Tony Armstrong’s Extra-Ordinary Interview With The Press Gang

Tony Armstrong is a proud Gamilaroi man and Logie nominated TV presenter. He recently Zoomed with members of the Press Gang who asked him about his childhood, his AFL and TV careers and his new show, Tony Armstrong’s Extra-Ordinary Things.

Here are the highlights.

How did you move from playing football to working on television?

I got really lucky – I ran into an old friend and he asked me if I wanted to do some radio commentary for the AFL. I did that on community radio for an Indigenous radio station. Then I got an opportunity on the AFL website to host a little show there called ‘AFL Footy’. ABC saw what I was doing and they offered me a job. They sent me a message on Facebook back when I used to have Facebook. So it was pretty weird – normally you apply for jobs but they kind of out of the blue messaged me.

That was about five years ago now and it’s all been a bit of a blur. That’s how I got into it  – a lot of good luck mixed with a lot of hard work. 

What’s more scary playing football in front of a huge crowd or talking on live television?

I wasn’t very good at playing football in front of a huge crowd. I don’t really mind talking on TV – doing live TV. I’ll tell you why – most of the time when we do live TV we’re doing it in a studio where you know everyone who’s there. It’s just like going to school – you go into what is our version of the classroom. You go into the studio and you’ve got a bunch of people in there that you know and we’re all just doing our own little job. It’s not like I’m seeing every house in Australia when I am on TV. That’s why I make a few mistakes every now and then, I think because I’m probably a bit too relaxed.

How do you think of things off the top of your head as a commentator?

You never actually commentate as it’s happening. The thing happens and you say what you see maybe a second afterwards – you give yourself just enough time to think of what’s happening. When I used to practise, my old housemate used to think I was the biggest weirdo because I would put the TV on and I’d turn the volume down and I’d just be sitting at home yelling at the tv, practising my commentary. 

It’s one of those things you try to come up with as many different ways as you can to describe a handball or as many different ways as you can to describe a kick, and you just practise it over and over. The hardest thing is working out which player is which and which player has the ball because from a distance they all kind of look the same!

What was your childhood like?

I grew up out west, in Cabramatta and then Karama and I went to school in Fairfield. It was pretty fun. I didn’t really play any team sports until I was about nine or ten. I really wanted to play them the whole time growing up and I wanted to play rugby league, but I’m too small. So mum was like, you’re playing AFL, you’re too tiny, you’ll get squashed. So I played footy.

I had a great childhood. My mum worked really hard to give me a lot of opportunities. You guys are probably rolling your eyes at this, but you don’t really realise how hard your parents are working for you and all the sacrifices they’re making when you’re your age until you get a little bit older. I’ve got a couple of grey hairs in here somewhere, but I’m hiding them. And when you get to my age you kind of realise just how lucky you are. So every opportunity you get, thank your parents.

Why did you choose to do a show about extraordinary things and how do you find out about these things?

My friend and I came up with this idea for the show in the middle of Covid. It was a pretty sad time down here in Melbourne where I live. My mate, he works in TV as a producer and we were like, everyone seems to be angry at each other and having a shocking time here. It’s not that bad of a place that we live in, is it? Of course we’ve got our shortcomings, but it’s not the worst place on Earth.

So we tried to hatch a plan to come up with something that would celebrate Australia in a non-cringey way. We figured everyone’s got a story, everyone’s got an extraordinary thing – that’s how we came up with it. Then we just put out some ads and we asked people to tell us what their extraordinary things are. 

What was it like playing AFL compared to what you’re doing now?

I think I’m better at what I do now than I was at footy, I’m getting more reward for my hard work with what I do now. Footy was amazing – there’s nothing quite like the feeling of running out in front of 85,000 – 90,000 people at the MCG letting the crowds yell so loud, you can’t hear the person next to you who’s yelling at you trying to get your attention. It’s like a sensory overload. It almost feels like it happened to a different person – it was that long ago.

The thing about TV is everyone’s on the same team, no one’s trying to stop you from doing the thing that you’re doing. We’re all on the same team trying to make a good production or put a good show to air. Whereas playing professional sport, unfortunately you’ve got a team on the other side of the ledger trying their hardest to stop you doing what you are trying to do. I think TV’s a bit easier.

Who inspired you to be on the News?

If you had told me I was going to be waking up at 3:30AM every day to go on and present the news, I would’ve told you to get lost. I love my sleep so much, I don’t get to sleep very much anymore. I must admit I never wanted to do breakfast news.

When I started doing it, I realised that there’s not too many Aboriginal people on TV, there’s not too many brown people on TV. I realised that it was important that I look this opportunity in the eyes and do my best. So what inspires me is the opportunity to hopefully inspire other people.

On your show, there are people who have very extraordinary things. What is your extraordinary thing?

Great question! I change my answer for this every time I get asked because I’m so lucky. I’ve had such a lucky life that I’ve done a lot of really fun things. I’ve got a photo on my wall of Adam Goodes. I idolised him when I was a kid.

The photo is of me at a football clinic with Adam Goodes and he’s signing my hat and I’m looking at it, making sure he’s signing it properly! He was my hero and then the way life worked out for me, I got to play football with him at the Sydney Swans and now he’s a mate of mine, now he’s a friend. He’s my idol and I still have to pinch myself when I walk into his house and hang out with his family and his kids.

That photo is so special and deeply personal, but that’s my extraordinary thing. Wish I had a billion bucks though. That’d be nice.

What inspired you to write a book for children?

I was getting asked by a lot of different publishing houses here in Australia to write a memoir. When they were asking me I was 32 – give me a chance to do something- I’ve done nothing! Maybe when I’m 70 and I’ve got some stories to tell?! I’m still young.

Then I pitched my idea about a kids book to them. I told them about George the Wizard and they loved it. I wrote the whole book on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne in about an hour! It was in me and I’m so excited for people to read it. It’s going to be great.

What was your first job?

My first job was playing AFL. I didn’t have a job before that. I finished High school on Friday. I did my last media exam. Caught the train home to mom’s house on Friday night, got drafted on Saturday and then I moved to Adelaide on Sunday and I started on Monday – very fast! Didn’t have any time to relax.