This week we are reviewing Seabiscuit, the 2003 drama directed by Gary Ross and starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper — the true story of a small, overlooked, knock-kneed horse who became a symbol of hope for an entire nation during the Great Depression.
And we have a very special guest to help us do it.
Brett Ratten is in the studio. Carlton premiership player. Club captain. Three-time best and fairest. 255 games. Part of the famous 1995 premiership side and the 1999 grand finalists.
Then senior coach at Carlton, St Kilda, caretaker at North Melbourne, and part of the Hawthorn premiership dynasty under Alistair Clarkson. One of the most decorated careers in the history of the game.
The Aussie has been looking forward to this for weeks. Brett barely gets a chance to breathe. The first hour covers Carlton history in forensic detail — the 1993 grand final loss to Essendon when Michael Long was unstoppable, the 1994 straight-sets exit at Waverley, Greg Williams picking up his best and fairest that year, putting the trophy aside and telling the younger players they needed to take the next step up, and the galvanising effect that speech had on the group going into 1995.
The 1999 prelim win over Essendon — when Quartermain had declared Carlton would lose by 70 — gets full treatment, including why over-celebrating that win may have cost them the grand final the following week.
Brett tells us why he vomited before many games, how a miserable 1993 grand final performance became the greatest lesson of his playing life, and why his most profound moments in coaching had nothing to do with trophies.
And then, finally, Seabiscuit. Brett chose this film deliberately. A story about broken people finding their way back — an owner carrying the grief of losing a son, a trainer who sees something others dismiss, a jockey nobody believes in, and a horse everyone else has written off.
Brett has owned racehorses himself, including Mornington Glory, a Group One winner. He knows this world. And he knows what it means when someone puts their arm around a player — or a horse — that the rest of the world has given up on.
The line that lands hardest: "You don't throw a whole life away just because he's banged up a little." Brett says it quietly. He does not need to explain why it resonates.
The episode closes with the Scotsman playing the original 1938 radio commentary of Seabiscuit's race against War Admiral. Live. Crackling. Genuinely incredible.
Brett hears it for the first time. The goosebumps are not just his.
Ratings: 4 from Brett, 4 from the Scotsman, 3.5 from the Aussie. And a thank you to Brett Ratten that the Scotsman struggles to get through.
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