Facing the Haka by Jamie Wall; Andy Burt

$49.99 NZD

$60.00 (16% off)

Category: Rugby

The story of the All Blacks from the other side of halfway. Big names from all their fiercest rivals talk about meeting the world's most successful rugby team in some of the greatest tests of all time.

Kieran Read: Straight 8 The Autobiography by SCOTTY STEVENSON

$39.99 NZD

$49.99 (20% off)

Category: Rugby

Kieran Read first played for the All Blacks as a 23-year old in 2008 and since then has amassed more than a century of test appearances in the famous jersey. Now, after a stellar provincial, club, and international career including back to back World Cup victories the New Zealand captain writes openly a nd honestly about his time in the game. Read takes to these pages with his trademark determination, lifting the lid on the unique pressures of succeeding as captain the most celebrated All Black of all time. He outlines the decisions that shaped his career and uncovers the skills of the coaches who shaped him, while offering readers an inside account of how the worlds greatest team functions and thrives. A rugby player cannot reach the pinnacle of the sport without negotiating the many avenues of adversity on the roadmap to triumph. Read unpacks the emotional toll of injury and the ignominy of defeat, neatly illustrating the intense experience of representing a rugby-obsessed nation while delivering a masterclass in how manage the many demands on the mind and on the body. Forthright and frank, Reads well-respected views on the game and its future are a must-read for rugby fans, and his take on the myriad personalities and the peccadilloes of his teammates, coaches and opponents will be sure to surprise and delight. From the playing fields of Papakura to the world champion podium, Read has faced every challenge head on. His life story is no exception. ...Show more

Will to Win - New Zealand Netball Greats on Team Culture and Leadership by Lana McCarthy; Andy Martin; Geoff Watson

$39.99 NZD

Category: Sports And Leisure

A fascinating deep-dive into the development of the Silver Ferns traditions, the evolution of team culture and the nuts-and-bolts of leadership at an elite sporting level. The 12 legendary players and coaches interviewed including Lois Muir, Leigh Gibbs, Sandra Edge, Bernice Mene, Ruth Aitken and Casey Kopua candidly discuss the highs and lows of their careers, and of the Silver Ferns, the effect of the intense rivalry with Australia, coping with gut-wrenching losses, and the resilience of players and coaches. For the first time the perspective of these key actors is the subject of serious analysis, and the book is a real insight into the psychology of a womens highperformance team. As such, it provides a practical guide for developing team culture and leadership for netball coaches at all levels. It also includes comments from Farah Palmer on women in sport and leadership, and a brief history of New Zealand netball, including the gains and losses as netball moved into a semi-professional era, and the struggles for sponsorship and for media recognition, despite it being New Zealands most popular team sport. ...Show more

Heroics and Heartbreak by Jamie Wall

$29.99 NZD

$36.99 (18% off)

Category: Rugby

The 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign is shaping up to be the most intriguing World Cup campaign ever for the All Blacks, because they're going for their third title in a row. It will cap a decade of dominance for the team, who broke their 24-year drought in 2011 and then breezed through to win the 2015 edi tion.   This year will be a much tougher challenge, though.   The signs are there that most of the other test playing nations have gained some serious ground on the All Blacks in the last couple of seasons. This was seen in the results against England and Ireland late last year.   Road to Glory? focuses on the lead up and World Cup campaign itself, which very much started in October 2018. The All Blacks went to Japan for a couple of tests and then on to Europe for three more, which was seen as a dry run for what would happen in a year's time. The tour itself was a hard slog, with the team clearly feeling the effects of a long season. Notably, coach Steve Hansen and captain Kieran Read came under considerable scrutiny throughout.   Jamie Wall covers the year leading up to the cup, including Super Rugby and the Six Nations, the test season in New Zealand (and the games that will be played in Buenos Aires and Perth), then the final preparations that lead up to the squad being named. Then, a blow-by-blow account of the All Blacks' games, trainings, press conferences and dramas throughout the World Cup as Jamie follows the team through the campaign in Japan.   All of which will lead to either a Triumphant final victory on 2 November. . .or a crushing defeat that will signal a new era in world rugby. ...Show more

Kenny Smith by Michael Clark

$49.99 NZD

Category: Motor Sports

New Zealander Kenny Smith won the New Zealand Hill Climb championship when he was just 16 and, now, at over 70, he still competes in the NZ Formula 5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series. This biography covers Kenny Smith's long career in motor racing, including the golden years of the late '60s and '70s when h e raced alongside Bruce McLaren, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon, the years he won New Zealand Grand Prix titles, the mentoring and talent-spotting he's been involved in, and everything else he's learnt along the way. Awarded the MBE for Services to Motorsport in 1987, Kenny has also been inducted into the New Zealand Motorsport Hall of Fame and, in 2010, was presented with a Motorsport New Zealand Special Award in recognition of is key role in motorsport. ...Show more

Martial Arts Made Easy by Peter Lewis

$24.99 NZD

Category: Sports And Leisure

100 cool moves from a range of martial arts disciplines. "Martial Arts Made Easy" allows readers to teach themselves skills from such martial arts as karate, kung fu, judo, tae kwon do and ninjutsu. Each featured move is illustrated with step-by-step line drawings accompanied by expert advice that assur es learning is fun and safe. This easy how-to guidebook covers: Training Warm-up exercises Basic positions Equipment Kicks Rolling Hand techniques Tactics Defensive moves Foot patterns and movements Competitions Belt grading Kiai, the yell of super power. A special feature, "In-Focus," highlights particular moves from well-known movies and demonstrates how they were achieved. With clear instructions and stunning photography, "Martial Arts Made Easy" makes the best and flashiest elements of martial arts easy to master. ...Show more

How to Coach a Soccer Team: Professional Advice on Building a Winning Team by Tony Carr

$16.99 NZD

$27.99 (39% off)

Category: Rugby

Whether you are taking charge of a school team or have run out of ideas for what to do in your next training session, this book provides easy-to-follow drills for every aspect of the game. Whatever your players need to work on, clearly illustrated techniques will improve every part of their game and hel p you develop a winning team. Topics: - Skills - Warm-up routines - Tactics - Problem solving - Coaching during a game - Latest theories ...Show more

Upstream on the Mataura by Dougal Rillstone

$39.99 NZD

Category: Sports And Leisure

Dougal Rillstone was born in Gore, close to the Mataura River, over seventy years ago. The river was both swimming pool and playground during his childhood. One summer's evening, while he stood chest deep in a long pool, facing downstream towards the fading light, he became mesmerised by the sight of ri ppling rings left by rising trout on the otherwise smooth surface. He has been haunted by moving water ever since. In Upstream on the Mataura, Dougal has captured the essence of his lifelong connection with the Mataura River. While angling, and fly-fishing in particular, anchor his attachment, the book is as much a meditation on landscape and moving water as it is about angling. It is also about the communities the river runs through, the friendships sustained by fly-fishing, and a love of the river and its tributaries. The first section of the book offers a clear-eyed view of the beauty, challenges and hardship involved in his 240-kilometre walk upstream from the coast at Fortrose to the source of the river, in the Eyre Mountains. Following are twelve stories that traverse his connection with the river, from his earliest recollections through to the present time. ...Show more

Our Game - New Zealand Rugby At 150 by Ron Palenski

$39.99 NZD

Category: Rugby

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the first game of rugby in Nelson; this book will celebrate 150 years of New Zealand's national game, the game more than any other that has helped shape the New Zealand psyche and identity.It will take the form of 150 short stories - stories about the players , the teams, the provinces, the trophies, everything that helped make the game what it is, from the first in the horse and buggy days to the latest in the days of ultra-modern technology.It will talk of players who no one living saw play; and it will talk of players who are recognised wherever they go in the widening rugby world. And who can talk of players and resist speculating who the greatest of all might have been? It's opinions and speculation that make up some of the enduring appeal of the game New Zealanders are (mostly) better at than anyone else. ...Show more

Mindful Thoughts for Surfers by Sam Bleakley

$14.99 NZD

Category: Sports And Leisure | Series: Mindful Thoughts Ser.

Mindful Thoughts for Surfers explores how meditative a life on the surfboard can be. These 25 insightful musings will inspire beginners and experts alike. The immediacy of the surfer's surroundings and the interaction with the vast ocean and all of its wonderful wildlife creates the perfect opportunity to practise mindfulness. Sam Bleakley is an international longboard surfing champion and advocate for all forms of waveriding. With an interest in Buddhism and Taoism, he discusses such subjects as: Decluttering thoughts and identification Embracing imperfection The metaphors and parallels of the water with our lives The spiritual connection to nature Recovering from injury Heightened senses and the connection between body and mind Blue mindfulness, flow and resilience Through these subjects he explores how riding the waves is the ultimate meditation and offers an astute awareness of what the oceans tell us about our place in the natural world--if we would just listen. His illuminating meditations, each beautifully illustrated, make this book perfect for dipping into and offer a gentle gateway into life-affirming awareness for everyone. If you like this you might also be interested in Mindfulness and Surfing . . . ...Show more

Ordinary Joe by John Smith

$50.00 NZD

Category: Rugby

'He's a great coach. He lives and breathes the game. There's nothing he doesn't know.' Brian O'Driscoll 'The best coach Irish rugby - arguably Irish sport - has ever had' Malachy Clerkin, Irish Times In the autumn of 2010, a little-known New Zealander called Joe Schmidt took over as head coach at Leinst er. He had never been in charge of a professional team. After Leinster lost three of their first four games, a prominent Irish rugby pundit speculated that Schmidt had 'lost the dressing room'. Nine years on, Joe Schmidt has stepped down as Ireland coach having achieved success on a scale never before seen in Irish rugby. Two Heineken Cups in three seasons with Leinster. Three Six Nations championships in six seasons with Ireland, including the Grand Slam in 2018. And a host of firsts: the first Irish victory in South Africa; the first Irish defeat of the All Blacks, and then a second; and Ireland's first number 1 world ranking. Along the way, Schmidt became a byword for precision and focus in coaching, remarkable attention to detail and the highest of standards. But who is Joe Schmidt? In Ordinary Joe, Schmidt tells the story of his life and influences: the experiences and management ideas that made him the coach, and the man, that he is today. And his diaries of the 2018 Grand Slam and the 2019 Rugby World Cup provide a brilliantly intimate insight into the stresses and joys of coaching a national team in victory and defeat. From the small towns in New Zealand's North Island where he played barefoot rugby and jostled around the dinner table with seven siblings, to the training grounds and video rooms where he consistently kept his teams a step ahead of the opposition, Ordinary Joe reveals an ordinary man who has helped his teams to achieve extraordinary things. ...Show more

Rugby Folklore by Matt Elliott

$34.99 NZD

$39.99 (12% off)

Category: Rugby

From superstitions to send-offs, All Black nick-names to on-field battles: Rugby Folklore is a miscellany of stories, quotes, and facts that are part of the fabric of New Zealand rugby. New Zealand has played, celebrated and commemorated rugby like no other country. We took to the game in extraordinary numbers in the late nineteenth century. Rugby was the game for all. It became a sport in which names like Grizz, Tiny, Guzzler, Pinetree, Rimu, and the Paekakariki Express have made us feared and revered as the greatest rugby nation on earth. Rugby Folklore is a book about matches won and lost, rivalries built and legends made. From on-field controversies, rugby songs, and what makes an All Black to Hika's great try, 'Bring Back Buck' and wind at Athletic Park so strong that Don Clarke watched a ball kicked for touch sail back over his head. Covering the earliest days of club-rugby through to the modern-day All Blacks, this collection of interesting facts, unforgettable quotes and tall tales will you leave you looking on our national game with pure unbridled pride ... and a little disbelief! 'Remember that rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Jonah.' - Fax to the All Blacks during the 1995 RWC ...Show more