Author(s): Ryan Bodman

Dance & Sport | Aotearoa New Zealand Non-Fiction | 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards long lists | 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards short lists | Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2024 — winners

This is the story of a sport told through its communities.

It is compelling – richly illustrated and full of vivid accounts of players, their lives, their triumphs and their contests on the field.

Drawing on oral history interviews and a wide range of archival sources, Ryan Bodman locates rugby league history in working-class suburbs, with Kīngitanga Māori, Pasifika migrants and peoples across the country. By challenging the mythic status of rugby union, Bodman reframes the cultural significance of sport in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Rugby League in New Zealand tells a different story about this country’s sporting scene, one that highlights the people and the game, alongside an incisive commentary on politics and power.