Sports content generally deals in ‘Hype’. Montages of in-game moments, set to an awesome soundtrack.

And for existing fan bases, ‘Hype’ works.

But when you’re trying to attract a new audience to your game, you need to take a fresh approach.

AFL is Australia’s national game, but the majority of clubs and its heartland audience reside in just one of Australia’s six states. So, despite coming off one its strongest seasons ever, the AFL wanted to continue growing their game, and to do that they needed to branch out to a non-traditional support base.

Their focus was new migrants to Australia, new female audiences and sports fans of other codes.

The ambition was to create a content platform that showcased the unique attributes of AFL and could be leveraged by the AFL, it’s clubs and its partners.

“Don’t Believe In Never: Aliir Aliir” tells the story of a young Sudanese boy’s journey from a Kenyan refugee camp to playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League. Aliir Aliir talks of his lifelong love of sport and how footy helped him integrate at his new Australian school, despite speaking almost no English. Although Aliir was overlooked in the 2012 AFL rookie draft, he doubled his efforts and in 2013 was selected at number 44 – becoming the first ever Sudanese player to be picked in the national draft.

At the heart of our campaign launch sat three “Never” stories. These long-form films told the stories of the Richmond Tigers’ unprecedented 2017 Premiership season, Aliir Aliir’s journey from a refugee camp in Kenya to playing for the Sydney Swans, and the Bankstown Bull Sharks, a multicultural team of schoolgirls from the rugby heartland of New South Wales.

These stories were also cut down to run across TV, social and digital assets.

This mix of “Never” stories demonstrated the breadth of people the game touches from grass roots to the upper-echelons, the multicultural appeal of the sport, and the human emotion of sporting achievement. All have moments that make you cry and made you smile, just like the game itself. And all leave you wondering what can be achieved when you set your mind to it.