In a major development for Western Australia's screen industry, Deadset Pictures has secured the rights to adapt Holden Sheppard's acclaimed novel Yeah the Boys into an eight-episode international television series. The show, set in Perth, will focus on a gay AFL player and is described as Australia's answer to the hit LGBTQ+ sports romance Heated Rivalry.
Story and Setting
The series follows star AFL full-forward Kade "Hammer" Hammersmith, whose tightly controlled life begins to unravel when he publicly attacks the league's Pride Round while hiding his own sexuality. Blackmail threats force him back into the orbits of Zeke and Charlie, two estranged schoolmates who know his secret. The show will explore the crushing cost of staying hidden in a city where everyone knows your business.
Deadset Pictures co-founder Steve Pennells, a Walkley Award-winning former journalist with The West Australian, said the global success of Heated Rivalry on HBO Max proved there is mainstream appetite for gay sports drama. "It's made it easier for us. Heated Rivalry surprised everyone and showed that there is a market for it if it's told well," Pennells said.
Local Production
Filming will take place entirely in Western Australia, with producers emphasizing the story's deep roots in the state's culture and geography. "This is a story that could only come out of Western Australia," Pennells said. "The heat, the distance, the footy culture, the country-town history, the gay spaces... all of that is baked into the book. It's Perth as Perth, not substituting itself for somewhere else."
The production is expected to inject millions of dollars into the local economy through direct screen expenditure, benefiting crews, cast, suppliers, and hospitality. Sheppard, a Geraldton-born author, expressed excitement about the adaptation: "It's always been important to me that screen adaptations of my books are filmed locally in WA using our WA talent and locations... WA's urban and gay spaces will be showcased like never before, and I'm so pumped to see it."
Comparisons and Ambition
Pennells described Yeah the Boys as Australia's version of Heated Rivalry but "rawer, dirtier, a bit bogan and much more local." He added, "This is footy, not hockey. It's Perth and Geraldton, not Toronto. It's Pride Round, locker rooms, country-town shame, Northbridge at night and the brutal Australian pressure on men to perform straightness even when it's killing them."
The series is a semi-sequel to Sheppard's earlier novel Invisible Boys, which was adapted into a Stan series. The streaming platform for Yeah the Boys has not yet been revealed, but producers are aiming for an international audience.
