Todd Carney

Has there ever been a more talked-about rugby league player – and one who, at the same time, we’ve known so little about – than Todd Carney? This very fact was one of Carney’s main motivations in partnering up with veteran rugby league writer Tony Adams and publishers Allen & Unwin to produce Todd's new book, Hard Truth.

All the off-field scandals, all the humiliation – most of it brought upon himself – is in there. And to his credit, he hides from none of it, tackling his footy career and life-so-far with the deep honesty which, sure, clears the air and allows people to move on to greater things, but is still pretty painful to relive nonetheless.

You may not remember, but Carney did actually play footy; his 166-game career in the NRL with the Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks highlighted with a Dally M Player of the Year gong in 2010. He also had a crack in the English Super League, clocking up 50 games over there before returning to Australia to continue his career with the Northern Pride in Cairns in the hope of one day playing again in the NRL.

That didn’t eventuate in the end, but his footy journey is far from over. He’s captain/coach of the Bryon Bay Red Devils, has just been appointed the driver of Ballina High School’s rugby league program, and holds hope of one day entering the NRL’s coaching, or “blue shirt” training ranks.

Carney was introduced to The Greatest Game of All by his beloved dad Daryl, who he lost over a decade ago. The old man would be proud of the way he’s, well, faced some hard truths, and moved on.

And hey, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom. As Carney shares with us in this chat, there was a pretty cool playing career underneath all the controversy ... one he’s still proud