Martin Flanagan writes for the Age newspaper and is the author of twelve books, among them The Call , an imaginative re-construction of the life of Tom Wills, a founder of the game, and The Last Quarter , a trilogy of his football books. What people have said about Martin Flanagan's football writing: - Martin Flanagan must never be allowed to stop writing football. I say this because he is the only football writer I have read who is so good I think he could nearly describe a heartbeat - and that, if you want to touch the essence of football, is what you have to do - Don Watson If I'm ever prompted, I have no hesitation in nominating Martin Flanagan as my favorite writeraI only hope I can see the game off the field as well as he does - Nathan Buckley I like Martin's writing, and I know most players do too, because he comes from a different perspective - James Hird The best of Flanagan has a finesse and feeling that no current Australian sports-writer approaches, let alone equals - Gideon Haigh I love his brain - Kevin Sheedy