Hunslet RLFC is once one of the biggest names in Rugby League. The Hawks have a long and proud history, including many epic matches, and this book features 50 of them, including the match that sealed the All Four Cups success in 1908, the 1938 Championship final over arch-rivals Leeds and the 1965 Challenge Cup final.

**Shortlisted for the 2018 General Outstanding Sports Book of the Year** One of the founder members in 1895 of what became the Rugby League, Batley was once a thriving centre of commerce, one of the bustling mill towns in the Heavy Woollen District of West Yorkshire. More than 120 years on, times have changed, even if the town's Victorian buildings remain, but one constant is the importance of the club as the centre of the community. And in 2016, the Batley Bulldogs brought more than their fair share of pride to the town. They were Underdogs, but gave their professional Super League rivals a run for their money in a season that surpassed all expectations. Given unprecedented access to the team - players, staff and fans - Tony Hannan charts a fascinating year in the life of a lower-league club, of labourers spilling blood and guts on to Batley's notorious sloping pitch before getting bruised bodies up for work on a Monday morning, of hand-to-mouth existence at the unglamorous and gritty end of British sport. And at their centre is the Bulldogs captain Keegan Hirst, the first rugby league player to come out as gay, and inspirational coach John Kear, just two men in the most colourful cast of characters. It was also a year when the town was plunged into tragedy by the brutal murder of local MP Jo Cox, a great supporter of the club. Underdogs is more than just a book about Batley though. It is the story of northern working-class culture, past and present, and a report from the front-line of a society struggling to find its identity in a changing world.

"There is no team that gives pleasure to the sporting public like the Canberra Raiders." --Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia The Canberra Raiders' spectacular grand final win against the Balmain Tigers in 1989 is widely regarded as Australian rugby league's greatest ever decider. For a fledgling club, this was an extraordinary and unexpected achievement, heralding a sequence of years that produced two more premierships and two near-misses. The Raiders' trademark adventurous style of play was welcomed by all lovers of the game. Attacking football was back in vogue. David Headon tells the story of a unique football team that entered the Sydney competition in 1982 with little fanfare and plenty of pessimism, despite the fact that league had been an integral part of communities across the Limestone Plains for nearly a century. From this firm base, the Raiders emerged to make their mark. Absolutely Bleeding Green recounts the big wins and heart-wrenching losses as it follows the players through their Raider careers, revealing how the club was able to build exceptional team spirit, even in difficult times. It includes interviews with players past and present, with coaches and administrators, as well as with families and supporters who are so proud of the distinctive lime green jersey. "This terrific book tells the story of a unique club that changed my life forever, just as the Raiders changed rugby league forever." --Mal Meninga, rugby league Immortal, Canberra Raiders Hall of Fame

Never before in the UK has a Rugby League man of Malcolm Reilly's legendary status issued such a full and revealling autobiography. Reilly has been a household name in Rugby League for over 30 years -three decades in which he strode like a colossus over the world of this toughest of team sports. He was a champion player, and a champion coach, in both England and Australia - and Reilly reveals one man's personal story behind many of Rugby League's most famous, and infamous, days of the last 30 years, told just as he played his football - with no holds barred. Malcolm Reilly developed a reputation as the most feared player in the game at a time when Rugby League was at its most brutal during the 60's and 70's. His book recalls that club career at home with highly controversial Lions tour in which he starred the last time a British team won the coveted Ashes. Rupert Murdoch's million dollar war to take control of the game, with Malcolm Reilly bang in the middle of it He also describes the fairytale triumph with his Newcastle team in Australia in 1997 followed by the drugs storm that broke around them less than a year later. Reilly has been adapted in this UK version with Harry Edgar, one of the most experienced writers on international affairs in the world of rugby.

This book is part of the Classic Matches series, in which long-term followers of various sporting clubs and teams look back on some of their finest moments. This book looks at fifty of Hull Rugby League Football Club's best matches.