Perth copywriter Mick Colliss tells the story of Australia’s Toughest Sportspeople in new book
Veteran Perth creative and sports commentator Mick Colliss has put pen to paper again and released a new book – Australia’s Toughest Sportspeople. The book features the stories of twelve athletes who epitomise the grit, courage and determination of Australian sport.
In the book Colliss, one half of Perth agency Cooch, pays tribute to the most memorable and awe-inspiring moments in our nation’s sporting history.
Through a series of revealing interviews taking readers beyond the headlines, Colliss explores the extraordinary character of these twelve men and women who played on through injury or overcame potentially catastrophic setbacks to inspire a sports-loving nation.
Unquestionably, Gillian Rolton was one of the hardest athletes in the history of Australian sport. She fell off her horse, broke a rib, and climbed back on to win a gold medal for Australia at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. It was her death in 2017 that spurred Colliss to sit down for intimate interviews with Australia’s toughest sportspeople.
From Australian rules, rugby union and cricket to aerial skiing, cycling and speed-skating, Australian sport has produced some of the toughest nuts around. Australia’s Toughest Sportspeople reveals the mental and physical fortitude it took for them to carry on when the rest of us would have been carried off.
The book features interviews with: Rick McCosker (cricket); John Sattler (rugby league); Alisa Camplin (aerial skiing); Dean Jones (cricket); Robert DiPierdomenico (Australian rules); Steven Bradbury (speed skating); Dermott Brereton (Australian rules); Nathan Charles (rugby union); Haydn Bunton Jr (Australian rules); Curtis McGrath (para-canoeing); Anna Meares (cycling) and the inner circle of the late legendary equestrian rider Gillian Rolton.
Colliss (below left) pictured with John Sattler the captain of Sth Sydney grand final team in 1970 who played all bar 3 minutes of the whole grand final with a broken jaw.
Colliss is a versatile advertising creative who frequently turns his hand to sports commentating, guest speakering, and modern-day poetry. He was the sole selector of the first ever Australian sudoku team and, despite never having completed a single puzzle, travelled to India to compete at the World Sudoku Championships in 2008.
Australia’s Toughest Sportspeople is getting noticed – On the weekend, the Sunday Times ran an extract of the Haydn Bunton chapter in a double page spread (see below). Colliss has also done interviews on 6PR; TripleM Breakfast; Nova with Nathan, Nat and Shaun; SEN Melbourne; SEN Perth; Woolongong Alive Podcast and there will be others over the next few weeks including 2SM in Sydney.
Australia’s Toughest Sportspeople is available nationally wherever good books are sold – Target, Big W, Kmart, QBD, Dymocks, Collins, local independent bookstores, and online at Booktopia. For overseas buyers there is free shipping through https://bit.ly/3BrqZLU
And as you can see from below, Dymocks also have it on their top picks for Father’s Day.
6 Comments
I love seeing Mick’s career prosper outside the ad industry. He is a true creative spirit who is willing to commit to a cause and deliver the work and sacrifice needed to succeed. Well done Mick.
Very kind. Thanks.
Out of all the adjectives out there, you went with veteran?
Thanks for the plug. I’ll whack you on a commission.
That World Sudoku Championships story is a classic. What a great thing to think up and then actually take part. They may have come last, but it would have been gold medal fun.
Bloody legendary stuff! Ripping yarns of extraordinary Aussie battler champions, what’s not to like? Well done Mick.
Blokes just don’t rip and tear like they used to. This will be an incredible read, and nothing more powerful than seeing a bit of claret spilling from the jaws of an athlete in black and white.