About Tony

I was born in 1972, after Leonardo da Vinci but before Taylor Swift. For a while I was a kid who loved reading, footy, and romantic walks on the beach … actually, was that me? Man, these ‘About’ pages are hard.

I played junior footy well. There was a day I kicked ten goals. Then I got drafted by Hawthorn as a father son pick. I didn’t play in the seniors. I played in the reserves (sorta like Box Hill). There was a day I kicked two goals. I broke Steve da Rui’s nose. it was an accident. If you don’t know Steve da Rui, he was born after Michelangelo but before Lana del Rey.

When my Hawthorn career ended, I was a lawyer for a while. Then I applied for a TV show called ‘Race Around the World’, an ABC documentary making travel show which I was picked for! It kinda changed my life. I was the carry-over champion of that show for 28 years, but it’s on again in 2026! I’m very happy to give up my crown.

After Race, I was on radio Triple R, did some TV journalism, and then started writing books. Some of these have been for adults (Players, Making News, Australia United, 1989 The Great Grand Final) but the majority have been for kids. A few have had a sporting flavour (A Boy Called Bob, The Selwood Boys) because when I was a kid, I was sports obsessed.

I’ve also made two sports films, The Galahs (about a 1967 trip to Ireland by VFL footballers) and Ange & The Boss (about Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas and his time coaching in Australia). The latter is currently on SBS On Demand.

i love speaking and speeches, and ten years ago I set up a speech bank called Speakola. It gets nearly 2 million hits per year! I also have a podcast and a newsletter about speeches.

It’s been an interesting and varied creative life. I write about general life stuff at ‘Good one, Wilson’. If you want to get a weekly email from me, subscribe for free there!