The Feed: Oct 5 – 8

This week on The Feed, the darker side of sport in Australia; local communities threatening to take the Queensland Government to court; and Marc Fennell sits down for an interview with The Principal‘s Alex Dimitiriades.

Good Sports?
As one of the world’s most famous sporting nations, Australia prides itself on its sports stars and lauds them as national heroes. We elevate athletes to a god-like status and then expect them to perform and behave like gods even though they are often barely in their 20s. As the dust settles on the 2015 grand finals season, the devastating effect of expectation and pressure to perform was illuminated by several high profile incidents. Star Swans player Lance “Buddy” Franklin suddenly withdrew on the eve of the AFL finals season with his club citing mental health issues. Another Swans player, Adam Goodes, chose not to make his Grand Final farewell lap. Fans and the press can be unforgiving shining a light on the ugly side of sports fandom. In Australia, this is especially prevalent in Aussie Rules, where fans become worked into such a fervour that they can brutally attack players and each other with words and sometimes worse.

Marc Fennell meets the Heartbreak Kid
Marc Fennell sits down with Australian actor Alex Dimitriades ahead of the launch of his new crime-drama series The Principal on SBS. Alex opens up about his long career in the Australian television and film industry, from his breakout role in The Heartbreak Kid to his recent critically-acclaimed performances in The Slap and Ruben Guthrie.

After the Riot
In November 2004, a small island off the coast of North Queensland made headlines around the nation. The police station on Palm Island was burning and hundreds of residents in the 3000 strong Indigenous community were broadcast to the world as angry rioters. What most people didn’t hear about was what happened after the riot, when the Queensland government sent in men in balaclavas with assault rifles to raid homes, allegedly holding guns to the heads of children. Now the community wants to get their stories out and they’re willing to take the Queensland government to the federal court to do so. Was this an angry mob or a community in mourning for a death in custody? How do you ever trust the police when one of your first memories is a man in a mask holding a gun to your head?

7:30pm Monday – Thursday on SBS 2.