Ron Coote has been named rugby league’s 14th Immortal, ending one of the longest waits to earn the status.
Coote was officially revealed as the latest Immortal at a gala dinner at the SCG on Wednesday, rewarding him for a career that dominated the 1960s and 1970s.
Continue reading...Grief and adoration at ceremony just day after death of rugby league great, who dedicated last years to help others with disease
A blue mural on a wall close to Headingley stadium in Leeds bears the words of Rob Burrow: “In a world full of adversity, we must dare to dream.”
The former Leeds Rhinos rugby league scrum-half died on Sunday, five years after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Continue reading...Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, NFL stars and Olympic athletes are finding inspiration in the characters’ resilience
The Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke twice thought he had scored the opening goal against Brentford on 11 May. Each time he wheeled away to celebrate, he put on an orange mask with a spiral pattern and one eyehole before posing in front of the cameras.
The goal was ruled out by VAR but the celebration went viral, as journalists wrote about “masked mayhem” and others wondered what this “bizarre” celebration could mean.
Continue reading...Gregor Johann Haas, 46, was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday and is facing extradition to Indonesia, where he is accused of drug trafficking
Brisbane coach Kevin Walters says the club are supporting prop Payne Haas “in every way” after the player’s father was arrested in the Philippines and facing extradition to Indonesia, where he is accused of drug trafficking.
Gregor Johann Haas, 46, was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday, according to local media reports.
Continue reading...Canberra Raiders recruit dies aged 26 while holidaying with his family at Christmas
The NRL player Troy Dargan has died in a motorcycle accident while holidaying in the Cook Islands.
Dargan played two NRL games, both for South Sydney in 2020, and had joined Canberra on a two-year contract for the upcoming season.
Continue reading...Hayne was found guilty of assaulting a woman in her suburban Newcastle home on NRL grand final night 2018
Disgraced former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has been jailed for at least three years after sexually assaulting a woman in her home.
The 35-year-old was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent on 4 April and taken into custody 10 days later when his bail was revoked.
Continue reading...The NRL’s glitzy annual season launch has been cancelled, clubs have been told, amid the ongoing dispute between the clubs and the governing body.
The NRL’s decision averted any embarrassment for the governing body if the players had decided to boycott the high-profile event following the ongoing collective bargaining agreement dispute.
Continue reading...In contrast with security deal between China and Solomon Islands, the Australia-PNG agreement will be ‘public and transparent’, prime ministers vow
Australia and Papua New Guinea have pledged to clinch a new security treaty within four months, declaring the deal will also tackle the threat of climate change.
The security interests of both countries are “intertwined” and the agreement would help protect their “independence, sovereignty and resilience”, according to a statement issued by the two parties on Thursday.
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Continue reading...Vehicle belonging to motor neurone disease fundraiser was targeted on Friday evening in West Yorkshire
The former rugby league star Rob Burrow’s wheelchair accessible van was vandalised while his family were out for a Christmas meal, his father has said.
Geoff Burrow said his son, who played for Leeds Rhinos between 2001 and 2017, had been out in Castleford, West Yorkshire, on Friday when the vehicle was targeted.
Continue reading...Lidia Thorpe says Labor and Coalition back hearings while ‘sports organisations need to be transparent about evidence that informs concussion policies’
A federal parliamentary committee will examine concussion and repeated head trauma in contact sports, with the Greens saying they have the support of Labor and the Coalition to establish the inquiry.
The push follows growing concern about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated head trauma and concussion that has been increasingly linked to contact and collision sports.
Continue reading...Notice of appeal lodged in federal court says $150,000 in damages paid to Sky News broadcaster is ‘manifestly excessive’
The Daily Mail Australia is appealing a defamation win by Sky News broadcaster Erin Molan, who was awarded $150,000 over an article and two tweets that accused her of appearing to mock Polynesian names in a radio broadcast.
Molan told the federal court last year she did not think she was mocking Polynesian names when she said “hooka looka mooka hooka fooka” on Radio 2GB in 2020.
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Continue reading...The Allianz Stadium has been rebuilt at a cost of $800m but the harbour city still lacks the right grounds in the right places
Walking into Sydney’s new Allianz Stadium feels a bit like walking into an old house with new fixtures. Everything is a bit brighter and works a little better – the couch somehow feels closer to the TV and that pesky leak in the roof has stopped – but the foundations are much the same.
That isn’t all that surprising given the architectural firm that designed the old 42,500-capacity venue is the same firm that designed the new 42,500-capacity venue. But it does prompt a query: if a stadium is demolished and rebuilt to look strikingly similar, was it rebuilt at all? If the New South Wales government had not spent $828m on it, could we say it had really happened?
Continue reading...This year’s NRL grand final will be played in New South Wales after the Australian Rugby League Commission confirmed October’s showpiece event would be played at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
But the long-term location of the game remains uncertain, with ARLC chair Peter V’landys touting a “Super Bowl” style concept, where the game could be taken around the country to the highest bidder.
Continue reading...Star playmaker Nathan Cleary will go into Penrith’s finals campaign cold after receiving a five-game suspension for his spear tackle on Parramatta’s Dylan Brown.
Cleary was sent off for the first time in his career in Friday’s 34-10 loss to the Eels and won’t play again during the regular season. He was handed a grade-three dangerous throw charge by the NRL’s match review committee on Saturday morning.
Continue reading...Sea Eagles face the prospect of being without several players for the Roosters clash, but the strip has sold out online
The NRL has given its backing to Manly over its decision to wear a pride jersey this week as the club prepares to lose up to seven players due to a reported boycott over the inclusivity initiative.
Manly announced on Sunday they would sport a rainbow jersey in Thursday night’s clash with the Sydney Roosters but according to reports on Monday, several players opted against wearing the one-off design.
Continue reading...Coach Brad Fittler thinks Matt Burton’s sin-binning in the State of Origin decider was a “tad ridiculous” as NSW lick their wounds after the Maroons’ comeback win. Blues centre Burton and Queensland opposite Dane Gagai were both sin-binned as the Origin series decider descended into a throwback, fists flying in a second-half brawl.
The pair were given a spell by referee Ashley Klein in the 42nd minute after the Maroons made a snap break at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night. As Queensland burst upfield, Burton collided with Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga after he had passed and was trying to catch up with the play.
Continue reading...Former PM says he didn’t tell powerbrokers he would like to join the Australian Rugby League Commission
The former prime minister Scott Morrison has denied making a bid to join the Australian Rugby League Commission, describing the reports as “a bit of pub talk”.
The Nine Network reported on Thursday that Morrison had spoken to “powerbrokers” in rugby league and made it “quite clear to them that he would like to be a part” of the commission, which runs the code, despite there not being a vacancy.
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Continue reading...Nadine Dorries, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, stunned a rugby league audience by confusing the 13-man game with the rival code.
Speaking in St Helens at the launch of a report into the social impact made by the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, Dorries opened her address with a reference to Jonny Wilkinson’s match-winning drop goal for England in union’s 2003 Rugby World Cup.
Continue reading...Outfoxed by a rookie coach, widely criticised for his team selection and ultimately ambushed and humiliated in front of a record crowd at home, Brad Fittler had both feet in the furnace. But the Blues coach held his nerve all week and now has his mojo back as NSW dominated their old foes to level the State of Origin series with a thumping 44-12 Game 2 victory.
In Sydney Billy Slater pulled a card from the Cameron Smith playbook and slowed the ruck. The Blue cogs got sticky, sending Cleary off his kicking game. Without their talisman – and a Plan B by Fittler – it all unravelled. Fittler swung the axe, picked a running side with a majority-Penrith spine and put starch back in the defensive line.
Continue reading...While you’re waiting for the action to get underway, enjoy lifelong Bears tragic Sam Perry keeping the dream alive.
Speaking earlier of the NSW changes to the ruck, Billy Slater reckons they’ve made the Blues a more dangerous proposition, telling Nine: “I see a huge strength in their dummy half position. Firstly with Apisai Koroisau starting the game, he’s got a great craft around dummy half area and then we’re anticipating Damien Cook to come on somewhere late in that first half. So when he gets there, he’s an explosive runner. So that’s what we’ve worked hard on this week. It will be a big strength of their game.”
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