Former AFL player and coach Ron Barassi has been brought to tears as he embarks on an emotional journey to find out about his ancestry in the SBS series Who Do You Think You Are.
Barassi is the first guest on the second series of the TV show on Sunday which starts with Barassi finding out about the circumstances of his father's death at Tobruk in World War II, when he was five years old.
"I miss not having a father now, more than I ever did as a kid," Barassi, 73, tells the program.
After travelling to Canberra, Barassi finds documents that show his father, Ron Barassi senior, was killed by a mine and meets two war veterans who served with his father.
Barassi is brought to tears when they tell him they were with his father when he died.
"His dying thoughts were about you," he is told by one of the diggers.
Barassi is also shown documents about his great grandfather who came to Australia to work in the gold fields, without much success, and finds out that his grandfather and great grandfather never got along because of a feud stemming from his grandmother's alcoholism.
He is surprised to learn that one of his Irish ancestors John Harte, was transported to Sydney as a convict for bashing to death his wife, on the basis of the testimony of their 10-year-old son.
"Bit of a kick in the guts that," Barassi says.
It's particularly resonant for Barassi who was bashed earlier this year after going to the aid of a woman who was being attacked.
The series, which airs on SBS Sundays at 7.30pm, will feature other prominent Australians such as actors Sigrid Thornton and Ben Mendelsohn, singer Christine Anu, cook Maggie Beer, and rock activist John Butler.
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