Albert is a young Indigenous man who is the best player in the local Aussie Rules team in his small fictional town of Duneldin. For the first time in most people’s living memory, the team makes the grand final of the local footy competition with high hopes of winning, especially if Albert and some of his teammates are playing at their best on the day.

One of Albert’s teammates, Tom, sees Albert getting racially abused, and knows Albert won’t take it. Incidents after training and at school make Tom and Albert think about the extent to which Albert is valued as player and as a young Aboriginal man, and what is most important.

Set against the backdrop of a country town where the footy club is the most powerful institution in town, Michael Fiddian’s debut novel, The End of the Game, exposes contemporary issues of culture and race that are experienced by Indigenous sportsmen and women.