'The Utility Player is a history of an Australian, ordinary in some senses, extraordinary in others, who happens to be seeking nothing less than excellence and spiritual transcednece by playing Rugby League. Des Hasler, the utility player in Australian Rugby League, is a fine-souled, hardbodied young battler, well-eductaed and reflective. He is the man who can come on to any international arena and play in whatever position is required... [He is] no sterotype of the sportsman, rather one who breaks the mould and takes us towards a more complicated Australia. The Utility Player is both a social and personal history as well as a story of the way athletes prepare themselves for great contests and what they seek from that experience' (The Utility Player, back cover).
