Australia Rugby

No game generates more passion, or stirs the emotions, like Rugby Union. No game enjoys itself more when the final whistle blows. And none has produced quite such a line of good talkers, on or off the subject. Here, from the BBC's unique Sound Archives, are memories of great teams, matches and tries, the wit and wisdom of some of the legendary characters to have graced the game and a few of its celebrated followers.

Wayne Bennett is the greatest rugby league coach Australia has ever had. He has won seven premierships and is the greatest man manager the game has known. He is also a living contradiction: Other coaches decry his tactics then attempt to imitate them. Players are desperate to work with him but are left feeling deceived when he cuts them loose. The media disparages him then lavishes him with praise. So who is the real Wayne Bennett? So who is the real Wayne Bennett? Celebrated sports journalist Andrew Webster has been on a mission to find out.

Redfern grit, Rabbitohs glory, Broncos pride – Adam Reynolds breaks his silence. Adam Reynolds is a rugby league icon whose journey began in the heart of Redfern and took him all the way to the top of the NRL. From humble beginnings, Adam grew up surrounded by community, struggle and the...

Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is a once-in-a-hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent in rugby league, rugby union and boxing. Sonny Bill has built an incredible career and sporting reputation across the globe. His athleticism has taken him from inner-city Auckland, where he grew up, to the highest sporting moments in Twickenham, Eden Park and Sydney's Olympic Stadium. But there is so much more to Sonny Bill Williams' life and journey than his on-field and in-the-ring triumphs.

The Sunday Times bestseller 'A genuine super-coach' – Stephen Jones, Sunday Times Brilliant, honest, combative – Eddie Jones is a gigantic yet enigmatic figure in world rugby and a true legend of the game. In My Life and Rugby he tells his story for the first time, including the full inside...

For the best part of five decades, within a hyper-masculine sporting environment, Danielle Laidley harboured a secret. As a boy growing up in the backblocks of Perth, as a teenager and young man playing AFL, as a married father of three, she knew she was female, regardless of the gender she was assigned at birth.

Johnathan Thurston is widely regarded as rugby league's greatest player. This autobiography will follow Thurston's journey from a Brisbane kid who was written off as too skinny, too slow, and too wild to play professionally, to his debut with the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2003, to State of Origin star, to Dally M and Clive Churchill Medal winner, and the fairytale premierships.

In the brutal world of rugby league, Mark 'Spudd' Carroll is one of the most fearsome players to ever lace on a boot. An enforcer who would do everything in his power to ensure victory for his team - including a pre-game ritual of eating 16 potatoes, hence the nickname. Spudd is from a rugged era where, even if concussed, players climbed to their feet and threw themselves back into the fray. In stints with the Panthers, Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles, his search-and-destroy missions each weekend made his matches compulsory viewing.