The Club (1980)

The struggle for power and success in football doesn’t only happen on the playing field. In The Club, directed by Bruce Beresford and scripted by David Williamson from his own play, the bloodiest and vindictive battles happen off the oval. They happen in the boardroom of an Australian Rules football club by men in suits calling themselves “businessmen”. Ironically, a film about the great Victorian game was funded by the South Australian and NSW Film Corporations. In this absorbing comedy-drama, the conflict not only evolves around who will run the club but, most importantly, what defines a football club: is it who controls the club or is it the playing staff and the fans? On one side there are the men (women are most definitely on the sidelines in this film) who want to control the club for the sake of power. The main players on this side are Jock (Frank Wilson) and Gerry (Alan Cassell). On the other side is the coach Laurie (Jack Thompson), the most sympathetic of the characters and the President (Graham Kennedy). These protagonists love the club and love football and their goals revolve around success for the club and for themselves.

From the very beginning the different levels of the club are in conflict: from the President and the Committee to the coach and players. The President is trying to bring in new business ideas to the club to help win that elusive Premiership that’s been missing for nineteen years. He has brought in the top football administrator, Gerry, to help him with the reforms. On the other side is the traditionalist Jock, who holds the record of games played for the club and who has won 4 premierships as coach. Jock, while spouting the virtues of tradition is actually a “cunning and ruthless old turd” who wants to use the club for his own ambitions. One of the main changes brought in by Ted is the buying of new star players. This brings him into conflict with Laurie the coach. The club spends $120,000 buying the new wunderkind, Geoff Hayward (John Howard) without consulting Laurie, which infuriates him. Geoff immediately clashes with the coach and players. Laurie is disgusted with Geoff's lack of discipline especially arriving late for training and being stoned during a match, while the captain Danny Rowe (Harold Hopkins) is angree over the fee.

The first act introduces the conflicts and the characters. The second act brings together the different factions and their grievances under a central theme: the control of the club. Under the watchful eyes of the photos of past teams and champions on the boardroom walls, Jock’s real motives come out: he wants to become President of the club (with Gerry the administrator pulling the strings). Parker faces trouble from two fronts: not only from Jock and Gerry but from Laurie and the players who threaten to strike if Laurie is sacked. Kennedy plays Parker as a tragic figure. Indeed Parker is a glorified fan with money. He even pays Geoff $10,000 out of his own pocket to sign with the club even though his business is facing bankruptcy. In a key moment Ted reminisces with Laurie about Laurie’s first kick for the club. This shows both men’s love of the club and through this an alliance is formed. However, due to a scandal Parker is forced to resign. His loyalty to the club means he cannot allow its name to be dragged through the scandal. The second act ends with a confrontation between Laurie and Geoff, where Geoff’s pride is hurt when Laurie describes him as “a kid with potential”.

The third act completes the alliances between Laurie, the players and Geoff whose pride pushes him to perform and who finally becomes accepted by Laurie and the other players. This conciliation occurs when the coach and players storm the boardroom and remove the historical photos off the walls with the inspiring song “Up There Cazaly” playing. In one fell swoop, the people who create the traditions and history of a club, the coach, the players and the fans (in the guise of Ted Parker) have reclaimed the club. While Gerry and Jock may control the club they cannot contain its spirit. In the end the real “losers” are the individuals whose ambitions at the club are personal and selfish while the winners are the individuals who have compromised their individual self-regard for the welfare of the club. It is this communality that steers the team to the grand final with great victories on the field, a place where the machinations of the administrators have no physical influence. The irony is that even though the power struggle in the film occurs mainly inside the walls of the boardroom the success of the team on the oval means their influence and power at the club has increased, at the expense of Jock’s. Meanwhile, Gerry, ever the professional (he doesn’t particularly love the club or even cares too much about football) has distanced himself away from Jock by the end of the film, aligning himself with another group.

Beresford uses photos and pictures of Collingwood’s past players and teams very well as a tool for tradition. When Laurie explains to Geoff that the club is not “Jock, Ted and Gerry” but 100 years of history, Beresford juxtaposes this dialogue with pictures of early football games. Also, the great football song Brady’s “Up There Cazaly” is used to good effect in scenes of triumph, especially in the beginning when Geoff wins a contest at training and, most importantly when the players take the photos down. However, the football doesn’t really intrude into the main action of the film, so much so, that the film ends without showing the winner of the grand final. Then again, showing a Collingwood Grand Final victory in 1980 would probably have been too unrealistic for film goers.