'They're human beings': Why Tigers never doubted Amazon Prime doco callBrendon Gale opens up on the club's decision to grant full access to documentary crews in the Making Their Mark doco
By Oliver Caffrey
AAP
10 March 2021RICHMOND chief Brendon Gale never doubted the club's decision to grant documentary crews full access to the Tigers, even as the reigning premiers experienced a turbulent off-field period.
The Tigers, with a particular focus on president Peggy O'Neal, coach Damien Hardwick and Gale, are among six clubs featured in Amazon Prime Video series, Making Their Mark.
The seven-part documentary ends with Richmond winning their third premiership in four years, but it was far from smooth sailing for the Tigers in 2020.
Viewers of the series, which will be released worldwide on Amazon this Friday, will get a behind-the-scenes look at how the Tigers dealt with several off-field scandals which threatened to derail their flag defence.
In episode six, O'Neal and Gale are shown trying to comprehend how Tigers young guns Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones broke the AFL's COVID-19 protocols during a night out at a Gold Coast strip club (WATCH IN THE PLAYER BELOW).
The club's board also have to address locker room groping incidents, which came to light after Hardwick fielded questions from renowned political journalist Hugh Riminton during a press conference.
Despite all the challenges the Tigers faced last year, Gale never felt it was the wrong call to allow such unprecedented access.
"When people get a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes it contextualises some of the things that are going on," Gale said at Amazon Prime's documentary launch.
"There were some things that happened during the year that was being presented externally was like 'they're out of control and egomaniacs'.
"But they're human beings and they're young men and they're flawed, like we all are. You've just got to deal with it."
Some clubs were hesitant to be part of the ambitious project, fearing what could become public and how it would be portrayed with cameras constantly following their players and staff around.
But Gale believes the AFL industry should be more open to future documentaries, not less.
"As administrators we want to give our members and fans a sense of involvement," he said.
"We can't have 100,000 members marching into the offices of the Richmond Football Club and seeing how things work.
"But this gives them a really strong sense of involvement and what goes on. People want to see more of this.
"I love Sunderland Til I Die and I love The Test so this takes our game to an international audience."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/560511/-they-re-human-beings-why-tigers-never-doubted-amazon-prime-doco-call
