer	...	Newspaper Reporter 1

Storyline

Boardroom and dressing-room intrigues spill on to the field at the Australian Rules football club.

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Plot Keywords:

australian rules football | club | boardroom | football | football coach | 

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Taglines:

It's tough enough on the field, but in the boardroom it's a battleground! In this club nobody plays by the rules

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

South Australian Film Corporation Southern Star Group

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Players

Filming Locations:

Collingwood Football Club, Collingwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New South Wales Film Corp., South Australian Film Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Real life Collingwood Football Club star players Tony Shaw and Rene Kink appear in the movie as themselves.

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Quotes

[Geoff has arrived late at a training session]
Laurie Holden: [angrily] Where have you been?
Geoff Hayward: [curtly] Get stuffed.

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Connections

Featured in Meet the Team (2003)

User Reviews

Hayward? He's hopeless!

Every time I watch this film I marvel at how well written and acted this film is. It is an excellent analysis of the manouvering and back-stabbing that goes on at a football club but avoids the pitfalls of being overly serious and is also very funny.

There are so many memorable characters one could mention but that the one that stands out for me is the character of Gerry, the club administrator. In every scene he's in, you see how, whenever he has something serious to say to someone, he uses terms like 'we' or 'the committee' - he never uses the term 'I' so that he slyly absolves himself of responsibility of any of the hard decisions that are made. As Laurie says, he is an oily weasel. Sadly, he's the type of person you would find on the AFL Commission these days.

Finally, to correct a previous reviewer, the song is 'Up there Cazaly', named after the footballer Roy Cazaly.