'Making Their Mark' is an Australian

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

s documentary that follows several players and staff from six different clubs that competed in the 2020

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

season that was impacted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The seven episodes are composed of footage taken from 2500 hours of film, shot over seven months. Not only does the series cover day-to-day aspects of a footballer's professional life, it also encompasses themes of

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

grief Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cogni ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. Critical reception of the series was generally favourable and Scott Hines stated it was worth streaming, even for an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

audience. The series stars

Eddie Betts Edward Robert Betts III (born 26 November 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played as a forward for Carlton and Adelaide in the Australian Football League. Betts was originally drafted by Carlton with pick No. 3 in the ...

and

Nic Naitanui Nicholas Mark Naitanui (; born 4 May 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was born in Sydney to Fijian parents, and his family moved to Perth, Western Austra ...

who were recorded almost continuously, who represented the

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

and

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

football clubs respectively.

Stephen Coniglio Stephen Coniglio ( ; born 15 December 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer and the captain of the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). Drafted with the second pick in the 2011 AFL national draft ...

and

Rory Sloane Rory Sloane (born 17 March 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Sloane is a dual Malcolm Blight Medallist and was selected in the All-Australian tea ...

are also filmed extensively as well as

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

football club coach

Stuart Dew Stuart Dew (born 18 August 1979) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). As a player he played for the Port Adelaide Football Cl ...

, and staff leaders Peggy O'Neal,

Damien Hardwick Damien Patrick Hardwick (born 18 August 1972) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is the senior coach of the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 2010, and has the longest continuous servi ...

and

Brendon Gale Brendon Gale (born 18 July 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After his AFL playing career, Gale practiced law with commercial law firm King Wood Ma ...

of the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

. Richmond's president, O'Neal, commented that it was a "wonderful opportunity" and that when filming was agreed to they would have "no idea" the

would have such an impact.

Leon Cameron Leon Cameron (born 2 September 1972) is a former Australian rules footballer who is the former senior coach of the Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) in the Australian Football League (AFL). His AFL playing career lasted from 1990 to 2003 an ...

features in the series extensively and stated that he watched some of the uncomfortable moments of the show with the

GWS Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

' captain, Coniglio, in private. ''Making Their Mark'' was produced in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

by JAM TV and Den of Martians and was released on 12 March 2021 by

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

References

{{Amazon Video original series Amazon Prime Video original programming 2020 in Australian rules football 2020 Australian Football League season 2020s Australian documentary television series Documentary television series about sports COVID-19 pandemic in Australia Television shows about the COVID-19 pandemic