By Greg Blood

List of books and films covering Australian sport in 2024 that tell the story of specific sports, athletes, teams, events and issues. This year’s list also includes films that are primarily documentaries. It includes links to the publisher and description of the book. There is an increasing number of children’s books written by athletes but these are not included inte list.

Australian Sport

• Bring Your A Game: The Encyclopaedia of Australian Sports Clichés by Anthony Sharwood. Hatchette, 2024.
• The Badge We Wear: A History of Sport at UNSW Sydney by Anthony T. Hughes. UNSW Press, 2024.  (Book review by Braham Dabscheck, Footy Almanac)
• The Conquers by John Craven. Caribou Publications, 2024. (Footy Almanac review)
• Footynomics and the business of sport by Tim Harcourt. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024.
• Living the Dream : 60 years in Cricket & Football by  Ken Piesse. : Wilkinson Publishing, 2024.
• On Sport: Reviews 1995-2023 by Bernard Whimpress. The Author, 2024. (Book review by Barry Nicholls, Footy Almanac)
• Stories for Harry & Ray by Michael Sexton. Sportswords, 2024.
• The Seven Deadly Sins of Sport : Sports Greatest Sinners by Titus O’Reilly. Penguin, 2024.
• Tested :Big decisions. Small Decisions. The Remarkable Power of Resolve. Australia’s Test Cricket Captain in Conversation with Inspiring Leaders and Achievers by Pat Cummins. HarperCollins, 2024.

Athletics

• There is No Finish : the Backyard Ultra Story by Stephen Parker. Running Forever, 2024. (Edeposit book )

Australian Football          

• Gippsland Encyclopaedia of Football Vol. 4 – 1961-1990 by Laurie Williams. The Author, 2024.     
• The Football War : The VFA and VFL’s Battle for Supremacy 1930-1949 by Xavier Fowler. Melbourne University Press, 2024.
• The Immortals of Australian Football by Andrew Clarke. Gelding Street Press, 2024.
• The Irish Experiment by Zach Tuohy and Catherine Murphy. Affirm Press, 2024.
• It’s In The Genes : Australian Football Families by Des Tobin. Killaghy Publishing. 2024.
• SA Footy Stars of the Past by Bernard Whimpress, The Author, 2024. (Book review Footy Almanac)
• The Season by Helen Garner. Text Publishing, 2024.
• ‘Stories for Harry & Ray’ by Michael Sexton, 2024.  (Book review by Mickey Randall, Footy Almanac)
• Tigers All : the Women Who Made Richmond Great by Cheryl Critchley. Slattery, 2024.
• Tom Hawkins  Hardie Grant, 2024.

Basketball

• The Boomers : a Biography by Matt Logue. Harper Collins, 2024.

Boxing

• The Good Fight: Boxing,Ballet and Breaking Stereotypes by Harry Garside. Simon & Schuster, 2024.
• Tough is Not Enough : How a Resilient Mindset Can Overcome Hardship : the Hard-hitting Memoir of a Pugilist by Stephen Lovett. Brolga Publishing, 2024.

Cricket

• Australian Cricket’s Best of the Best : the Outrageous Unofficial History of the Allan Border Medal by Dan Liebke. Affirm Press, 2024.
• The Baggy Green : the Pride, Passion and History of Australia’s Sporting Icon by Michael Fahey and Mike Coward, Gelding Street Press, 2024.
• Blood on the Tracks: England in Australia: The 1974-75 Ashes by David Tossell. Fairfield Books, 2024.
• Cricket “ A Portrait of the Game by Mark Ray. Hardie Grant, 2024.
• Cricket Walkabout: The first Australian cricketers to tour England by John Mulvaney ans Rex Harcourt. 4th ed. Ten Bag Press, 2024. (New edition also features a range of new material.)
• Charlie Macartney, Mayhem and Artistry  by Peter Lloyd. 2024.
• In the Shadows of the Trumper Pavilion (The Trumper Pavilion 1924-2024, Chatswood Oval) by Ronald Cardwell. Cricket Books, 2024.
• The Indian summers : Australia versus India : Cricket’s Battle of the Titans by Gideon Haigh. Allen & Unwin, 2024.
• A long way to go : the West Indies cricket team in Australia, 1930-31 by Max Bonnell. ETT IMPRINT, 2024.
• Looking For Doug – Doug Walters: An Australian Cricketing Legend by Nimal R Chandrasena. Fine Leg Press, 2024.
• ‘The One Indiscretion of His Life : William Careek, Cricketere, Footballer, Worker ’ by Gideon Haigh.  The Author, 2024.  (Review by Roy Hay, Footy Almanac)
• Pat Cummins : Courage, Controversy, Conviction by Chris McLeod. Wilkinson Publishing, 2024.
• Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes : the Story of an Ashes Classic by David Kynaston & Harry Ricketts. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024
• Second Innings: On Men, Mental Health and Cricket by Barry Nicholls, Fremantle Press, 2024 (Book review by Graham Lewis, Footy Almanac)
• The Showman : Glenn Maxwell. Simon & Schuster, 2024.
• Top Knocks by Brad Hodge. Affirm Press, 2024.
• Treasures of Victor Trumper : State Library of NSW and in Private Collections by Ronald Cardwell. Cricket Books, 2024.
• Trumper v Faulkner : South Africa in Australia 1910-11 by Rick Smith. Apple books Tasmania, 2024.
• Victor Trumper at the Sydney Cricket Ground by Ronald Cardwell. Cricket Books, 2024,
• World XIs: Best Cricket Teams of All Eras by Richard Smith. Melbourne Books, 2024. 

Cycling

• Kieran Modra : the Way I See It by Andy Thurlow. Revised and re-edited. Lamppost Publishing, 2024. (Edeposit through Trove)
• Sutherland Shire Cycling Club : a short history by Dr Garry Darby. Sutherland Shire Cycling Club, 2024.

Football

• The Agents’ Game – the stories of Australian football agents by Peter Paleologos. Fairplay Publishing, 2024
• Angeball: The Definitive Biography of Ange Postecoglou by Vince Rugari. Hatchette, 2024.
• They Came from the Land Down Under : The Birth of the Socceroos and How They Qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup Finals by Duncan MacKay. (Review by Phillip Barker, Sports Journalists Association)
• The Goals that Changed Australia : Stories from the Biggest Stage on Earth by David Weiner. Fairplay Publishing, 2024. 
• Making it…or Not—The real journey told by professional player by Amy Schembri, Fairplay Publishing, 2024.
• Macca : My Story So Far by Mackenzie Arnold with Emma Kemp. Penguin, 2024.
• The rise and rise of the Matildas : inside the Women’s World Cup Campaign by Fiona Crawford. Melbourne University Press, 2024.

Golf

• Early Adelaide golf by Andrew Baker ; editor: Heather Millar. Fleurieu Hickory Golfers Inc., 2024.

Gymnastics

• A history of gymnastics in Queensland : on the 75th anniversary of the Queensland Gymnastics Association Inc. 2024 by Trevor Dowdell with Kathleen Graham. Gymnastics Queensland, 2024. (Ebook)

Hockey

• Ladies First – The Story of Australia’s First Olympic Hockey Gold Medal by Ashley Morrison. Fairplay Publishing, 2024.

Horse Racing

• Gentleman jockey : the life & times of Frank Dempsey by  Michael Arendsen. Real Publishing, 2024.
• Harry’s horses : a history : 1887-1947 by SR Clark.  SR Clark and InHouse Publishing, 2024. ( Ebook deposit available through Trove)
• History of the W.S. Cox Plate by Sharon L. Cross. The Author, 2024.
• Matrice, a champion of his time : a retrospective analysis of the career and influence of the Australian racehorse Matrice  compiled by Keith Hope. The Author, 2024. ( Ebook deposit available through Trove)

Issues in Sport

• Brain Matters : Regulation of Concussion in Sports-related Injuries by Annette Greenhow. LexisNexis Australia, 2024.
• For the Love of Sport : How to Cultivate a Love of Sport and Create Players for Life by Joshua Chant. Lifelong Sport, 2024.
• Sport Management in Australia : Organisation, Development and Global Perspectives by David Shilbury, Pamm Phillips, Adam Karg, Katie Rowe and Hunter Fujak. 6th ed. Taylor & Francis Group, 2024.

Kayaking

• The Girl Who Touched The Stars by Bonnie Hancock. ABC Books, 2024.

Motor Sports

• Oscar Piastri : the rookie by Andrew van Leeuwen. Penguin, 2024.
• Phillip Island: The Inside Story of Australia’s Fastest Race Track, Our Home of Motorsport by John Smailes. Allen & Unwin, 2024.
• Relentless : the Alex Campbell Story by Baden Butler, Geoff Bickerton. The Authors, 2024.

Muay Thai

• The Fighter: The Legendary Life of an Australian Champion by ‘John’ Wayne Parr, Jarrod Boyle. Hatchette, 2024.

Rugby League

• The Blues : NSW’s State of Origin Heroes by  Alan Whiticker. Gelding Street Press, 2024.
• Hard – Rugby League in the ’70s by Graeme Hughes and Tony Loxley. Full Throttle Publishing, 2024.
• The History of The National Rugby League: NRL Legacy: The Evolution, Expansion, and Impact of the National Rugby League  by James Bren. 2024.
• Not Everything Counts … but Everything Matters by Ivan Cleary with Andrew Webster. HarperCollins, 2024.
• Rugby League in the 1980s : The Power and the Passion by Alan Whiticker and Ian Collis. Simon & Schuster, 2024.

Rugby Union

• Immortals of Australian Rugby Union by Gordon Bray. Simon & Schuster, 2024.
• A Spirited Century : How Wanderers Have Built a Vibrant Sporting Club in Newcastle, NSW/ researched and compiled by Angelo Agresti.  Wanderers Rugby Football Club (Newcastle, N.S.W.)], 2024.  ( Ebook deposit available through Trove)
• A Year in the Life and Death of the Melbourne Rebels by Geoff Parkes. Book Reality, 2024.

Sailing

• Kingston Beach Sailing Club : celebrating 70 years 1954 – 2024 compiled by Jenny Graney. Kingston Beach Sailing Club, 2024.

Surfing

• Surf Like A Women : A Memoir by World Champion Pauline Menzer with Luke Benedictus. Affirm Press, 2024.

Swimming

• Turning the Tide by Michelle Ford and Craig Lord. Fairplay Publishing, 2024.
• Klim  by Michael Klim; with Nicole Jeffery. Hatchette Australia, 2024.

Table Tennis

• Para-Table Tennis in Australia : A Journey from Hospital Wards to High Performance Innovation by Arthur Wilks and Tony Naar. The Author, 2024. (Edeposit National Library of Australia)

Tennis

• The Fox: Harry Hopman and the Greatest Dynasty in Tennis History by Michael Sexton.  Pitch Publishing 2024 (Review by Bernard Whimpress in Newtown Review of Books)
• Life with 2 Lovers by Barry Phillip-Moore.  Green Hill Publishing, 2024.

Water Polo

• A History of Water Polo in Woomera : 1958 to 1968 by D. Turpin. The Author,  2024.

Wrestling

• The history of Professional Women’s Wrestling in Australia by Mark Slater, The Author, 2024.

Sports Films & Documentaries

Australian Football

• Like My Brother. Documentary of Tiwi Island AFLW footballers journey into the AFLW.
• Nicky Winmar’s Stand Against Racism. ABC iview. Documentary on the day that Winmar called out racism on the field of play.

Cycling

• Grace Brown: Time For The Rest Of Life. SBS On Demand. Olympic gold medallist cyclist Grace Brown bowed out of competitive road racing with a stellar 2024 season.

Football

• Came from Nowhere. SBS On Demand. Charts the rise of the Western Sydney Wanderers.
• The Making of Mini – Katrina Gorry . ABC iview . Australian Story on Matilda Katrina Gorry.
• Trailblazers. Stan Sport. Documentary of the Matildas journey to becoming a major force in women’s football.

Golf

• Driven – Minjee and Min Woo Lee. ABC iview. Australian Story on sibling golf superstars Minjee and Min Woo Lee.

Horse Racing

• Horse Named Winx . Documentary on champion race house Winx’s career.

Rugby League

• Plum. ABC iview. Created and written by Brendan Cowell. TV series that explores the impact of concussion on a former rugby league player.

Surfing

• The Blind Sea . Documentary that covers vision impaired surfer Matt Formston and big wave legend Dylan Longbottom as they charge the biggest wave ever ridden by a blind surfer.

Swimming

• Comeback – Shayna Jack. ABC iview. Jack’s journey from doping suspension to Olympic gold in 20204.
• The Pool. Shark Island Productions. (Story of Bondi Icebergs)

Tennis

• Australia’s Open. ABC iview (2 episodes) Documentary that charts the development of the Australian Open into the biggest annual sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Unbreakable – The Jelena Dokic Story. Roadshow Films, 2024. Documentary on the career of Dokic Damir Dokic that encountered abuse by her violent father and manager.

Wheelchair Rugby

• Beyond the Dream : Forged in Steel. Nine Network, 2024. Documentary on the Australian Steelers Wheelchair Rugby Team as they deal with raw emotions, intense competition and personal sacrifices to fight for their Paralympic dreams.

Previous Lists

• Australian Sports Books 2023 List

Thanks to Geoff Armstrong in suggesting titles for this list. Suggestions for book titles and films published in 2024 can be forwarded to Greg Blood.