Fabulous Fred: The Strife and Times of Fred Cook

Fred Cook began his football career with Footscray in the VFL. But he really made his name in the game after crossing to Port Melbourne in the VFA.

His prodigious goalkicking in the 1970s earned him the nickname 'Fabulous Fred' and fame at a pop-star level. He appeared on TV, on radio and wrote newspaper columns, and he mixed with Melbourne's sporting and entertainment elite.

But he fell in with a criminal crowd, formed a drug habit, lost everything and did three spells in prison.

Cook has led...