Kalyn Ponga will have a Tom Trbojevic-like impact on his Queensland teammates, will make it much tougher for NSW to score and will not be booed by the Newcastle locals in the likelihood Origin III is played in the Knights’ backyard. So says Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien who joked of his star fullback: “He makes everybody better – even ask […]

For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here. Crowd limits are set to increase at AFL games in Victoria this weekend. Industry sources said they were expecting capacity to increase from 50 per cent with a maximum of 25,000 to 75 per cent with a maximum of 30,000 at all Victorian stadiums. The round 17 fixture has largely been […]

St George Illawarra Dragons chief executive Ryan Webb says a board meeting at the NRL club on Tuesday will discuss the playing futures of 13 team members who breached Covid-19 public health orders by attending a house party at the weekend. The NRL alleges star forward Paul Vaughan invited 12 players to a gathering at his Shellharbour home on Saturday, […]

If you thought Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans was done and dusted on the Origin stage, think again. Cherry-Evans’ premiership-winning halves partner Kieran Foran has warned the Blues to expect a response from the under-fire halfback in Origin III. Foran believes “DCE” is primed to rebound after below-par performances in the opening two Origin losses to the star-studded Blues. A shattered […]

After recent altered schedules, we take a look at the best players from games in both hemispheres between last Wednesday and Monday for our latest team of the week… 1. Lachlan Coote (St Helens) Coote in St Helens 24-6 Wigan Warriors: 80 minutes played, one try scored, six goals kicked, 16 points registered, 153 metres made, 130 gainline metres, 15 […]

Hawthorn have blinked, 17 years after they went away from a trio of favourite sons to appoint the untried outsider Alastair Clarkson as coach at the direction of club legend Jason Dunstall, who had watched success elude the club under former Hawks Peter Knights, Ken Judge and Peter Schwab. Collingwood were courting Sam Mitchell after Nathan Buckley departed and Clarkson […]

Captain Michael Hooper is desperate to leave his mark on Australian rugby by turning the Wallabies into a trophy-winning team. The Wallabies’ 2021 campaign starts on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium with the first Test in a condensed three-match series against France. “Players have been talking about winning,” said Hooper in detailing his expectations of a series against a French […]

Resurgent St Kilda midfielder Luke Dunstan insists he holds no grudges against his club’s coaching staff despite admitting he felt somewhat hard done after being consistently bypassed at the selection table in the opening half of the season. A senior regular under previous coach Alan Richardson, Dunstan had 21 disposals in a Brownlow-vote worthy performance in round one last year […]

We have made our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic free for all readers. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription. AFL executives are negotiating with the Victorian government for an increase to crowd caps. And league football is all but certain to return to Ballarat this weekend, with expansion clubs Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast to lock […]

Powerful prop Taniela Tupou will be used as a second-half weapon against France on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium before a likely return to the starting pack for the second Test of the series next week in Melbourne. Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has opted to start with Brumbies tighthead prop Allan Alaalatoa for the first Test but has big plans […]