Roughy

Cancer doesn't discriminate. When things were at their worst for Jarryd Roughead, his four premierships, two All-Australian gongs and a Coleman Medal counted for nothing. As he spent his days vomiting or curled up with the cat, and his nights in a pool of sweat, fully clothed yet freezing, rolling out of bed every couple of hours to dunk his feet in cold water to douse the feeling that they were on fire, all that mattered was that he didn't stop believing. Roughead knew he had to keep believing he'd get better, otherwise he'd lose. And if he lost this battle, there would be no next week. "Roughy" is the story of a footballer who lived the dream, the country boy who not only became an AFL star, but was a key player in a Hawthorn team that will be remembered as one of the greats of any era. In 2015, a spot on his bottom lip was diagnosed as melanoma and it returned as spots on his lungs the next year. In "Roughy", you'll discover the resilience that got him through horrendous immunotherapy and helped him to not only play AFL again, but as Hawthorn captain. You'll read the stories of his childhood, of the basketballer who switched sports and learned not just to believe, but to expect to be the very best. Of his love for Sarah and their daughter Pippa, his unwavering will to carry on, his dignity through a final chapter of his career that was dignity personified, with a fairytale ending that was celebrated by all.