How Tony Armstrong’s experience of racist trolling inspired series

Warning — this article contains images and references to offensive and racist language.

Gamilaroi man and ABC presenter Tony Armstrong has travelled Australia and abroad to unravel the drivers of racism in sport — and search for positive, practical solutions — in the documentary series End Game.

In it, some of the biggest names in sport leant into the collective ambition of eradicating racism on and off the field.

Former Liverpool football great John Barnes, US Navajo and Angel City FC footballer Madison Hammond, Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja, South Sydney NRL player Cody Walker and dual Brisbane AFL premiership winner Callum Ah Chee all joined the End Game team.

Speaking to the ABC as the series premiered, Armstrong was overcome with emotion as he recalled working with former Sydney Swans teammate and childhood hero Adam Goodes.

“It [End Game] wouldn’t have worked without him. We didn’t want to re-traumatise him, but that’s not what happened. He’s such a good bloke,” Armstrong said, wiping away tears.

Goodes is deeply respected by many First Nations peoples across the nation for standing up for himself, his culture, his people and his beliefs.

But despite being a premiership winner and a two-time Brownlow Medallist, in 2013 Goodes was called an “ape” by a teenager during an Indigenous Round match between Sydney and Collingwood.

It was the catalyst for two years of relentless booing on-field and criticism from some media commentators.

“I totally felt like I wasn’t getting any respect for the way I was verbalising my situation,” Goodes told Armstrong.

After playing for sixteen years at an elite level, the jeers took a huge toll on the former Sydney captain.

Goodes walked away from the sport he loved at the end of 2015.

“For me, once I retired from football, I knew my role was taking a back seat.”

Trolling motivated Armstrong to make series

In the decade since Goodes’ retirement racist trolling has moved online, with people of all ages suffering the consequences.

A former ABC News Breakfast presenter and two-time Logie award winner, Armstrong said he was motivated to make the series after he faced a high degree of online trolling directed at him, his family and partner.

“I basically got to a point where I’m copping a fair bit. I can handle it at this point in time,” he said.

While in England, Armstrong caught up with Premier League Hall of Fame player Rio Ferdinand who spoke about his personal experiences with racism and the need to apply pressure on the highest levels of the sporting and corporate world to fight it.

Legendary West Indian cricketer Michael Holding also shared his motivation for speaking out about racism during a live cricket broadcast at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in July 2020.

“If you have a platform, use it, and I’m not just talking about black people, white people,” he said. 

“If you believe that there should be equality use that platform that you have got.”

Australian cricketer and proud Muruwari woman Ash Gardner recalled the attacks she faced for posting on social media her view that it was inappropriate for the Australian cricket team to play on January 26 due to the pain the day brings to First Nations people.

Gardner told Armstrong she found the abuse shocking, but stood by her comments.

“The legacy that I want to leave behind is not actually what I did on the cricket pitch but how I can change things for the greater good,” she said.

Armstrong said the conversations he had with athletes, particularly from overseas, opened his eyes to the difficulties when calling out racism in Australia.

“One of the things that struck me and made me quite frustrated was overseas they actually say that they’ve got an issue,” he said.

Armstrong wary of backlash

The series was directed by Guugu Yimithirr man Dean Gibson, who is no stranger to the subject of racism.

In 2021 he directed and wrote the award-winning documentary Incarceration Nation which examined the Australian justice system’s treatment of Indigenous people and the historical systemic racism involved.

“Sadly, these things happen on a regular basis across the country — over the weekend, across all sporting codes, across all communities across Australia. So we’re well aware that this a really prevalent, relevant topic,” he said.

The director described Armstrong as “brave and courageous” for the stance he has taken and for being the face of the End Game series.

He acknowledged the risk that Armstrong will again come under significant racist trolling when the documentary airs.

“He lifted the weight and he really rides that rollercoaster of those emotions. That’s real, and I think that’s the best part of what he brings to this production.”

The documentary makers commissioned a survey of 2,111 Australians from social impact agency No 2nd Place about attitudes to sport, fandom and racism.

Only 27 per cent of respondents agreed that racism was an issue in their favourite sport, compared to almost double who agreed that racism was a problem in the country — something the report’s authors described as “the ultimate form of rose-coloured glasses”.

Three out of four respondents denied they held prejudice against other cultures.

When an incident of racism had been witnessed, only one out four bystanders agreed they would check on the wellbeing of a victim.

“We shouldn’t underestimate how hard it is for a bystander to speak up,” Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharam Sivaraman told the ABC at the official launch of End Game.

Mr Sivaraman said the National Anti-Racism Framework launched by the Australian Human Rights Commission last year offered “much bigger solutions … that change our systems and institutions so that the racism that we see on streets, on trains, in schools doesn’t happen”.

Mr Sivaraman said the neo-Nazi attack on the Camp Sovereignty protest site in August was a sign that racism was on the rise.

“The fact that neo-Nazis openly, without masks or sunglasses and in broad daylight, attacked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, that’s hugely concerning,” he said.

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Can sports drive positive change?

With the first of End Game’s three episodes airing on Tuesday night, Tony Armstrong and Dean Gibson said they wanted it to inspire and educate.

“The tone from day one was we wanted it to be an empowering piece of television that really empowers First Nations people, but also … people from all backgrounds, to have this conversation and in a respectful, safe and understanding empathetic manner,” Dean said.

“People can overcome racism. I think society can overcome it. It just takes the bravery to be the people to talk about it.”

The potential of sport to unify people showed up in the survey’s finding that 91 per cent of those who felt like they belonged in their favourite sport also felt a sense of belonging in Australian society.

For the filmmakers, their hope is that sport can function as more than just a game, where inclusion transcends prejudice.

“I don’t want them to watch this series and be like, ‘oh, here’s another ‘racism sucks, woe is us [story]’. That’s not what it’s about. This is about giving a set of tools to people,” Armstrong said.

Stream all episodes of End Game free on ABC iview or watch on ABC TV at 8:30pm.