Gordon Bray's Immortals of Rugby Union

I am delighted to give a plug on these pages for legendary Australian rugby union commentator Gordon Bray's new book, the The Immortals of Australian Rugby Union, published by Gelding Street Press. The book celebrates the greatest players to wear the green and gold for the Wallabies, with Gordon selecting his fifteen "immortals".

Gordon Bray is known as the "voice of Australian rugby" and called his first match for the ABC back in 1972 when a touring French side took on Tasmania! He succeeded the likes of Norman May as the the authoritative voice of the game in Australia and will forever be associated with the golden era of Australian rugby victories from 1984 to 2004 when our trophy cupboards were full. Bray continued calling the Wallabies up until 2020, but still keeps his hat in the ring calling events like the Rugby Sevens at the Olympics for Nine Radio.

I was very pleased to provide Gordon with some assistance for his chapters on Thornett Era Wallabies and to see my rugby documentaries quoted and appearing in his bibliography. The book represents a great contribution to rugby folklore and studies one of my regular research questions: what makes Australia "sometimes the best ever" in international rugby, and how do we return to the top of the tree? 

Gordon has also been a wonderful contributor to my rugby union social histories, providing narration for my Wallaby biographies and documentaries, as well as club histories for Sydney Uni, Norths, Warren and Lane Cove Old Ignatians Rugby Clubs over the years. This commitment from grass roots to international rugby story telling, and his long career calling the game makes him the perfect choice to select Australia's greatest fifteen players. 

If you want to know who they are... you'll just have to buy the book!