Doctor, hockey world champion, Member of Parliament, state cricketer, winning coach best-selling author…the list of this remarkable man’s achievements are little short of astonishing.

In his latest literary offering, World’s Best, Ric Charlesworth gives us a clear understanding of what makes players and teams – not just hockey teams – exceptional. It is this quest for ‘exceptionality’ that Charlesworth meticulously and unflinchingly deconstructs, creating a picture where every piece of the jigsaw – whether it’s tactics, determination, team culture or simply brilliant skills – plays its role in creating a masterpiece.

Drawing on impossibly rich experiences in the sporting field, Charlesworth transports the reader on a fascinating and at times heart-breaking journey of success and failure. From the disappointment of the Kookaburras 2012 London Olympics campaign to the soaring elation of winning the World Cup in The Hague two years later through to the sustained brilliance of the Hockeyroos, World’s Best masterfully plots hockey’s evolution in eloquent detail.

Charlesworth’s record is unsurpassed by any other coach or team in the history of the sport, a giant of sporting achievement, success and innovation. As with everything this favourite son of WA has done he has given us yet another piece of brilliance – a truly exceptional Australian.