From the Pocket: Andrew Krakouer blazed his own trail beyond family history and football feats

Andrew Krakouer died aged 42 after playing 137 AFL matches with Richmond and Collingwood and having just as much impact on the game away from the field. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains the name and images of a deceased person

Some of the best Australian sportswriting of the 1980s came from a young journalist from Tasmania, Martin Flanagan. He was particularly fond of Fitzroy and North Melbourne – two clubs with scarcely a dollar to their name, but rich in character and talent. Flanagan would write about anything – politicians, war heroes, graffiti artists, homeless people, police and paramedics attending catastrophic car accidents.