Victor Paul Sutherland was to a born to a dairy farmer in Milton, New South Wales, Australia on the15th of August 1945. The day of the Victory in the Pacific; thus the intials VP. He had several different jobs during the time that he was a Jockey and talks about some of the mischivious antics that happened. He became aTrainer when he became too heavey to ride and tells of his heart breaks and triumphs throughout his carreer. He also exposes some bihind the scenes facts of some sordid affai...

Ben Cousins has one of the most extraordinary stories in modern Australian sport. He's perhaps the most gifted player of his generation - a former captain of the West Coast eagles, a Brownlow medallist, a premiership winner, voted the AFL's Most Valuable Player - but he's best known for what he's done off the footy field rather than on it.Ben is a self-confessed drug addict, whose drug binges would last for days and involve incredible amounts of cocaine, crack and ice. But what's r...

'I didn't know Matthew could read or write' - Matt's dadFrom the Sheds is Matthew Johns' fascinating, frequently hilarious look behind the scenes of Rugby League. the creator of the self-confessed Aussie legend Reg Reagan - as well as a tough competitor who notched up almost 200 first grade NRL games and eight matches for the Kangaroos, winning a premiership with Newcastle Knights along the way - who better than Matthew to give an insider's view of the superstars, larrikins and ente...

A celebration of chest puffing goodness and kindness from around the country written in inimitable Peter FitzSimon's style.You gotta love this country when an AFL legend takes his mum instead of his girlfriend to the Brownlow, when an Australian cricket captain joins a bunch of fourteen year olds for a bit of street cricket, when a bloke wins the Australian Marbles Championship after being reunited with the tom-bowlers his brother threw away forty years ago, and wh...

Matthew Benns takes us inside the murky world of Australia's racing industry.Dapper horse trainer Les Samba was in Melbourne for the annual yearling sales when he turned down an Italian meal with racing contacts saying: "I have got to meet a bloke." Just hours later he was laying dead, in the middle of the road with blood pouring from five bullet wounds to his head and body.Racing in Australia has a dark and dangerous underbelly. Powerful people play for hig...

In the world of Australian football, no-one has been more notorious than Wayne Carey. Once hailed as The King, and widely acclaimed as one of the greatest footballers of his generation, Carey fell from the highest pinnacle of the game to the lowest of lows.In his extraordinary memoir, Wayne Carey goes where no Australian sportsman has gone before - telling the whole, uncensored truth about a career whose implosion was as spectacular as Carey's legendary on-field exploits.

Ray 'Rabbits' Warren is the legendary voice of Australian sports commentary. People tell him he must have drunk a bottle of scotch and smoked a packet of cigarettes every day to have the voice that he has. That's not the case – at least, not anymore . . .The son of a railway worker, Ray placed his first bet on a horse called Playboy at the age of just six, and won. A lifelong love of the track – and the punt – was born.During his remarkable broadcasting career, which has no...

When Shane Crawford debuted for Hawthorn Football Club in 1993, little did he know what an amazing future awaited him. The kid from tiny Finley in New South Wales would become a champion of the game, the heart and soul of his club, and a successful media performer.Crawf's seventeen seasons with the Hawks were far from easy but his loyalty to the brown-and-gold was rewarded when he finally reached Australia's biggest stage – grand final day at the MCG – where, agains...

'The governor called me into his office one fine day and in his best serious voice with his best serious look told me I could no longer write letters to my publishers because it appeared to him that I was trying to write another book. The man should have been a rocket scientist ...'Including stories about drinking with Bob Hawke, Chopper's reflections on the closing of the infamous H-Division section of Pentridge Jail, his unique take on race relations, sex and rel...

Autobiography of champion jockey and much-loved sports personality Ruby Walsh.A much-loved sports personality throughout Ireland and Great Britain, Ruby has had a career of outstanding success, which includes having won all four of the home Grand Nationals. This new edition brings his story right up-to-date to include all of the races over the busy Christmas period as well as last year's astonishing triumph against the odds. With many doubting that he could be race...

Australian sportsmen are known worldwide for their hilarious and, quite frankly, inspired sledges. Over the years, there have been some classic lines uttered on a variety of sporting fields and arenas, whether it's across the cricket pitch or on the footy field.Now, for the first time, we have the ultimate collection of sporting insults brought together by a man with a reputation for his humorous witticisms and cutting sledges: Merv Hughes.Merv Hughes' Best Sporting Ins...

The finest collection of writing about horse racing includes short stories, verse and anecdotes from some of Australia's best-loved writers.Did you know that Jorrocks raced till the grand old age of 19? Or that Melbourne Cup - winner Grand Flaneur never lost a race? Or that Sunline was the top stakes-winning mare in the world in her day?The Best Australian Racing Stories is chock-a-block with the victories and tragedies of these amazing champions a...