Mark Graham says it's easy to look at other people's lives and think they have it better. Photo: Supplied
Filmmaker Luke Graham didn't have to look far for the subject of his latest documentary. He's turned his lens on his father: Kiwi rugby league legend Mark Graham.
Mark's outstanding playing career included 29 tests for the Kiwis between 1977 and 1988, including 18 as captain. He also made 150 appearances for North Sydney and was the Dally M second rower of the year in 1981 and 1982.
He was the first Kiwi inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame and in 2007 was named New Zealand Player of the Century.
Luke's documentary on his dad, Sharko, features interviews with some of the greatest players of the era and some incredible footage from training sessions and games that Mark played in.
"Dad was going home to come back here to Auckland for a reunion for the 1977 Auckland team, which beat France, England and Australia [when] they were all just amateurs and a lot of these gentlemen that were in the team went on to be great Kiwis," Luke tells Nine to Noon.
"I came over with him for the trip and Dad was trying to actually push me to do a story, a documentary about that team. Throughout that experience with Dad and spending time together, what I really wanted to tell was my father's story.
"He's my idol, still to this day, he's the person I look up to, and I happen to love rugby league more than any other sport. So it was a very easy thing for me to pitch that to Dad."
Luke Graham and his father, Mark, speaking to each other. Photo: Supplied
Rising among the ranks of the best, Mark's skills made him a prime target for rival players, with documentary footage showing the legendary but humble player getting knocked out several times.
"It was very easy to find that footage, very easy," Luke says.
"That's how it was. And you just accepted and you got on with it," Mark says, adding he recalls how even people who didn't believe in God asked him to say a prayer before going out on the field.
"It was a brutal game back in the day and you didn't know whether you were gonna be able to say a prayer afterwards."
But the documentary isn't just about rugby - it delves into the relationship of the duo, who say they've always been close, and the family tragedy they experienced when his other son, Matthew, took his own life at the age of 13.
"A lot of people go through ups and downs and having someone … like my father, who I understand what it takes being his child, what it takes to get to the top and the extreme efforts and focus even to even to today, he's still that same person. It's really, really important to let people know about what it takes to be my father, but also the ups and downs that we as human beings go through," Luke says.
"By showing this story, if we can help someone else, if we can help save other people, if we can help change people's ideas and help educate them, then I'm happy and I've done my job."
It's easy to look at successful people and think they have it all, Mark says, but he wants to send a message that "we're all in the same boat".
"We all often say we often spend a lot of time in the gutter … and then sometimes, you get up and it's your attitude, your state of mind that gets you off the deck and your will to keep going is what we've all got ... Some people just need to discover it. That's all."
Luke in an empty stadium seating section, looking out at the field. Photo: Supplied
Luke says he quickly understood from a young age what his father meant to other people, and that to be the best it meant he had to sacrifice a lot of time away from home as tried to balance a nine to five job with the sport he loved.
"They [footy players back in the day] had multiple jobs and footy was what they love to do and if they got paid for it, they were lucky," Luke says.
"I've understood what Dad had to do to be the best. And I've tried to implement that as best as I can to my life and into my filmmaking career and filmmaking is an extremely hard thing to do.
"And one of the reasons why I chose it because I thought it would be one of the hardest things in the world to do. And I've wanted to give it my best and with that understanding of what my father went through."
Sharko debuted in New Zealand as part of the Doc Edge Film Festival. It's out in cinemas around the country from 7 November.
