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  • Published: 5 September 2023
  • ISBN: 9781761340802
  • Imprint: Viking
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $35.00

Honest Chat

How to tackle your feelings and befriend vulnerability




From the creator of hit Australian podcast Dyl and Friends comes an honest, sometimes funny and occasionally tough guide for guys looking to know themselves better and thrive in their relationships.

'The world needs more people like Dylan. This is such an important book.' - Hugh van Cuylenburg

'Warm, insightful and funny.' - Tony Armstrong

Like a lot of footy blokes, having a chat has always come easy to Dylan Buckley. But how to move beyond banter to the deeper conversations he didn’t know he needed is something he’s only learned more recently – a hard-won skill developed through his podcast and the career reboot it gave him after injury, anxiety and a 'lack of form' cut his AFL career short.

Through facing his own discomfort and publicly sharing some of his hardest personal challenges, Dyl has made his studio a space where athletes, coaches and personalities beyond sport get vulnerable about sharing the things that matter most – from failure, adversity and unexpected change to difficulties with physical health, mental wellbeing and loved ones.

Honest Chat is filled with all the best insights and wisdom from the Dyl and Friends podcast, plus humorous and poignant stories from Dyl’s own life. This illuminating book will resonate with young men and their supporters, making clear that whatever life’s ups and downs, we’re never alone.

  • Published: 5 September 2023
  • ISBN: 9781761340802
  • Imprint: Viking
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $35.00

About the author

Dylan Buckley

Dylan Buckley is a former AFL footballer who played 41 games (plus many more in the twos and a couple in the twos twos) for Carlton and GWS Giants across eight seasons. He experienced the highs and lows of the game, from getting drafted to the club he grew up supporting, winning an AFL Rising Star award nomination and kicking goals on the MCG, to the struggles of injury, self-doubt and rejection (he was delisted twice).

Knowing the end of his football career was approaching, Dylan went in search of something away from the game that gave him professional purpose and the Dyl & Friends podcast was born. It’s been downloaded more than 10 million times and featured guests including Nedd Brockman, Christian O’Connell, Richard Harris and mindset coach Emma Murray.

Praise for Honest Chat

The world needs more people like Dylan. This is such an important book, it’s what I needed as a young person.

Hugh van Cuylenburg

One of life’s great pleasures is to have a yarn to Dylan. After reading this book, everyone can feel like they’ve had one with him, too. Warm, insightful and funny – just like Dylan.

Tony Armstrong

Raw, relatable and thought-provoking. Dyl’s vulnerability mixed with his charming sense of humour makes this book hard to put down. Grateful to know him.

Nedd Brockmann

One of the best podcasts has now turned into an entertaining and insightful book. The better Dylan is showing me up again.

Dylan Alcott AO

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