Full Credit to the Boys

When Mel fell in love with NRL player Ryan ‘Hoff’ Hoffman, she had no idea what she was getting into. Firstly, she was from Melbourne, so she didn’t even know the rules of rugby league. Secondly, she’d always been more the theatre and literature type – sport was pretty much a mystery to her.

But she soon learned that marrying a professional sportsman means marrying a whole team of players, their managers, fans, wives and girlfriends. She also learned that the rules of the game extended far beyond the field, and as part of the rugby league ‘family’, she would be expected to fall into line. Two kids and a feminist awakening later, Mel found that while there was much to love about a life in footy, its failures – particularly when it came to women in the game – were impossible to ignore.

In Full Credit to the Boys, Mel charts the highs and lows of life on the sidelines of a professional sport career. Hilarious, biting and unabashed, it’s a story for sports lovers and haters alike – an insider’s look at a life dedicated to the games that sit at the heart of Australian culture.

About the Author

Mel Hoffman is a writer from Melbourne who was thrown into the limelight when she started dating rugby league star Ryan ‘Hoff’ Hoffman. Mel wrote about her experience as a ‘WAG’ in the Melbourne Storm blog called Confessions of a Rugby League Wife, giving insights into how the demanding industry affects players’ lives.

In 2018 Mel hit the front pages when she wrote about her disappointment over the treatment of women by rugby stars, noting the issues in the industry as a whole that she believed led to this behaviour. She decided to write Full Credit to the Boys when her young son started playing rugby, in the hope her experience could help create a better, more respectful culture she could fully support. This is her first book.