It’s been a bold idea that has played out with great success for Foxtel. The Recruit has delivered a new style reality program with a uniquely Australian twist that has gathered an audience keen to see the latest in AFL talent achieve an opportunity in our national sport. And it all finishes up live next week. From the press release:

Final three vying for an AFL contract revealed on THE RECRUIT.
Winner to be announced LIVE next week.

The final three players who will go through to next week’s live, nail-biting final of THE RECRUIT were announced during last night’s penultimate episode of the hit FOX8 AFL reality series.

Bradie Foster (25) from Queensland, Chris Moreland (24) from Geelong and Johann Wagner (23) from Port Lincoln are the three players selected by THE RECRUIT’s Head Coach, Michael “Vossy” Voss, to go through to next Wednesday’s live final and be part of the AFL’s special NAB AFL Draft.

Hosted by Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald LIVE from Melbourne’s Palms at Crown next Wednesday, September 17 at 7.30pm, the history-making final will see one of these talented players named the inaugural winner of THE RECRUIT and sign a guaranteed contract with one AFL club.

“The final three have all displayed qualities to an AFL standard. They are very consistent in performance, are resilient and have adequate work ethic to take their game to another level within an AFL system,” said Vossy.

“The Recruit has opened up another pathway into the AFL. This is exciting and returns hope to players who become lost in our system for a multitude of reasons. After seeing the talent in action I remain extremely confident that while we will find our winner, we could see up to three players drafted as a result of this show,” he said.

During the live final, Fitzy and Vossy will be joined by members of the Executive Team; Assistant Coach Ben Dixon, High Performance Coach Darren Burgess and Psychology Coach Leigh Russell; the previously delisted Recruits as well as Club Executives from each of the 18 AFL teams.
The decision is now in the hands of the club recruiters, who will each vote on the final three on a 3-2-1 basis. The player with the most votes will be announced as THE RECRUIT.
Once the winner is announced, all 18 clubs will have the option to nominate him as a draft selection or to pass. In the event that more than one club nominates to draft the Recruit, the winner will get to pick the club of his choice.
THE RECRUIT has kicked massive goals in the ratings since its launch in July, with the premiere episode one of the highest series launches in subscription television history. THE RECRUIT is now FOX8’s most watched series year to date and is Foxtel’s number one non-sports program every Wednesday night. The series continues to grow week on week, with last night’s episode the highest rating so far.

THE RECRUIT is produced by McGuire Media in association with The Media Tribe exclusively for Foxtel. The final will be broadcast live on FOX8 on Wednesday, September 17 at 7.30pm on FOX8.