The Best Rugby League Books of 2026: Wayne Bennett, Shaun Johnson and What Australians Are Reading
Two of the biggest rugby league books this Christmas are about men who have been in the news all week. Andrew Webster’s biography of Wayne Bennett, The Wolf You Feed, was number 5 on Amazon Australia’s rugby league book chart on 13 November, the week Bennett agreed to stay at the Rabbitohs. Shaun Johnson’s own story, Perspective, was number 8.
Here are the rugby league books worth buying this year, with their chart places on 13 November.
The Wolf You Feed, by Andrew Webster
Webster’s book calls Bennett the greatest coach Australian rugby league has had: seven premierships, and a man manager without equal. It also deals with the contradictions, the introvert who can hold a room and the hard man on a mission to make good men of young players. Bennett has just extended his time at South Sydney to the end of 2028, so there is a new chapter to come.
Perspective, by Shaun Johnson
Johnson tells his own story for the first time. The line in the blurb is the one that stays with you: “For 14 years I was judged on 80 minutes of my life, once a week.” It is about living with that judgement as the Warriors’ and the Kiwis’ halfback.
The Extra Mile, by Kevin Sinfield
Sinfield’s memoir, updated with two new chapters, was number 10. It covers his career at Leeds and his runs for his friend Rob Burrow, who died of motor neurone disease in 2024. Our page on rugby players with MND tells the wider story.
For a club or Origin fan
The Top 100 Manly Sea Eagles by Matthew Geddes, number 6 on the chart, ranks the club’s best players since 1947, from Bob Fulton and Cliff Lyons to Daly Cherry-Evans. It is built for arguments at the Christmas table.
Canberra fans have Absolutely Bleeding Green by David Headon, the Raiders’ story from the club’s early community games to the 2019 grand final, including the 1989 win over Balmain. It suits Raiders fans following this month’s Moses Leota news.
For New South Wales fans, Alan Whiticker’s The Blues tells the back stories of the more than 300 men who have played Origin for the state: the sons of immigrants, farmers and factory workers, and the boys from the bush who were told they were not good enough.
For a Kangaroos fan
After Australia’s World Cup semi-final win over Samoa, Kangaroos: An Anthology, Volume Four, by Matthew Geddes, is the reference book. It profiles every player to represent Australia from 1995 to 2024, from the Super League war through the rise of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.
What we left out
The number 1 book on the chart is already in our rugby league Christmas gift guide. Several other places on the chart are taken by short self-published club histories and word-search books, and we have not listed those. For players rather than readers, see our gifts for rugby league players.
