Johnathan Thurston

Johnathan Thurston made his NRL debut back in 2002 with the Bulldogs, picking up a premiership ring in the Clubs 2004 Grand Final victory. He has played in every game in each of Queensland's eight consecutive State of Origin victories, achieved the highest individual honour in Rugby League by being awarded the Golden Boot for World Player of the Year and has the rare distinction of winning three Dally M medals. In 2015 he won a premiership for his beloved North Queensland Cowboys and Townsville.

James Phelps is an award-winning senior reporter for Sydney's The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. He began as an overnight police-rounds reporter before moving into sport, where he became one of Australia's best news-breaking rugby league journalists. James was then appointed News Corp Australia's Chief National Motorsports Writer and travelled the world chasing Formula 1 stories, as well as covering Australia's V8 Supercar races. As well as writing bestselling and critically acclaimed biographies of Dick Johnson and Johnathan Thurston, James established himself as Australia's number-one true crime writer with his bestselling prison series, including Australia's Hardest Prison, Australia's Most Murderous Prison, and Australia's Toughest Prisons. His most recent books are Australian Heist (2018), a dramatic retelling of the true story behind Australia's largest gold robbery, and Australian Code Breakers (2020), a gripping account of how Australian cryptographers helped bring about the most vital Allied naval victory of World War I.