Richmond co-captain Toby Nankervis will be 31 if his home state is granted a licence to compete in the AFL in 2026. If the body he has used as a battering ram to help the Tigers to three flags is still operating, he could be a natural fit to take the first bounce of that imaginary first game of a […]

The story that doesn’t fit in with all the back-slapping about Benji Marshall’s appointment as Wests Tigers head coach from 2025 is a secret second approach to Cameron Ciraldo. Just days before the spin went into overdrive to try and take attention away from the farcical manner in which their favourite son was catapulted into the NRL’s most poisonous position, […]

The old and the new of Collingwood combined to extend the Magpies’ winning streak to eight, celebrate modern master Scott Pendlebury’s milestone 350th game and narrowly stave off Adelaide’s brave fight. Collingwood turned a 16-point deficit shortly before three-quarter-time into a 16-point lead of their own before holding off the fast-finishing Crows’ ferocious charge for the go-ahead goal as the […]

It’s draft day 2005. Moments before Collingwood are to make left-field selections that would set up their next successful era, recruiting manager Derek Hine briefs then club president Eddie McGuire on the Magpies’ unorthodox strategy. “I remember him saying to me ‘we’ve got pick two and we’ll get Dale Thomas instead of Xavier Ellis. There’s another kid. If we only […]

St Kilda coach Brett Ratten was left searching for answers after the club put in an abysmal performance against the Western Bulldogs that all but ended their chances of making finals. The recently re-signed coach revealed the pressure was one of their key performance indicators heading into the game, but the Saints could only manage 12 tackles to half-time with […]

Carlton coach Michael Voss has warned his side to prepare for the “stress” Geelong will apply to his team, as the Blues face an audit in Saturday night’s blockbuster at the MCG. The clash between the top-of-the-table Cats (12-4) and fifth-placed Blues (11-5) shapes as one of the games of the season. Charlie Curnow is central to the Blues’ plans […]

Tom and Sam De Koning stand out in a crowd now, but on term breaks and at weekends not so long ago they were merely the eighth and ninth of 10 siblings squeezed into home-made bunks in the annex of an onsite caravan at Torquay. “When you’ve got 10 kids, you can’t afford to take holidays,” said their mother, Jackie. […]

Siosiua Taukeiaho went blow-for-blow with Penrith’s premiership-winning pack in his last start and ranks among the NRL’s form front-rowers. But he didn’t fancy his chances down the line against the Roosters next generation of big men, and couldn’t fathom lining up opposite the red, white and blue that has been his rugby league life. Taukeiaho is bound for the south […]

In the lead-up to the State of Origin decider, Angus Crichton spoke about his role as the “enforcer” in the NSW forward pack. “It’s cool,” he told Channel Nine. “That’s my role in the team. A little bit of spark off the bench is good fun.” He then opened up about his relationship with runner Morgan Mitchell, admitting he was […]

Ben Hunt just hoped his “little pig trotters had the distance” as he ran toward Caxton Street and the prospect of never buying a beer on Queensland soil again. Consider his 78th-minute, 75-metre sprint into Origin folklore the last and finest show of Maroons manoeuvring that had NSW beaten at every turn. Hunt’s match-winning play – a charge-down turned opportunistic […]