Making Their Mark

Making Their Mark is a 2021 Australian sports documentary television series. It follows several players and staff from six different Australian rules football clubs that competed in the 2020 Australian Football League (AFL) season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Making Their Mark
Poster
Genre	Documentary
Directed by	Gil Marsden
Starring	Eddie Betts Stephen Coniglio Nic Naitanui Rory Sloane Stuart Dew Peggy O'Neal Brendon Gale Damien Hardwick
Theme music composer	Bryony Marks
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producers	Cos Cardone, Luke Tunnecliffe, Gil Marsden, Michael Venables
Producers	Josh Cable and others
Production location	Australia
Cinematography	Matt Koopmans
Running time	62–65 minutes
Production companies	JAM TV, Den of Martians
Original release
Release	12 March 2021 (2021-03-12)

Synopsis

Not only does the series cover day-to-day aspects of a footballer's professional life, it also encompasses themes of leadership, grief, and racism,^[1] as it follows the lives of several players and staff from six different AFL clubs during the 2020 season. In that year, the clubs were greatly affected by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as it hit Australia.^[2]

Cast

The series stars Eddie Betts and Nic Naitanui, who were recorded almost continuously,^[2] representing the Carlton and West Coast Eagles football clubs respectively. Stephen Coniglio and Rory Sloane are also filmed extensively, as well as Gold Coast Suns football club coach Stuart Dew, and staff leaders Peggy O'Neal, Damien Hardwick and Brendon Gale of the Richmond Football Club.^[3][4]

Leon Cameron features in the series extensively, afterwards stating that he watched some of the uncomfortable moments of the show with the GWS Giants' captain, Coniglio, in private.^[5]

Production

Making Their Mark was produced in Australia by JAM TV and Den of Martians, in association with the AFL.^[6][4]

The executive producers were Cos Cardone, Luke Tunnecliffe, Gil Marsden, and Michael Venables. It was directed by Marsden.^[6][4] Pete Williams was the story producer.^[7][8]

The seven one-hour episodes are composed of footage taken from 2500 hours of film, shot over seven months.^[2] Richmond's president, Peggy O'Neal, commented that it was a "wonderful opportunity" and that when filming was agreed to they had no idea that the COVID-19 pandemic would have such an impact.^[3]

The music was composed by accomplished screen composer Bryony Marks.^[9]

Release

The series was released on 12 March 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.^[6]

Reception

Critical reception of the series was generally favourable. Scott Hines stated it was worth streaming, even for an American audience.^[10]