Players

by Tony Wilson

'Tickets began to have qualms even in the instant that passed between the headbutt starting and the headbutt landing ..."Ex-Australian rules footballer Ian 'Tickets' Thompson is the bad boy darling of TV's top rating sports show, 'Leather and Lace'. The more offensive he is, the more the fans love him.But how will a million viewers, not to mention the police, react to his unprovoked assault on a homeless man? More to the point, what about his trigger-happy employer, media tycoon Sir Barry Haynes? To Billy Nock, fading champion, icon of fair play and host of the dismally rating rival football show, these are crucial questions. And when it starts to look like there's a scheme afoot to ensure Tickets gets away with it, Billy is spurred to action.Tony Wilson's wickedly funny first novel does for the world of sports media what TV close-ups did for the squirrel grip. Players will grab you from the very first page - and it won't let you go.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

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Wikipedia entry

Reviews

[Miffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love footy (AFL) with all your heart, and you detest The Footy Show and all its ilk as much as I do, then you will enjoy Players immensely. Funny, squirm inducingly gross, and with more than a touch of criminal activity, manipulation, and sleeze, Players is a well-written extrapolation on the lives of some of the stars of footy shows of the past and the present.
This one comes with a language warning for the younger readers amongst us, but adults should have no problem chortling their way through this barnstormer of a novel. I found myself using the voices of some of my more 'disliked' footy show participants with great deal of satisfaction. There's an old saying: power corrupts. absolute power corrupts absolutely: and it's demonstrated beautifully here.
Recommended!

[Sharon Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light hearted read - very amusing - Almost non fiction!

[Richard Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, especially if you follow sport and question why the media thinks it is more important than the game and it's players.