The Final Winter (2007) More at IMDbPro »

Like most genre movies, sports films tend to follow a well-worn formula: underdog/quirky/too-small team rises above their inadequacies and the opposition to win the championship, often coming back from impossible margins to steal victory with the final play (always shown in slow-motion for dramatic effect). Fortunately, "The Final Winter", a rugby league movie – set in the early 80s - centred on Sydney's Newtown Jets (who left top-flight competition in 1983, but now reside in the NSWRL Premier League), eschews the usual clichés. Unusually for a sports movie, there's very little on-field action, instead focusing on the players, and the culture. The game that is featured – between Newtown and St. George - is absolutely brutal. The hits are more akin to an American Football game, and are showed in slow motion for extra effect. One of the film's motifs is the final shot of a scene frozen and shot in black, which gives the film a nice touch. The film's protagonist is "Grub" Henderson, a hard-as-nails front-rower who comes from an era where toughness was measured by how hard you hit the guy infront of you. Unfortunately for Grub, that era is dying out, slowly being replaced by a new-found professionalism and athleticism. The film opens with Newtown's penultimate game of the season – against St. George at Henson Park. Newtown must win to keep their finals hopes alive. With the game tied at 5-all with minutes left, St. George's "showpony" five-eight –and Grub's brother – Trent (Nathaniel Dean), sets up for a field goal. Grub, who has enjoyed a tenuous relationship with his brother - whose glamorous life corresponds with Grub's minimal suburban existence, with his wife Emma (Raelee Hill) and her two kids –knocks him out cold. Grub is sent off, with the ensuing penalty gifting St. George victory. With Newtown out of finals contention, the film then documents the following week, with Grub set to face the judiciary, and the possible end of his career. Up against Grub is the new Newtown CEO (John Jarratt), a real-estate agent who hasn't touched a football in his life. While Dean is trying to make Newtown viable for the future, Grub sees him as a cancer on the club, though Grub's coach (Matthew Johns, nowhere near as annoying as his jokester role on "The NRL Footy Show"), while of the same era as Grub, realises the game has to move forward. The most interesting aspect of the film is its setting. It captures the 80s era well, when players had a beer after training, after games, and smoked at halftime. It was also an era when players like Grub spent most of the time at their local. Grub's blokey attitude to life is shown in flashbacks, where Grub's dad took his underage son to the same local for drinks before getting involved in fights, and taught him and his brother how to play football. While Dean has escaped to a better life, Grub is in danger of becoming a clone of his abusive father. His marriage is on the rocks, he barely knows his kids, and looks to be heading to has-been territory. The film documents Grub's battle to put his life right, his relationship with his brother, and the twilight of his rugby league career. Overall, "The Final Winter" is an excellent rugby league movie which looks more at the relationships between characters, and the changing era that they live in, rather than the game itself. "The Final Winter" is also one of the best Australian films in a long time, which also features cameos from past Newtown players such as Tom Raudonikis.