RTÉ series on Ricky Nixon starts Sunday

July 02, 2009

Ricky Nixon
A new three part series called The Oz Factor starts on Sunday 5th July at 9pm on RTÉ Two. It's about controversial Aussie Rules sports agent Ricky Nixon and his attempt to recruit star GAA players for a change to play professional in the AFL. The Oz Factor tells the story of Nixon's quest to poach the GAA of their best and brightest players to the sunshine and dollars of the Australian Football League (AFL). From an initial list of 80, Nixon trawls through the best young Gaelic footballers in Ireland to see who could make it as a pro in Oz and in the process stirs up plenty of controversy amongst followers of Ireland's national sport. Nixon was followed in his quest for over a year and in this series viewers find out who is prepared to leave the amateur sport they grew up with and who is good enough to take the chance to fulfil their dream of becoming a professional sportsman. With GAA legend Mickey Harte as the voice of Ireland's national code and Nixon's determination to take only the best from the sport, there is no shortage of fireworks. In the first episode, Nixon arrives in Ireland with representatives of AFL clubs to set up recruitment trials. He faces the media to answer questions about his practices while his chosen group of GAA players are brought to a training camp in Castlebar and put through their paces to see if they have what it takes to be selected for trials in Australia.

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