Anybody who’s a fan of the game with a funny shaped red (or yellow) ball won’t need any convincing; what makes Australian rules footy such an exciting spectacle is the gravity defying speccies and those against-impossible-odds goals.

Gathered here in a two disc set are the most spectacular examples of both, taken from the Channel 7 – which will always be known as the footy channel to older fans of the game - archives which date back to the mid/late ‘60s. Both take a similar format, presenting highlight upon highlight in rapid-cut succession, occasionally pausing for a slow-mo replay, and both randomly hosted by commentator of many years Sandy Roberts. Oh well, not everything about it could be great…

Miracle Marks is very aptly titled, letting us relive those simply stupefying examples of big men flying from the days of Jezza, Hart and Co. through to the likes of Roach and Barker in the ‘80s and onto the Winmars, Abletts and Modras of later years. And say what you like about Warwick Capper (some suggestions for the less imaginative could be “mullet-head� and “blonde bimbo wanker�), but the pretty boy sure could go the fly when needed. The courageous, the spectacular, the ballet-like and the downright freakish are all featured here, and rest assured by the time this over an hour of grab upon grab has passed you’ll have the phrase “what a mark!� indelibly scarred upon your synapses forevermore.

Meanwhile, Golden Goals gathers together some of the greatest long bombs, terrific torpies, sensational snaps and more from the past three decades, all vaguely thematically presented to give further opportunities for Mr Roberts to get his head on. From the magic of Kevin ‘Hungry’ Bartlett, who almost single-handedly snagged the 1980 grand final for Richmond (OK, so this particular author is a long-suffering Tigers fan – we’ve not exactly had much to live for since then, so please cut me some slack) to ‘Lethal’ Leigh Matthews, Bernie ‘Superboot’ Quinlan, Tony ‘Plugger’ Lockett, Peter ‘damned if I know what his particular nickname was’ Daicos and just about anybody else to have skilled or fluked a magical six-point dob in their day, any footy fan is guaranteed to be slack-jawed more than once at some of the consummate skill on offer in this highlights package, especially as in truly stupefying commentator style the past 30 years yielded at least 100 “goals of the year�.

Cobbled together from TV telecasts dating back to the ‘60s, it has to be said that phenomenal visual quality isn’t exactly at the fore here. Naturally enough in a full frame ratio, some of the older, toilet-paper strewn ground stuff is in rather perfunctory black and white, while the introduction of colour in the early ‘70s doesn’t exactly astound in the detail stakes. Still, for what it is and with reasonable expectations in mind it’s all functional enough despite the odd wobble (and that isn’t preceded by “Colli�), and once later years are entered there’s very little at all to find fault with.

The sonic side of things is naturally enough delivered via a Dolby Digital stereo audio track, and it does what it can with the often shoddily recorded sound thrown at it. Much of it is naturally enough emphatically mono, and there’s more than the occasional outbreak of distortion which can be a tad distracting. Still, what we’re listening to is a parade of over-the-top commentators, and it’s only really a kind of amusing historical adjunct to the real action which is, of course, delivered visually.

As for time-on bonuses - erm, extras - don’t get too excited. Still, at least Golden Goals gives us a list of the leading goal kickers from 1897 through to 2001, which may be of interest to the trainspotters out there, and is required studying for those sports trivia nights down the pub.

With two individually cased discs in a single, price of one disc package, this release offers centimetre-perfect value for those who appreciate and wish to relive those truly bravura moments Aussie Rules has given us since first hitting the idiot box so many years ago. And if you happen to know anybody who’s thus far somehow managed to avoid the allure of the greatest game in the world, all you need is this little set, a couple of matchsticks and perhaps the odd arm and leg restraint and they’re sure to be a convert in no time. Of course it will help a lot if you can pop an elongated vowel sound on the end of their name…