And The Big Men Fly
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| Author | Alan Hopgood |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Australian Football League |
| Genre | Sport plays |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
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Publication date
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1st Edition: 1963 2nd Edition: 1988 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 29319909 |
| And the Big Men Fly | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Alan Hopgood |
| Starring | Diane Craig Reg Evans John Hargreaves Colin McEwan |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Oscar Whitbread |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | 28 July 1974 |
And the Big Men Fly is an Australia-based play by Alan Hopgood, written in 1963. Its primary subject is about the fictional Australian rules football team, the Crows.
The coach of the Crows football team, J.J Forbes, sends his assistant, Willy, out to find a new player for the big season championship which was to start in 2 weeks. J.J thought that they would never have a chance, as Wally couldn't seem to find anyone with some decent talent.
J.J was getting very upset at Wally and told him on the phone to do anything to get someone, as he says, "I don't care if you have to rewrite the law books. That's what we put you through university for!" A little while later, Wally bursts into the room yelling and screaming. "J.J… I've got him! I've got him! Oh, you've never seen anything like him, he's beautiful, he's a Greek god." At this point J.J starts to think that Wally has gone mad and needs to see a psychiatrist.
Wally is trying to convince J.J that this player, Achilles Jones, can kick a wheat bag 10 yards. J.J doesn't believe Wally at first, but thinks that he has nothing to lose so they decide to go and meet Achilles They drive all the way out to Manangatang, where this Achilles lives, and J.J finally gets to meet him. At first, things are a bit stressful as Achilles gets the shot gun out and threatens to kill them when they arrive. They try convincing Achilles to come and play football for the Crows but Achilles is just too happy where he is and won’t go anywhere. J.J and Wally aren't happy, so they decide that they are going to get Achilles to play through bribing his partner, Lil, with gifts and getting her to convince Achilles to try it out and play a few games. To start with convincing Lil, they tell her that she will get all sorts of nice things and they even give her a fur coat. They end up telling Achilles that the Williamses – Achilles' neighbors and worst enemies – think that he would never be able to play football in his life, so he decides that he will go and play for the Crows, only so he can show the Williamses that he can play and that he is better than them.
Once Achilles arrives in Melbourne, he is taught the rules of the game and does private training. He is kept private from the public as Wally and J.J want to make a big showcase on the first day of the football championship. At the first game of the championship, Achilles takes to the field but does nothing. J.J and Wally start to get very stressed out and worried that he won't do anything, until J.J sends Wally out onto the field to see what was wrong with him and found out that it was partly because he was wearing football boots, which he much disliked, and partly because Achilles can't play or kick when he's not angry. J.J then told Wally to send Lil out onto the field and make up a story about the Williamses so that he would get all angry and start to run and kick the ball around.
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