{"id":708878,"date":"2026-06-01T19:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T19:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/708878\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T19:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T19:42:15","slug":"afl-fan-lucy-durack-has-found-the-perfect-fit-with-her-brand-new-abc-comedy-ground-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/708878\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL fan Lucy Durack has found the perfect fit with her brand new ABC comedy, Ground Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

WA-born actor Lucy Durack is a die-hard Dockers fan. So when comedy powerhouses Robin Butler and Wayne Hope \u2014 the team behind Upper Middle Bogan, Little Lunch and Dear Life \u2014 offered her a role in a show packed with savage jokes about the West Coast Eagles, she jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I read the script, there was a comment on The Eagles, and I was sold,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Oh my god, they are so right!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Durack stars as Angela Lipscombe, head of marketing for the fictitious Great Southern Football Club in ABC\u2019s new workplace comedy, Ground Up.<\/p>\n

The show stars Sam Pang as AFL official Hugh Shen, who has been dispatched to the Apple Isle to help set up Tasmania\u2019s first AFL team.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been following the news, you\u2019ll know this is being done for real: the real life Tasmania Devils AFL team began competing in the VFL (Victorian Football League) competition in March this year, ahead of their AFL debut in 2028.<\/p>\n

The establishment of the Devils \u2014 and the accompanying billion-dollar stadium being built to facilitate them \u2014 has been making headlines for a while now, and as Ground Up\u2019s creator, Gary McCaffrie explains, he knew it was ripe for satire.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a country that is so obsessed with sport we\u2019ve made surprisingly few films and TV shows about it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo being a resident of Tasmania, a lifelong supporter of an Australian Rules football club, and witnessing first-hand the split in the community over the entry of a Tasmanian team in the AFL being contingent on the building of a stadium, I figured this might be fertile ground to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewCamera IconNew ABC series Ground Up – Josh McConville, Emma Harvie, Dylan Murphy, Sam Pang and Lucy Durack Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

In the series Pang\u2019s character is tasked with working everything out \u201cfrom the ground up\u201d, (hence the title) with a brand new team in Tassie \u2014 think Utopia, but if that ABC favourite was set at an AFL club.<\/p>\n

Durack co-stars as one of Hugh\u2019s colleagues, and as she explains, while the series is entirely fictional, there\u2019s bound to be a degree of reality in this blurred-lines satire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to talk to someone who is actually involved in (setting up the team), because I do feel like there\u2019s got to be a crossover,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

A huge AFL fan \u2014 \u201cI feel like being from WA, you can\u2019t NOT be,\u201d\u2014 she jumped at the chance to film the six-part series in her new hometown of Melbourne, and on location in Tasmania.<\/p>\n

\"LucyCamera IconLucy Durack as Angela Lipscombe Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cGary is a mad football fan and he infused it with so much love for the game,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it means that it never punches down \u2014 it has a lot of love for AFL in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, it is a workplace comedy but around these very specific parameters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every workplace comedy needs a boss, and Pang, in his first proper acting role, is great as ambitious Hugh, who is using this new job in Tassie as a stepping stone to move up the ladder and eventually become CEO of the AFL \u2014 that is if his boss, current AFL CEO Alistair Penfold (Josh McConville), doesn\u2019t sabotage his efforts first.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Sam\u2019s first acting job, and he is so good in it,\u201d Durack says.<\/p>\n

\u201c(He plays it) like sort of a satirical Ted Lasso.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis character is trying so hard, but he is so up against it, and Hugh really has the same \u2018Sam Pang\u2019 dry sense of humour about him, which is delightful, and so, kind of, comforting.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam is like that in real life \u2014 he is such a team player.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Good sets) really come from the top, so having Sam, Robin and Wayne there made it a completely joyous experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Durack, there\u2019s a stellar ensemble cast including Colin From Accounts\u2019 Emma Harvie, Marg Downey, comedian Dylan Murphy, Christie Whelan Brown, Tegan Higginbotham, Toby Truslove and Dave Thornton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a fun show to be a part of,\u201d Durack says<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got Marg Downey \u2014 she is just such a national treasure, I love her and I grew up watching her on Full Frontal \u2014 she has just got this great playfulness to her . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Emma Harvie \u2014 her and Sam lead the show, and they are both very fun, but they both sort of have to play it straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tread that line in such a genius way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ground Up starts June 7 at 8:30pm on ABC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WA-born actor Lucy Durack is a die-hard Dockers fan. So when comedy powerhouses Robin Butler and Wayne Hope…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,134,85,427],"class_list":["post-708878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-entertainment","tag-sports","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}