Local Rites by Paul Daffey

ISBN: 9780646412481

Local Rites: a year in grass roots football in Victoria and beyond.

Local rights is an exploration of the people, the places, and the ties that bind in local football. For one season, early in the new century, Melbourne journalist Paul Daffey wandered through the heartland of the Australian game, beginning with a homecoming in old Fitzroy and ending with a fairy tale at the Swan Hill show grounds. The result is a slice of life from every town in suburb where nothing thrills like a long torpedo, and a good four quarters is all that can be asked.

This is a footy book, but it spends a lot of time on the periphery. Paul Daffey shows why football is a morality play, community theatre in a paddock. Anyone who's ever done a hammy or warn a silly scarf will read their own life in this book.

Bruce Pascoe, author and footballer.