The Wheel of Sport

In 1970, old VFL rivals, Carlton and Collingwood faced each other in the Grand Final. The game took place in the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground to over 120,000 people packed in to see the spectacle. However, Collingwood dominated the first two quarters and raced into a healthy lead. Carlton walked off at half time deflated and dejected. A team talk and a revolutionary change of tactics and approach by the Carlton coach Ron Barassi, not only changed the course of this Grand Final, but it changed a sport forever.

Hansie Cronje burst onto the international cricket scene in a match against Australia. With youth, good looks and a champion of reconciliation in South Africa, Cronje rose to the heights of his sport and society. This story covers a remarkable on pitch deal with the English cricket captain; dark dealings in hotel rooms; a confession and a sad, unexpected end to life.

We take most Olympic sports for granted and they have the sense that they have always been there. However, sports have to compete against each other to make the Olympic roster. Some win but many get rejected. This episode is the story of the Winter Olympic sports that never quite made the grade.

The story of John Montague. An exceptionally talented golfer who was reluctant to join the tour but very keen to live the celebrity Hollywood lifestyle. Montague worked his way through Hollywood's A-list society before his life took a turn when an eagle-eyed detective spotted him in Time magazine and his past quickly caught up with him.

This is a blast through some of the technological advances in sport that you may never have heard of including one which may have been inspired by a British soap opera! Stories of pink newspapers being sold out of the back of vans, snooker selling TVs and how split screen revolutionised a sport.

Baseball in the USA was a industry ran by the owners, for the owners. Players had few rights and were paid a fraction of what they were worth. Nobody challenge the status quo - until Marvin Miller battered down the door and unlocked the freedom of the players. This is a story of the power of the union and how it was used to modernise a national sport and show the rest of society that the power of the bosses could, and should, be questioned.

Freediving is a niche sport due to the level of difficultly and the risk of serious injury and death. The serenity and peaceful nature of deep-diving can lull the participants into a different world and prove addictive. This is the story of how freediving became a cult sport with a truly deadly risk.

Very few athletes ever get the opportunity to represent their country at the Olympics. Through training, discipline and shear sporting talent, some manage to make the grade. Once there, they will do everything in their power to try to get a place on the podium and, failing that, try to represent themselves in the best light possible. This is the story of an 'athlete' who broke the mould by sauntering into the Olympics with little sporting prowess but excellent management of her calendar and air miles. Elizabeth Swaney became an unlikely focus of the 2018 Winter Olympics for all the wrong reasons.

This is the story of an American billionaire who found himself in the inner circle of the home of English cricket. Now a convicted criminal, Allen Stanford managed to land his helicopter on the hallowed turf at Lord's Cricket Ground, convince the ECB to play a one off game in the Caribbean and ultimately left a shameful mark on the English game. What attracted one of England's most stuffy and conservative sporting bodies to this lavish and corrupt billionaire?