FOR TONY Armstrong, arriving at the Logies is like arriving at the Brownlow. 

"Absolutely as late as possible," he says. 

Except there's a key difference for this former footy player when it comes to Sunday's night of nights for Australian TV. 

"I can't really sneak in," Armstrong, one of seven Gold Logie nominees, says. 

"It's not like rocking up to the Brownlow where, a) you've played four games and, b) you're not expected to be in the votes.

"People actually want to talk to me now. It's lovely, but full on!" 

Armstrong has quickly become one of Australia's most loved broadcasters. 

His quick wit, that fabulous moustache and ability to laugh at himself – remember that time he mistook ‘disc' for something else? - has quickly made him a household name. 

And that's significant given the lack of Indigenous representation on TV. 

Armstrong describes it as "equal parts pressure and privilege". 

"Obviously you feel pressure because you're like, 'Shit, I don't want to stuff up and ruin this for a bunch of people'," he says.

"But it's also like, 'I'm privileged to be in this position that a whole stack of other people would love to be in'." 

Except for Mark Coles Smith – who was nominated last year – Armstrong is the only Indigenous Australian to ever be in contention for the Gold Logie. 

"Traditionally it's not a space for Indigenous people," Armstrong says. 

***

UNLIKE his ascension in TV, Armstrong was a typical 'journeyman' in the AFL. 

He played for three clubs – Adelaide, Sydney and Collingwood – for a sum of 35 games.

It wasn't a career without highlights, but it also wasn't one that stands out in the annals of history, either. 

If anything, Armstrong's football career was like that of so many. 

He almost got there. 

Take the 2012 AFL Grand Final, for example. 

Armstrong was not only an emergency for the Swans, but an emergency who completed the warm-up on the MCG turf prior to the first bounce. 

He didn't play, but Sydney won. 

"I was right there," Armstrong recalls. 

"But swings and roundabouts, right? 

"If I was a bit better, I wouldn't have been relying on everything going my way."

If missing out on being an AFL star was the swing, then the roundabout was finding a vocation in, as Armstrong calls it, "telly". 

"Because footy turned out the way it did for me – even though I tried my absolute guts out – it just didn't quite work out," he says.

"And I think that apart from not having the same aptitude as a lot of people, I got in my head a lot. 

"I would overthink things and stress. I was never in a flow state."

While mistakes in footy would linger and threaten to destroy Armstrong, mistakes on air haven't had the same effect. 

"With this I'm like, 'If I try my best – and do the work – knowing that mistakes will happen, it doesn't worry me'," he says.

"I don't sweat it as much. Who gives a shit? It's just telly. 

"It's actually kind of fun when things don't go right, to be honest. Like when a package doesn't fire or the autocue isn't working. It's fun. 

"It's like, 'This is live, live'. Things go wrong. It's nice."

And while the team aspect is a commonality between sport and making TV, Armstrong says there's a key difference. 

"In TV, everyone is one the same team," he says. 

"Everyone is trying to make the product good – from the floor manager, to the camera operators, the directors, to the people that are on air with you. 

"We're all trying to make each other look good. 

"When you play footy you have people who are the best in the world at trying to stop you and what you're doing. 

"Footy is so much harder."

***

AT just 34, Armstrong's trajectory in TV has been steep.

In 2020, he co-hosted Yokayi Footy for AFL.com.au and NITV, while also working for ABC Radio. 

A fill-in role on ABC Breakfast as sports reader was so successful he was offered the full-time gig in 2021. 

Now, Armstrong traverses sport and lifestyle shows. 

You've probably seen him on The Project or Fox Footy. Perhaps you've caught his five-part TV series on ABC, Tony Armstrong's Extra-Ordinary Things.

(I mean, I think you know you've made it when your name is in the title.) 

He even has a science-documentary in the works that he promises "isn't as boring as it sounds". 

And while Armstrong is already a two-time Logie winner – he was voted Most Popular New Talent in 2022 and Most Popular Presenter in 2023 – the enormity of becoming the first Indigenous Gold Logie winner isn't lost on him. 

"It means absolutely nothing and everything at the same time," Armstrong says. 

"It doesn't diminish my work if I don't win it. 

"And If I do win, it doesn't necessarily add to anything I've done. 

"But I think it could mean a lot to people who look like me and haven't seen someone like me on TV."

Award or not, Armstrong feels like he's found his place. 

And there's no statue that can put a value on that.  

"I'm comfortable in that I'm in a space I'm supposed to be," Armstrong says.

"And I feel good enough to be here. 

"With footy I was always like, ‘Am I good enough?'. 

"I never had that moment where I was like, 'I fully belong here'. 

"Now – of course I'm grateful for the opportunities – but I'm also like, 'Yeah, I'm good enough. This isn't a handout. I deserve to be here'. 

"I didn't think it would be here that I found it, but I'm glad that I have."