The Boy from Boomerang Crescent - Eddie Betts Audiobook

Written by Eddie Betts
Read by Luke Carroll
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

EPUB INCLUDED
Chapterized
Duration: 6 hr 15 min
Publish Year: 2022
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia

It’s a long, hard road from the Nullarbor to the MCG.

How does a self-described “skinny Aboriginal kid” overcome a legacy of family tragedy to become an AFL legend? One thing’s for sure: It’s not easy. But then, there’s always been something special about Eddie Betts.

Betts grew up in Port Lincoln and Kalgoorlie, in environments where the destructive legacies of colonialism—racism, police targeting of Aboriginal people, drug and alcohol misuse, family violence—were sadly normalized. His childhood was defined by family closeness as well as family strife, plus a wonderful freedom that he and his cousins exploited to the full—for better and for worse.

When he made the decision to take his talents across the Nullarbor to Melbourne to chase his footballing dreams—homesickness be damned—everything changed. Over the ensuing years, Betts became a true giant of the sport: 350-plus games, 600-plus goals, multiple All-Australian nods and Goal of the Year awards, and a league-wide popularity rarely seen in the hyper-tribal AFL

Along the way, he battled his demons before his turbulent youth settled into responsible maturity. Today, the man the Melbourne tabloids once dubbed “bad boy Betts” is a dedicated husband and father, a respected community leader and an increasingly outspoken social activist.

Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic and always honest—often laceratingly so—The Boy from Boomerang Crescent is the inspirational life story of a champion, in his own words. Whether he’s narrating one of his trademark gravity-defying goals from the pocket, the discrimination he’s faced as an Aboriginal person or the birth of his first child, Betts’s voice—intelligent, soulful, unpretentious—rings through in every minute.

The very human story behind the plaudits is one that will surprise, move and inspire.