I love a good (queer) sports romance, and I have watched and loved AFL (Australian Rules Football) since I was a kid (with a hiatus during my teen years when I decided I hated all sports). One of my clearest childhood memories is the 1997 Grand Final.

I was playing (women’s) amateur footy when I came out as queer, so footy has always a very queer space for me. That’s obviously very different to the experiences lots of men have with footy. I have a lot of thoughts about sports, masculinity, and queerness, and I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be a queer man playing in the AFL.

I read a lot of ice hockey and baseball romance in 2022/2023, and kept thinking - this is great, but I need AFL romance. I didn’t actually mean to write a romantic comedy, but that’s what happened. Much to my own surprise….