Heading into round 17 it’s hard to argue the validity of the competition’s two best outfits, Melbourne and Penrith. Cronulla and the Roosters share third and fourth respectively, with the latter seemingly travelling nicer towards the final bend of the season. Yet, away from powerhouse coaches Ivan Cleary and Craig Bellamy, let’s face it, the NRL is wide open. The Bulldogs, Dolphins, Rabbitohs and the Tigers of Sunday can make a real dent in results over the final two months. Tyran Wishart muscles up in defence. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images) Little has been mentioned about the new w ..read more

AFL legend Nathan Buckley has blasted Steven May over the Melbourne defender’s controversial ‘staging’ moment in the Demons’ win over North Melbourne, saying future similar acts should result in suspensions. May threw his head back and clutched at his face after being tackled to ground by Kangaroo Eddie Ford on Saturday night at the MCG, winning himself a free kick for a dangerous tackle – but also a $1250 fine for the exaggeration. The incident has been widely condemned around the footy world, but hardest hitting of all was Buckley, with the Collingwood great saying on SEN Breakfast the incid ..read more

Wales’ dwindling front-row resources will come under the microscope as coach Warren Gatland finalises his tour squad for the two-Test series against the Wallabies in Australia. Hookers Elliot Dee, Sam Parry and Ryan Elias are already out of the trip, while injury question marks hang over tighthead props Henry Thomas and Keiron Assiratti, with Dillon Lewis also thought to be struggling.   Warren Gatland. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images) Gatland is due to name a likely 34-strong squad on Monday, when 21-year-old uncapped Cardiff forward Efan Daniel looks set to secure a ..read more

We are now almost halfway with the Euros with the tournament starting to take shape. As some teams have managed to secure their place in knockouts, others are still chasing hard. After two matchdays and only one to go before we move on to the knockouts, let’s see how the 24 teams are doing coming into the final matchday. 1. Germany (previous position: 1) With the game being declared a “Party of Pink” by German newspaper Kicker, Germany became the first team to ensure their place in the Round of 16 with a win against Hungary. Jamal Musiala is showing why he’s the favourite for the young player ..read more

Hungary knocked Scotland out of the Euros in the 10th minute of added time, while Germany’s late equaliser against Switzerland took them above the Swiss to qualify first in Group A at the Euros. A draw wasn’t good enough for either Scotland or Hungary and both teams attacked with desperation in a chaotic end to the match before Scottish hearts were broken with a run away goal to Kevin Csoboth in the 110th minute. KEVIN CSOBOTH AT 90+10 TO WIN IT FOR HUNGARY OVER SCOTLAND! ???? It's an incredible finish to send Scotland home and Hungary into raptures. They still have a chance of qualifying ..read more

Taylan May looks all but certain to be shown the door by Penrith after the controversial centre was served with a second breach notice by the club. Unlike the first breach notice which related to a string of indiscretions over the past couple of years, this breach notice relates to the domestic violence charges he is contesting in court. The 22-year-old is currently stood down by the NRL as he fights domestic violence charges, and is unlikely to play again this year with his next court hearing in March. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, May has been accused of bringing the cl ..read more

Pace bowler Chris Jordan has fired England into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup with an emotional hat-trick in a thumping 10-wicket victory over the United States on his home island of Barbados. Jordan, a born-and-bred Bajan who went to school with pop star Rihanna just a 10-minute drive away from Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval, brought the house down at his old stamping ground on Sunday as he recorded the first ever T20 hat-trick for the England men’s team.  His performance followed Australian star Pat Cummins’ remarkable achievement of two hat-tricks in successive games against Bangl ..read more

Joe Schmidt hasn’t made it easy on himself. He could have looked overseas to any number of foreign-based stars, including Marika Koroibete and Samu Kerevi for his first Tests in charge of the Wallabies. He didn’t. He could have selected NRL-bound backs Carter Gordon and Mark Nawaqanitawase. He chose not to. He could have called up French-bound forwards Ned Hanigan, Lachie Swinton, Jordan Uelese and Izack Rodda. Ditto, England-bound World Cup members Izaia Perese and Josh Kemeny. He didn’t. All ten aforementioned players could have strengthened the Wallabies’ side for their vital – and easily w ..read more

When Mark Twain talked about lies, damned lies and statistics, he clearly wasn’t referencing the 2024 Super Rugby champions, the Blues. Their 41-10 win was not only a superb exhibition of wet-weather, finals football, it tied directly to every meaningful metric. Wrap your head around the Chiefs being forced to make 221 tackles to the Blues’ 84. 133 rucks won by the Blues, at 98.5 per cent efficiency. Twelve penalties to five. 66 per cent possession. And the most telling of all: 77.6 per cent territory, with an incredible 45.4 per cent of the match being played in the Chief’s defensive 22. That ..read more

NSW need to change their tactics around shutting down Reece Walsh or the State of Origin shield will be heading back to Queensland for the third year in a row on Wednesday night at the MCG. Their plan backfired big time in game one when Joseph Suaalii was sent off inside seven minutes for his high shot on Walsh and it’s that outside-in defensive tactic which they need to adjust. Origin is so hard because the players are so quick and skilful and it’s very difficult to try to shut down attacking plays from outside in because if you look at the Walsh example, he still had enough time to find ..read more