分类： sports

As the Fremantle Dockers gear up for a Thursday night blockbuster against Hawthorn at Optus Stadium, head coach Justin Longmuir has pushed back against any concerns over star midfielder Caleb Serong’s dipping disposal numbers, framing the statistical dip as a sign of the vice-captain’s game-changing team-first mindset.

Amid the Dockers’ current seven-match winning streak — a run that has lifted the club to second place on the AFL ladder — Serong has posted his lowest average disposals per game since his rookie debut season. Where many supporters and analysts might flag this drop as a cause for worry, Longmuir says the shift reflects a deliberate, selfless choice by Serong that benefits the entire starting lineup.

Opposition teams have increasingly focused on tagging Serong to neutralize his influence on the field, a strategy that Serong has leaned into to create space and opportunity for his teammates. Longmuir highlighted this underrecognized contribution in press comments ahead of the clash, noting that while Serong’s personal stats are down, his on-field impact remains as critical as ever.

“The selfless nature of Caleb when he gets tagged and what that opens up for other players is something that probably hasn’t been picked up enough,” Longmuir explained. “His numbers might be down, but I think his impact is still at a really high level. He’s all about the team. It’s great when two of your vice-captains — Serong and Andrew Brayshaw — are leading the way in that aspect.”

Longmuir specifically name-checked Hayden Young, Shai Bolton and Murphy Reid as players who have reaped the benefits of opposition attention shifting to Serong, unlocking more space and possession for the Dockers’ other playmakers. A win against Hawthorn on Thursday would not only extend Fremantle’s current winning streak to eight matches, a feat the club has not achieved since a red-hot opening to the 2015 season, but also solidify the club’s hold on second place on the ladder, creating a crucial buffer over chasing sides.

Despite the stakes of the clash, Longmuir rejected framing the match as a chance for the Dockers to prove they are legitimate premiership contenders. “We don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” he said. “We just need to see where our footy stacks up. It’s another opportunity for us to try and improve our footy. We understand the opposition, we understand their strengths, we understand what our footy is about. Last year we played our better footy against the better sides. I don’t feel like we need to go out there and prove anything to anyone.”

Both clubs head into the Thursday night match at Optus Stadium with unusually healthy injury lists, with Hawthorn captain James Sicily confirmed to take the field for his side. The showdown is set to be one of the most high-profile matches of the AFL round, with a historic winning streak and ladder position on the line for the in-form Dockers.

Widely regarded as the most commercially successful soccer league on the planet, the English Premier League is facing a growing financial paradox: even as total revenue hit an all-time high of £6.8 billion ($9.2 billion) for the 2024/25 season, cumulative losses across top-flight clubs have surged to nearly $1 billion, driven by an unrelenting spending war to secure on-field success that has overridden long-term financial sustainability.

The root of the deficit crisis lies in skyrocketing costs across three core areas: player transfer fees, first-team wages, and agent commissions, all of which have grown far faster than the league’s record income gains. No club exemplifies this trend more starkly than Chelsea, which logged a new unwanted Premier League record pre-tax loss of £262 million for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2025. The west London side’s aggressive strategy of snapping up young talent from around the globe makes it an outlier, but its overspending is merely the most extreme example of a league-wide pattern.

Even clubs with robust revenue streams and on-field success are not immune to the red ink. Tottenham Hotspur, a club ranked as the ninth-wealthiest in the world and fresh off a Europa League title, still finished the season £121 million in the red, despite strong returns from its modern, multi-purpose stadium. Financial analysts note the overall league deficit would be even larger if not for creative accounting maneuvers, where many clubs have sold key assets to entities controlled by their own ownership groups to paper over losses. For example, Saudi-backed Newcastle United sold its iconic St James’ Park stadium to a sister company owned by the club’s shareholders to claim a paper profit, while Everton and Aston Villa generated one-off income by monetizing their women’s football divisions.

“The problem with the Premier League is that clubs are so incentivised to overspend,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire told Agence France-Presse. “It’s an arms race at the end of the day in terms of competing for players on transfer fees and wages.”

The published 2024/25 financials do not even capture the full impact of the record-breaking 2024 summer transfer window, when Premier League clubs spent a combined £3 billion on new signings—£650 million more than the previous all-time high. Liverpool’s £125 million capture of striker Alexander Isak marked the most expensive signing ever by an English club, and that transfer was part of a £450 million total spending spree for the defending league champions, which has yet to deliver on-pitch results matching the outlay.

Player wages have also continued to spiral upward, hitting a total of £4.4 billion across the league last season—a 9% increase from the previous campaign, outpacing the 7% growth in total revenue. Spending on player agents also reached a new peak, stoking widespread fan frustration at the growing amount of money leaving the sport even as ticket prices for matchgoers continue to climb.

In the modern hyper-competitive Premier League, on-field success is no longer measured only by trophy wins. For the second consecutive year, at least five English clubs will qualify for the UEFA Champions League, a competition that delivers massive guaranteed financial payouts, creating even more pressure to spend to secure a top league finish.

Starting next season, the league will implement new financial regulations designed to cap squad-related spending as a percentage of club revenue. Under the new rules, total spending on wages, transfer fees, and agent commissions cannot exceed 85% of total revenue, with a tighter 70% limit imposed on clubs competing in UEFA competitions. However, analysts warn the changes are unlikely to meaningfully reduce overall losses, as rapidly rising operating costs— which hit £1.9 billion across the league last season—are not included in the cap.

Despite consistent heavy losses, top Premier League clubs remain highly sought-after assets for wealthy investors and sovereign wealth funds, thanks to their scarcity value and the league’s massive global audience. British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe acquired a 27.7% stake in Manchester United in 2024 for £1.25 billion, valuing the 20-time English champions at £4.5 billion. Chelsea was sold to a US-led consortium in 2022 for a total deal value of £4.25 billion, while Manchester United’s domestic rivals Manchester City have dominated English football since an Abu Dhabi royal family-backed takeover, and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund purchased Newcastle in 2021.

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has argued that the scale of Chelsea’s record losses could signal a coming cool-down in the booming market for English club ownership. But Maguire says that for the ultra-wealthy owners who now control most top Premier League sides, these nine-figure losses remain manageable. “With billionaire owners and sovereign wealth funds in charge of clubs, whilst the losses seem high, for those people they are deemed to be affordable,” he explained. “Unless there’s a mindset change from club owners in terms of controlling your core costs, which are player-related in transfer fees and wages, we’re going to continue in this vein for some time.”

As the AFL prepares for this week’s pivotal ladder clash between Hawthorn and Fremantle, all early signs point to Hawthorn skipper James Sicily suiting up for Thursday night’s blockbuster at Perth Stadium, despite the ankle injury he sustained during last week’s dramatic draw against Collingwood. Sicily suffered an ankle roll during the match against the Magpies, leaving the turf multiple times throughout the tense contest and prompting widespread fan and media speculation over his availability for the upcoming high-stakes game. But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Hawthorn head coach Sam Mitchell downplayed concerns over the star defender’s fitness, playfully dismissing the hype around Sicily’s injury as nothing more than “a bit of carry on”. “Yeah, he’ll be fine. He’ll play,” Mitchell confirmed bluntly. “He’s good to go, he’ll be fine, he just rolled his ankle … a bit of carry on from him, probably. Technically, club doctors will say he has to get through a final training session to confirm his spot, but I’m fully expecting him to take the field on Thursday.” A win for Hawthorn would catapult the club into outright second position on the AFL premiership ladder, making the encounter one of the most anticipated matches of the round. Hawthorn currently sits two points behind Thursday’s opponent Fremantle, coming off the hard-fought draw against Collingwood last week. Beyond the fitness update on Sicily, Mitchell also offered high praise for mercurial young small forward Nick Watson, who has emerged as one of the club’s most impactful players through the opening third of the 2025 season. The coach highlighted Watson’s relentless dedication to refining his forward craft, noting that the young star has prioritized improving his core strengths rather than seeking a permanent shift to the midfield, a common path for many rising small forwards looking to expand their roles. “The thing with Nick is that he’s pretty passionate about his forward craft. I know a lot of people are excited about the idea of seeing him spend more time in the midfield, but there’s lots of small forwards that love to be midfielders — he loves being a forward,” Mitchell explained. “He’s been that his whole career since his junior days. I think the smartest thing he’s done is double down on what he’s already good at. It’s not just his goalkicking, finishing around goal and crumbing that stand out; his pressure and intensity around the ball is very, very difficult to replicate if you don’t put the training work in.” Mitchell added that Watson has made massive physical and skill-based improvements over the past nine months, dating back to the end of the 2024 season, crediting the young forward’s work ethic and the support of the club’s program for his rapid development. “I don’t think anyone at the club has made bigger gains physically than he has over that period. Credit to him and the environment around him,” the coach said. “He’s only just started to blossom, and I honestly don’t think we’ve seen the best of ‘Wizard’ just yet.”

In a historic, edge-of-your-seat final at Sheffield’s iconic Crucible Theatre, 22-year-old Chinese cuemaker Wu Yize clinched his first ever World Snooker Championship crown on Monday, edging out veteran English competitor Shaun Murphy by a razor-thin 18-17 scoreline in a deciding frame that kept fans holding their breath until the final shot.

Wu’s triumph marks a second consecutive milestone for Chinese snooker: he becomes just the second Chinese player to lift the sport’s most prestigious trophy, following compatriot Zhao Xintong’s history-making win last year that saw Zhao become the first Asian world champion. Wu also enters the record books as the second youngest world champion ever crowned at the Crucible, sitting only behind Scottish legend Stephen Hendry, who claimed his first title at 21 back in 1990.

After a tense back-and-forth battle that stretched across two days of play, Wu held his composure when it mattered most to seal the victory. Heading into Monday’s final session, Wu held a narrow 10-7 advantage from Sunday’s opening exchanges, and extended his lead to 13-12 early on. But Murphy, a former world champion who claimed the title in 2005, refused to bow out easily. The Englishman grittily leveled the score at 16-16 with a well-earned century break, setting off a tense sprint to the finish.

Wu struck first in the closing exchanges, pulling off a brilliant 91-point clearance from a 45-0 deficit to move one frame away from the title at 17-16. He jumped to a 43-0 lead in the next frame, seemingly on the brink of victory, but a missed black off the spot let Murphy step in, who crafted a 75 break to force a decisive 35th frame. It was Wu who capitalized on the final turning point: Murphy left a tricky red ball hanging over the middle pocket, and Wu coolly slotted it home to launch an 85-break that sealed the historic win. This final marks the first time the World Snooker Championship has gone to a deciding frame since Peter Ebdon’s 18-17 win over Stephen Hendry in 2002.

In the immediate aftermath of his win, an emotional Wu paid tribute to the parents who have supported his snooker journey from its earliest days. “I have been trying to go for this for ages. For the past few months, I have been living the same life. I’m so happy that I could play well today,” Wu told reporters after the match. His parents, who were in the crowd, wiped away tears of joy before joining him for the trophy presentation. “My parents are the true champions. Since I made the decision to drop out of school, my dad has been by my side. My mum has also been going through a lot over the years, they are the source of my strength, I love them so much.” When asked about his immediate plans for celebration, the new champion laughed off grand gestures, saying: “I just want to have a good sleep. I have been feeling nerves all the time since before the match, so now I just want to go to bed!”

For Murphy, the defeat extends a tough run in World Championship finals: Monday’s loss was his fourth final defeat since he claimed the title in 2005. Despite the heartbreak, the English veteran was generous in praise for the new champion, recalling a prediction he made earlier in the season. “I hate being right, but we had a great game in China earlier this season. I came out afterwards and said he would be world champion one day,” Murphy said. “It’s just a real shame that it was today, but I couldn’t have given it any more. I played the best shots I could. I just didn’t get my chance.”

Hailing from Lanzhou in northwest China, Wu turned professional at just 17, and made a pivotal move to Sheffield three years ago to train alongside the growing community of elite Chinese snooker players based in the city. His path to the top was not without sacrifice: in his early months in England, he shared a small, windowless apartment with his father, where the pair shared a bed to cut costs. That dedication and sacrifice has slowly paid off, with runner-up finishes at the 2024 English Open and Scottish Open building momentum ahead of his Crucible run. Wu claimed his first ever ranking title at last year’s International Championship, where he defeated snooker great John Higgins.

Currently the youngest player ranked in the world’s top 16, Wu’s run to the 2025 world title included standout wins over former champions Mark Selby and Mark Allen that signaled he was a contender to watch. Even before his triumph, the young star had earned high praise from the sport’s biggest names: Ronnie O’Sullivan once described Wu as a “more dynamic” version of all-time legend Steve Davis. Now, like O’Sullivan and Davis, Wu can officially add “world snooker champion” to his list of career achievements.

The 2024-25 Premier League title race took a dramatic turn on Monday, as a chaotic 3-3 draw between Everton and defending champion Manchester City has left the destiny of the crown firmly in Arsenal’s hands. Jeremy Doku’s stoppage-time equalizer rescued a point for Pep Guardiola’s side at Goodison Park (branded the Hill Dickinson Stadium for sponsorship purposes), but a disastrous second-half defensive collapse left City unable to claim all three points that would have kept their title bid on track.

Arsenal, led by manager Mikel Arteta, now hold a five-point advantage at the top of the table, with just three games remaining in the regular season. If the Gunners win all three of their remaining fixtures, they will end a 20-year trophy drought to claim their first Premier League title since 2002. City remain five points behind with a game in hand, but their messy performance against Everton has cast major doubt over their ability to claw back the deficit and secure a seventh league title in nine seasons.

City entered the fixture under intense pressure, having watched Arsenal notch back-to-back wins while City took a two-week break from league action. Guardiola heavily rotated his squad for the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton the previous weekend, but his first team looked sharp rather than rusty in the opening 45 minutes. The Sky Blues pinned Everton deep inside their own half for nearly the entire first half, creating multiple chances before breaking the deadlock two minutes before the interval. Rayan Cherki threaded a pass through to Doku, who curled a clinical shot into the top right corner past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

The first half also brought a controversial moment that would shape the final result: Everton defender Michael Keane escaped a red card after a wild, lunging tackle on Doku, receiving only a yellow card from the match official.

That let-off proved pivotal as City produced a string of basic defensive errors in the second half that Everton ruthlessly punished. Before the first Everton goal, the hosts already wasted two clear chances: City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma parried an effort from Iliman Ndiaye back into the danger zone, but the rebound went unconverted, and Ndiaye missed another opening after a mistake from Matheus Nunes.

City’s defensive lapses quickly handed Everton the lead. First, a badly underhit backpass from Marc Guehi left striker Thierno Barry one-on-one with Donnarumma, and Barry slotted home the equalizer with ease. Minutes later, another mistake put Everton ahead: Abdukodir Khusanov was caught in possession by Ndiaye, and while Guehi made a last-ditch intervention to stop the chance, the resulting corner found defender Jake O’Brien, who rose above the City defense to head home Everton’s second. A rapid Everton counter-attack soon produced a third, as Barry poked home a deflected cross from Merlin Rohl to put the Toffees 3-1 up, leaving Guardiola’s side completely disjointed at the back.

But City immediately struck back to pull one back: straight from the kickoff, Mateo Kovacic played a through ball to Erling Haaland, who finished to cut the deficit to 3-2. Then, deep into seven minutes of stoppage time, Doku produced a sensational long-range strike to level the score at 3-3, shattering Everton’s hopes of a famous upset win that would have boosted their own European qualification bid.

After the match, Guardiola acknowledged that City no longer control their own title destiny. “It’s better than losing. It shows what type of team they are,” he said of his side’s late fightback. “It’s not in our hands. Before it was, now it’s not. We have games left. We will see what happens.”

Arsenal’s remaining fixture list sees them travel to relegation-battling West Ham United this coming Sunday, before hosting already-relegated Burnley and concluding the season with an away trip to Crystal Palace.

In a gripping NRL round clash that gave Manly Sea Eagles fans a tantalizing look at the club’s long-term future, 19-year-old rookie halfback Joey Walsh turned in an extraordinary debut performance against league leaders Penrith Panthers, falling just short of pulling off a legendary upset that would have shaken up the competition ladder.

Stepping into the starting lineup in place of injured playmaker Jamal Fogarty, Walsh held his own against Panthers champion Nathan Cleary, pushing the premiers all the way before Penrith snatched an 18-16 victory in the final minutes. The result marked interim Manly head coach Kieran Foran’s first defeat in charge, but any disappointment was overshadowed by the breakout showing from the exciting young prospect.

Walsh, who will turn 20 later this month, has already built a reputation for keeping his feet on the ground off the field: the former schoolboys rugby prodigy moonlights as a barber, giving haircuts to his Sea Eagles teammates to stay grounded amid growing hype from supporters demanding he be promoted to a full-time starting spot. Despite the calls from fans to oust incumbent halves Luke Brooks and Fogarty, Walsh says he is in no hurry to climb the ranks and is content to hone his craft in the NSW Cup reserve grade competition.

Fogarty is on track to return from his groin injury for Manly’s upcoming blockbuster against the Brisbane Broncos this Saturday, leaving Walsh’s place in the top squad uncertain. Foran confirmed Tuesday that the club has not ruled out keeping Walsh in the matchday 17 as part of the six-man extended bench, though a spot on the bench does not guarantee the young playmaker any game time.

“At the moment our starting halves are Jamal and Brooksy, and those two boys have been playing great,” Foran told reporters. “With a guy like Joey, if we can see value in having him on the bench moving forward, the six-man bench gives us the option to bring him on for cover and spark when we need it throughout the game. We’ve got a few options to toy with as the season progresses, and he knows he’s still early in his NRL journey, with plenty of areas he still wants to grow and get stronger in. If he keeps turning in performances like this all year, he’s going to be a pivotal part of where this club is going. It’s just a matter of getting the balance right and fitting everyone into the squad.”

Foran heaped praise on Walsh’s debut, highlighting his composure against the top side in the competition and his relentless defensive effort. “I thought he was great. For a young guy coming into this kind of arena against the first-placed team, he was so calm all week. He didn’t shy away from the moment, he stepped right into it. Defensively he was outstanding – we all know he’s a tough kid, but he put his body on the line time after time. He pulled off some beautiful plays during the game, and he’s only going to get better. He’s definitely a future star for this club.”

Despite his standout performance, Walsh did not have a perfect night: he missed one tackle on Blaize Talagi that led to a Penrith try, but he never backed down from the challenge, finishing the match with 30 tackles to his name. That effort drew comparisons to Nathan Cleary’s own legendary debut a decade prior, where Cleary made 36 tackles in a losing effort against Melbourne Storm. Penrith head coach Ivan Cleary, Nathan’s father, also sang Walsh’s praises after the match, saying he has the mental resilience to handle the inevitable ups and downs of top-flight rugby league.

“Joey will go through that process where everyone says how good he is, and then in a couple of years’ time, everyone will be telling him how bad he is,” Ivan Cleary said. “He’s got a coaching staff that knows exactly how that story goes, so I’m sure they’ll help him navigate it.”

Long touted as Manly’s long-term halves solution, Walsh has continued to keep hype at arm’s length, rejecting the idea that he needs to push for a starting spot immediately. When no injuries open up a spot in the top 17, Walsh accepts he will return to reserve grade, and he says that extra game time in the NSW Cup is exactly what he needs to develop. “It’s been sweet,” Walsh said. “I don’t pay too much attention to the noise outside the club, and the club has really good resources to look after me, so everything is good. I’m in no rush to force my way into the starting side. Getting consistent reps in the Cup helped me prepare for today, so there’s no hurry at all. This year for me, the goal is just to get as much game time as I can. I’m still getting used to the full-time professional code, so whatever is best for the team is what I’m happy to do.”

Walsh kept his kicking workload light on debut, after starting on the non-preferred side of the field, but that did not stop him from producing the highlight play of the match. He fooled Penrith’s defensive line with a well-timed head fake before slipping a perfect short pass to forward Haumole Olakau’atu, who broke into open space to score a critical second-half try. Walsh nearly became the match-winning hero moments later, when he had a chance to kick a match-winning two-point field goal on full-time, but his attempt landed just short of the posts.

“When you have someone as big and dynamic as Haumole outside you, you might as well give him the ball early,” Walsh explained of the match-defining play. “We spent all week building our combination, that made a huge difference. It was just good to pull it off on the field on game day. It was a bit of luck that it came off, honestly. We practise those go-to moves all week, he ran the perfect line, so all I had to do was get the ball to him and let him do his work.”

All NRL matches are broadcast live exclusively on Fox League, available via Kayo Sports.

What began as a seemingly minor, high-impact bruise during a top-flight rugby league match has turned into a life-altering medical emergency, requiring emergency surgery to save the leg of Brisbane Broncos rising star winger Deine Mariner. The NRL club has publicly detailed the extraordinary and extraordinarily rare sequence of events that led to the early Sunday morning procedure in Sydney, clearing up unfounded online speculation about mistreatment of the athlete.

Broncos chief medical officer Matt Hislop shared a full timeline of Mariner’s injury progression on Monday afternoon, after the 20-year-old winger granted permission for his case to be shared to educate other athletes and medical staff on the rare condition. Mariner suffered a hard cork, or muscular contusion, to his right quadriceps late in the first half of the Broncos’ Saturday night clash against the Sydney Roosters. After on-field assessment, strapping and padding, Mariner was able to run comfortably and returned to the pitch with 15 minutes remaining in the second half.

By the time the team returned to their Sydney hotel just before midnight, Mariner reported increased swelling in his thigh, but remained clinically stable: his neuro-vascular function was intact, he finished his dinner and was able to go to bed without alarm. That changed dramatically by 1:30 a.m., when Hislop was called to evaluate the winger after he woke in extreme pain.

“When I saw him, it was immediately clear his condition had deteriorated rapidly,” Hislop explained. “His thigh was extremely firm to the touch, and he was in unmanageable discomfort. We performed an on-site ultrasound to check for a collectable hematoma that could be drained, but found the swelling was diffuse throughout the muscle tissue, with no pooled blood to remove.”

Though Mariner still retained full nerve and artery function in his lower leg, Hislop recognized the early signs of acute compartment syndrome – a dangerous condition where increased pressure within muscle tissue cuts off blood flow, and can lead to amputation or permanent disability if left untreated. An ambulance was dispatched immediately, and Mariner was rushed to the emergency department at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where clinicians confirmed elevated intra-muscular pressure.

A surgical team quickly moved to perform the life-saving limb procedure in the early hours of Sunday morning. As of Monday, Hislop noted that the length of Mariner’s recovery will not be clear until the swelling in his quad muscle subsides and clinicians can assess the extent of muscle damage.

Experts note that Mariner’s case is exceptionally rare. A leading NRL physiotherapy commentator pointed out on social media that the rate of a simple thigh cork progressing to compartment syndrome is so uncommon it is not even well documented in peer-reviewed medical literature, with an estimated incidence of less than 0.1%. The commentator also confirmed there is no truth to online rumors that the Broncos medical staff mistreated Mariner or delayed care.

Hislop and Mariner both extended public gratitude to the emergency care team at RPA Hospital for their rapid, life-saving intervention. “I can’t praise enough the work of the paramedics, emergency nurses, ED physicians and trauma surgeons who cared for Deine so quickly and skillfully,” Hislop said.

The injury comes at a brutal time for the injury-plagued Broncos, who are already missing multiple key starting players including representative halfback Ben Hunt and prop Payne Haas to prior injuries. Kotoni Staggs, the club’s starting strike centre, also accepted a two-match suspension for a grade 2 dangerous contact charge arising from Saturday’s game against the Roosters, leaving the club short of several top talents ahead of their next fixture.