Redtails in the Sunset
The untold story of the Central Australian Football Club
By Darren Moncrieff
Aussie rules meets community resilience in Redtails in the Sunset, a powerful new book by longtime sportswriter Darren Moncrieff. It tells the story of how two men – Rob Clarke and Ian McAdam – built the Central Australian Football Club (CAFC), known as the Redtails, to support young Aboriginal and non-Indigenous men in Alice Springs.
Born from tragedy and vision, the Redtails emerged in 2010 after the loss of a talented young football player. Clarke and McAdam rallied the region’s best players to form a team that offered more than sport – it offered hope, unity and pathways into education and employment. Their goal: to compete in Darwin’s semi-professional summer league and give young men something to strive for when opportunities were scarce.
What followed was a fairytale debut at Traeger Park – a roaring crowd, an electrifying goal and a movement that captured the heart of Central Australia.
But Redtails in the Sunset is more than a sports story. Moncrieff explores the club’s bid to join the Top End league, navigating political distractions, sporting bureaucracy and the broader social forces shaping the region. Football, he argues, is a new Dreaming – a force that holds balance in young men’s lives.
“AFL football sits alongside Aboriginal culture in terms of how important it is to young Indigenous men,” says Clarke.
Moncrieff, a Wadjarri-Tharrgari man, brings decades of experience as a sportswriter and footy player to this deeply personal and culturally resonant story.
“As a kid, playing footy was home, a safe space; it held me close and everything in this world made sense,” says Moncrieff.
Redtails in the Sunset is a tribute to visionaries, players and communities who made football more than a game. It’s a story of heartbreak, grit and triumph – and one that deserves a place in Aussie rules history.
It is available for pre-order online through shop.aiatsis.gov.au, or you can pick it up from a bookstore near you from 22 September 2025.
A book launch will be held on 4 October 2025 at 2:30 pm in Mparntwe / Alice Springs at the only bookstore for miles in every direction – Red Kangaroo Books! The launch will include a reading and book signing with author Darren Moncrieff, an appearance from former Redtails player Tyson Carmody and will be emceed by a very special guest, the incomparable Shelley Ware.
Release date: 22 September 2025
Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press
RRP: $39.99 | 272pp | Paperback
Preorder: https://shop.aiatsis.gov.au/products/redtails
Book launch event
Celebrate the release of Redtails in the Sunset with author Darren Moncrieff, former Redtails player Tyson Carmody and special guest MC Shelley Ware, a respected media personality and advocate, flying in from Melbourne especially for the event.
Date: Saturday 4 October 2025
Time: 2:30 pm
Location: Red Kangaroo Books, Todd Mall, Mparntwe / Alice Springs
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Media assets available here:
- Information sheet with key details about Redtails in the Sunset
- Book cover image and select page spreads
- Author pic (photo by Brooke Cuy)
Media enquiries
Aboriginal Studies Press
Email press enquiries to asp@aiatsis.gov.au
+61 2 6129 3934
9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday
Website: aiatsis.gov.au/about/what-we-do/aboriginal-studies-press
Facebook: @aiatsis
Instagram: @aiatsis
Book excerpt
With both hands this time, the umpire raises the ball higher above his head, each hand with a tight grasp at its corners. He begins a steady lean forward over the centre-circle, slowly bringing the ball forward over his bending back and lowering head; he could almost kiss the ground now. In an instant and with a sharp flick of his wrists, he brings the ball down fast past his still-lowered head and in a silent act of non-personal violence pounds it into the turf whereupon the unseen laws of physics of pressured air encased in leather go to work.
The ball bounces up, straight, and the two ruckmen to the umpire’s left and right time their run to leap for this. As they do their bodies crash into one another, both are determined to get to it first, but neither gains an advantage. A hand each reaches the Sherrin at the same moment in a tangled mess of fingers and palms like a mis-timed clap.
The ball tumbles about, its bounce a mystery due to its oval shape. Bodies fly everywhere in the hunt for it. It pings around like a pinball on steroids. It is hectic. It is chaotic.