Football fans love to wax lyrical about the power of the game to unite and inspire. In the case of a team comprised entirely of inmates of Wooroloo Prison Farm in Western Australia, it is certainly true that the humble footy can work wonders.
The 2008 incarceration there of former AFL player Andrew Krakouer was the catalyst for a program that enables prisoners to play for the Swan Districts Football Club in WA's Amateur Football League competition, with spectacular results. Krakouer, who, upon his release from prison in 2009 went on to resurrect his career playing for Collingwood, narrates Outside Chance, a five-part documentary which follows the team of 2012 as they do battle with their opponents and their demons.
This is the second prison documentary from Kelrick Martin, whose film Mad Morro, about an Aboriginal man released from jail after 13 years, screened on SBS in 2008. He is currently filming a ''musical documentary'' in male and female prisons in Darwin, with Casey Bennetto (who co-created Keating! The Musical) and indigenous songwriter Shellie Morris.
''I'm interested in the subject of redemption and how people struggle against all odds to try and make a life for themselves after jail,'' says Martin. ''Some guys are genuinely committed to turning their lives around and they want to put that lifestyle behind them. Others can simply just never escape that never-ending cycle of poverty and destruction that eventually led to them being on the inside.''
The specific crimes of the inmates featured in the film are not detailed, at the insistence of the Department of Corrective Services and out of consideration for the prisoners. The minimum-security ''transitional'' prison does not hold prisoners convicted of sexual crimes or homicide. Most, says Martin, are in for alcohol and drug-related offences.
''These guys were really open and honest with us,'' says Martin. ''A lot of that comes down to trust-building. I try to be honest about the fact that a documentary is a permanent record. If you appear in those situations in a documentary for broadcast, it will be around for a very long time, long enough for your grandchildren to watch. Having crossed that bridge in terms of relationships, you do end up receiving some amazingly frank answers from people in front of the camera. Inmates, especially those serving longer sentences, have a lot of time to reflect.''
Martin says Krakouer was a model prisoner and a powerful role model for his fellow inmates, motivating them to train hard and play fair, as an on-field foul for a prison player holds dire consequences. Martin was initially doubtful about whether Krakouer, now retired from AFL and working in the mining industry, would agree to revisit this chapter of his life, but he found him to be not only a willing participant in the film but a natural narrator.
''Football players and sports stars present really well on the field, but how they present in front of the camera in a recording situation, you're not too sure. But he was amazingly talented. Even when we thought the take was OK, he'd say, 'Can I have another go at doing that?'. He was very professional. He had a great tone to his voice; he was absolutely fantastic.''
As well as an insight into life on the inside there are some rousing locker-room speeches and game-changing goals that could have been plucked from the script of a Hollywood sports movie. Without the temptations of fast food and alcohol, and with nothing to do all day but train, the prisoners were a formidable force against their opposition.
''There's a huge amount of talent in the prison system,'' says Martin. ''And football is a leveller of man. We've already seen prime examples of indigenous players who come from very disadvantaged backgrounds, who, because of their ability to play sport, go on to become football heroes and highly regarded members of society. So there's no doubt that football has that ability to lift people up and give them opportunities that they would never have had in the past.
''It also develops qualities such as confidence and working with a team. In this case, prisoners from all walks of life came together and it was amazing seeing the camaraderie and the sense of belonging that comes from that.''
Outside Chance, Tuesday, ABC2, 9.30pm
