Night Games

Book excerpt: Winner of the 2014 Davitt Award for Best True Crime Book and the 2014 William Hill Sports Book of the Year ‘The Pies beat the Saints and the city of Melbourne was still cloaked in black and white crepe paper when the rumour of a pack rape by celebrating footballers began to surface ... And so, as police were confiscating bedsheets from a townhouse in South Melbourne, the trial by media began.’ What does a young footballer do to cut loose? At night, some play what they think of as pranks, or games: night games with women. Sometimes these involve consensual sex, sometimes not, and often the lines are blurred. In Night Games, Anna Krien follows the rape trial of an Australian Rules footballer. She also takes a balanced and fearless look at the dark side of footy culture – the world of Sam Newman, Ricky Nixon, Matty Johns and the Cronulla Sharks. Both a courtroom drama and a riveting work of narrative journalism, this is a breakthrough book by one of the leading young lights of Australian writing. Shortlisted for the 2013 Walkley Non-Fiction Book Award, the 2014 Adelaide Festival Award for Non-Fiction, the 2014 Stella Prize, and the 2014 Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction. ‘The work of a compassionate and expansive intelligence.’ – Sydney Morning Herald ‘For every superstar, club CEO, boundary rider, bar-propper and park footballer, it should be mandatory reading.’ – Sunday Age ‘A balanced and powerful exploration of the grey area of sexual assault’ – Advertiser ‘Night Games a serious addition to the literature on sport, sex, consent and power.’ – the Australian Anna Krien is the author of Night Games, Into the Woods and Quarterly Essay 45 Us and Them. Her work has been published in the Monthly, the Age, the Big Issue, The Best Australian Essays, The Best Australian Stories, Griffith Review, Voiceworks, Going Down Swinging, Colors, Frankie and Dazed & Confused.