In his book on his country travels during the 2019 footy season, Paul Daffey follows several premiership trails and observes the state of many flagpoles. He looks into what makes Nathalia such a strong club. And how Kyabram won so many games in a row. He watches a wet grand final in West Gippsland. He stands in the shadows of a grandstand in Ballarat. In the drizzle of Warrnambool, Daffey spends a day with the legendary coach Adam Dowie. At Sandy Creek, in the state’s North East, he listens to tales about a ground that was once called a cow paddock but now looks like a green carpet in a house of hills. “We’re on the premiership trail,” is a saying that offers a sense of journey. In this, his fifth book on the Australian game, Paul Daffey takes another journey into the soul of country footy. The result is another work of warmth and affection, featuring towering punts and goals on the run. It ripples and flickers like a premiership flag.
