分类： sports

Defending National Rugby League premiers Brisbane Broncos are fighting to rescue their disappointing season, and that fight has forced head coach Michael Maguire to make a difficult call: dropping star five-eighth Ezra Mam from the starting lineup ahead of this weekend’s critical clash against the Gold Coast Titans.

Maguire has made it clear that the decision to move Mam to an extended reserves bench, promoting 23-year-old playmaker Tom Duffy into the starting halves combination for Saturday’s Suncorp Stadium showdown, is rooted purely in recent on-field form, not personal preference or locker room tension. The premiership-winning playmaker has struggled through a rocky start to the 2024 season, currently sitting atop the league’s rankings for most missed tackles and failing to deliver the dynamic attacking output that helped the Broncos claim the premiership last year. His poor form came to a head last weekend, when Brisbane suffered a humiliating home loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons — a side that had yet to register a win all season heading into the round.

Beyond his spot in the Broncos side, Mam’s demotion also puts his place in the Queensland Maroons squad for the upcoming State of Origin II match on June 17 in serious jeopardy.

In a press conference outlining his team selection, Maguire pushed back against any suggestion that the axing was a disciplinary move or a sign he has lost confidence in the star playmaker. “You make decisions around what you feel is right for the team. Obviously, Ezra’s been going through a rough patch with his form, and Tom Duffy has been turning out strong, consistent performances in reserve grade,” Maguire explained. “I’ve always believed that when a player is performing well, they deserve an opportunity to prove themselves at the top level. This is just a rough patch that Ezra is going through right now. He’s gone back to the training ground and has been working incredibly hard to fix his errors.”

The coach noted that form slumps are a normal part of every elite athlete’s career, and how Mam responds to this setback will ultimately define his contribution to the team for the rest of the season. “Every player may go through that, or will go through that, at some stage in their career. It’s all about how you respond,” he said. “He’s fine with the call, he understands why I made it. I’m always very transparent about what I expect from the players, and to be honest, he knows his own game better than anyone. That self-awareness is a good thing.

“This is just a chance for him to step back, put in the work in training, and get back to the level of play that we know ‘Ez’ is capable of. He’s a quality player … that’s exactly why he’s still in the match day squad on the bench. We’ll see how the game unfolds, and he’ll be ready if we need him.”

Brisbane will already be missing two key players for Saturday’s clash: forward Pat Carrigan and utility back Gehamat Shibasaki, both sidelined with injury. Maguire is demanding a marked improvement from his side after the insipid performance against the Dragons that extended their losing run to four straight games, leaving the side at serious risk of tumbling out of the top eight finals race if they drop to five consecutive defeats.

After the final whistle against the Dragons, star prop Payne Haas publicly called out his side’s lack of effort and fight, a criticism that Maguire says he fully supports. “I have no issue with what Payne said. We all share the same belief in this group, we all know what this team is capable of, but at the end of the day, you have to go out and show that on the field,” Maguire said. “We’ve had glimpses of our best form over the last couple of months, but we haven’t been able to put it together week in, week out. That’s the problem we have to fix, and we need to fix it fast. I know this group is capable of playing far better than we have been recently.”

Wests Tigers head coach Benji Marshall has publicly thrown his support behind star prop Terrell May, urging the forward to keep speaking openly after May’s bombshell comments that his loyalty lies exclusively with Marshall — not the club itself.

In an appearance on the Unscripted podcast, May pulled no punches when discussing his stance on institutional loyalty in professional rugby league. “Benji showed a great deal of loyalty to me,” May explained. “I know it sounds harsh, and it will probably get taken out of context, but I will never pledge full loyalty to any club again. At the end of the day, every club operates as a business. My loyalty is to Benji, not the organization.”

May doubled down on the clear stance: “As long as Benji remains at the Tigers, I will stay here for good. But if the club ever let Benji go, my loyalty to him means I would leave too.”

The prop has built a reputation for unfiltered, honest commentary in media appearances, a trait Marshall is determined to protect at a time when most elite athletes are trained to stick to generic, risk-free talking points.

Speaking to media on Friday morning, Marshall pushed back on criticism of May’s remarks, arguing professional rugby league sends a mixed message to its players. “It’s a strange dynamic, isn’t it? As a sport, we all say we want players to be honest, show their true personalities and express themselves openly. But when they actually do that and tell the unvarnished truth, a lot of people end up uncomfortable with it,” Marshall said.

“One of the things I love most about Terrell is that he is unapologetically himself. We want him to keep being open, we love that he tells it like it is — even if that truth rubs some people the wrong way. What he says is his choice, and I fully encourage him to share how he really feels. Loyalty is a two-way street, after all. It means everything to me, and that’s the kind of honesty I want from my squad.”

The controversy around May’s comments comes as the Tigers prepare for a high-stakes Sunday afternoon clash against competition favorites the Panthers. The match also looms as a critical opportunity for hooker Api Koroisau, who is fighting for a State of Origin recall to replace injured Cronulla star Blayke Brailey.

A key talking point heading into the game is the availability of 18-year-old teenage sensation Heamasi Makasini, who has been named in the match day squad just one week after leaving the field early with a shoulder injury. Makasini’s return itself came only a week prior, after he spent more than a month on the sidelines with a foot injury sustained in round 7.

Makasini did not return to the pitch for the second half of last weekend’s match against the Bulldogs, but his first 40 minutes of play impressed Marshall, even after a shaky performance against Brisbane that included multiple uncharacteristic errors. Initial fears that the forward had suffered a serious AC joint injury proved unfounded, Marshall confirmed.

“We thought the AC injury was worse than it actually turned out to be. He was able to do light training all week, so he’s perfectly fit to play this weekend,” Marshall said. “I thought he was really good last week. He brought incredible energy to the pitch, he was playing against Stephen Crichton, who he’s looked up to for years, and he played with real intent right from the kickoff. He just picked up a little knock halfway through, that’s all.”

Marshall added that the brief time off the pitch has been a net positive for the young player, who is still adjusting to the intensity of top-flight first-grade rugby league. “I think that little break did him a world of good. He’s only 18, so sometimes as a coach you have to know when to give a young player a short spell to reset. This break came at exactly the right time for him to come back fresh, and he’s looked sharp all week in training.”

The National Basketball Association has handed down permanent bans to two individuals, including a teenager who stormed the playing court last week during the opening game of the NBA Finals in San Antonio, all in an attempt to snap a selfie with San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, league officials confirmed Thursday.

The disruptive incident unfolded midway through the fourth quarter of Game 1 at the Frost Bank Center, where the New York Knicks held on to secure a win over the Spurs in the first matchup of the championship series. Witnesses and game footage show the unidentified juvenile fan ran across the court with a smartphone held high, stopping directly in front of Wembanyama and Knicks center Mitchell Robinson before security personnel could intervene. The pair of star players appeared taken aback by the uninvited intrusion, before guards quickly removed the fan from the playing surface and paused the contest for several minutes.

Per official statement from an NBA spokesperson, the individual who entered restricted court space was taken into custody by local law enforcement immediately after the incident, and will be barred indefinitely from entering any NBA-owned or operated arena across the league. A second individual, who aided the fan in planning or executing the court breach, will also receive the same lifetime ban, the spokesperson added.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to local outlet the San Antonio Express-News that the primary suspect is a minor, so his identity will remain protected under juvenile privacy laws. He still faces two misdemeanor charges: intentionally disrupting a lawful public gathering and criminal trespassing, as event signage clearly prohibits unauthorized entry onto the playing court.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Wembanyama shared that the encounter left him caught off guard, a reaction he compared to a bizarre incident from his rookie season. “I’ve never been in that situation,” the French 7-foot-4 phenom explained. “I didn’t know how to act. It really surprised me, almost as much as that time a bat crossed the court.” That earlier 2023-24 season incident at the same arena saw a stray bat fly across the playing surface mid-game, creating an unexpected disruption.

Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson downplayed the severity of the encounter in his post-game remarks, noting that security handled the situation quickly and efficiently. “I don’t think it was an event at all,” Johnson said. “I thought security got him out of there. I think everybody moved on to the next play.”

Beyond the court storming, the league is also investigating a separate separate incident involving another fan and Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson during the closing minutes of Game 1. Broadcast footage captured Brunson engaged in a heated verbal exchange with a courtside fan, after which he complained about the individual’s behavior to veteran referee Scott Foster. The Athletic reports league officials are currently reviewing whether the fan engaged in inappropriate taunting of Brunson, with potential disciplinary action pending the outcome of the probe.

English Premier League giant Liverpool has confirmed the appointment of Spanish manager Andoni Iraola as its new first-team head coach, ending a week of speculation following the shock dismissal of predecessor Arne Slot after a catastrophic failed title defence. The 43-year-old Basque-born coach steps into the role having just wrapped up a historic spell at Bournemouth, where he guided the south coast club to its first ever European qualification with a surprise sixth-place finish this season. While Liverpool has not officially confirmed the length of Iraola’s contract, reports from mainstream British football media indicate the new boss has put pen to paper on a two-year deal at Anfield.

Speaking to Liverpool’s official club website following his appointment, Iraola expressed his overwhelming excitement at taking charge of one of the world’s most iconic football institutions. “Really excited, really excited, because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world,” he said. “But feeling inside and understanding a little bit more of this club, I always thought it’s a special club. You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool.”

Iraola’s appointment comes as Liverpool’s fanbase and squad have openly called for a return to the energetic, front-foot football that defined Jurgen Klopp’s legendary nine-year tenure at the club, which ended with the German lifting the Premier League and Champions League before stepping down in 2024. Slot, the former Feyenoord manager, delivered a stunning debut season in 2024/25, guiding the Reds to a joint-record 20th English top-flight title with star forward Mohamed Salah notching 29 goals. But his second season crumbled into disappointment, marked by flat, underwhelming performances that left the club trophyless and 25 points adrift of 2025/26 champions Arsenal in a limp fifth-place finish.

Multiple factors contributed to Slot’s downfall: the tragic death of key forward Diogo Jota in a car crash last July left an irreplaceable void in the squad, a £450 million ($605 million) spending spree on new transfers failed to deliver on expectations, relationships between Slot and Salah deteriorated sharply, and fans grew increasingly frustrated with the team’s lifeless on-pitch displays. Even before the end of the season, Salah publicly called for a return to Klopp’s famous “heavy metal football”, piling additional pressure on the already beleaguered manager, who was sacked a week after the final league match.

Iraola, by contrast, has built a reputation for the high-intensity, pressing and attack-focused style of play that Liverpool supporters are eager to see return, in direct contrast to Slot’s more methodical, controlled tactical approach. After joining Bournemouth from La Liga side Rayo Vallecano in 2023, he oversaw steady, year-on-year improvement at the club: the Cherries finished 12th in his first season, ninth the next, and hit a new historic high of sixth this term to secure a spot in next season’s UEFA Europa League. Beyond results, Iraola also won widespread acclaim for his sharp tactical acumen and his success in nurturing young talent, including rising stars Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott. Before his move to Bournemouth, he held managerial roles at Mirandes in Spain and Cypriot side AEK Larnaca, cutting his teeth in the professional game after a decorated playing career.

As a player, Iraola made more than 500 first-team appearances for his boyhood club Athletic Bilbao in Spain’s top flight, before finishing his playing career with a stint at Major League Soccer side New York City, where he shared the dressing room with football legends Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo. Now, he arrives on Merseyside at a pivotal crossroads for Liverpool, tasked with rebuilding the squad and restoring the club’s status as England’s dominant football force after a turbulent season that fell well short of expectations. While fifth place was enough to secure Liverpool’s spot in next season’s Champions League, the club and its fanbase are hungry for a return to title-contesting football that matches the glory days of Klopp’s reign, a challenge Iraola has already been framed as the right man to meet.

The 2025 French Open has delivered one of the most stunning underdog stories in Grand Slam history, as Polish world No. 114 Maja Chwalinska etched her name into the Roland Garros record books on Thursday, becoming the first qualifier in the professional Open era to advance to the women’s singles final. Her run sets up a blockbuster title clash against 19-year-old Russian rising star Mirra Andreeva, who booked her own first-ever Grand Slam final spot with a dominant semi-final win earlier the same day.

Chwalinska claimed her place in Saturday’s decider with a hard-fought 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over 25th seed Diana Shnaider, a result that comes on the back of a grueling nine-match campaign that stretches back to the qualifying rounds three weeks ago. The 24-year-old Pole, who was making her first main draw appearance at Roland Garros, had to win three qualifying matches just to earn her spot in the main draw, and has defied all pre-tournament odds to reach the final stage. A win this weekend would make her only the second women’s qualifier to claim a Grand Slam singles title since the Open Era began, following Emma Raducanu’s fairytale 2021 US Open victory.

Fresh off her upset win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals, Shnaider pushed Chwalinska to the limit in a contest that lasted two hours and 10 minutes. After a tightly contested first set that went to a tiebreak, the second set remained on serve until Shnaider called a medical time-out for a back massage at 3-4. When play resumed, Chwalinska found another gear, winning three straight games to close out the match and secure her place in history. Speaking to the crowd after the match on Court Philippe Chatrier, an emotional Chwalinska described her run as nothing short of a dream. “I don’t know what’s going on, I just, I dunno what to say. I’m sorry, I’m just very happy,” she told the raucous crowd, admitting that after nine matches of high-stakes tennis, her physical condition was far from ideal. But she brushed off any complaints, adding: “It’s so challenging to play against the best players in the world day by day, but it’s a Grand Slam so you just have to give your best day by day. But I’m not complaining at all!”

Chwalinska’s historic run has been marked by a string of stunning upsets that began in the very first round of the main draw, where she knocked out Olympic medalist Zheng Qinwen. She went on to upset 23rd seed Elise Mertens, former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari, French hometown favorite Diane Parry, and 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya to reach the semi-finals. Before this tournament, Chwalinska had only ever won one Grand Slam main draw match (at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships) and just two tour-level matches on clay in her entire career. Regardless of the result in the final, her standout performance is projected to lift her to at least a new career-high ranking of No. 21 in the world when the new rankings are released next week. For her part, Shnaider praised Chwalinska after the match, acknowledging she had produced a level of play that was unbeatable on the day. “Very proud of myself, what I achieved here,” Shnaider said of her own career-best Grand Slam run. “(Chwalinska) played unreal, and she definitely deserved this win today and to be in the final.”

Earlier in the day, Andreeva delivered a dominant performance of her own to dispatch Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3 and book her spot in her first major final. The 19-year-old 15th seed, who had lost twice to Kostyuk already this season including in the Madrid Open final, completed her lopsided revenge win in just 76 minutes, saying her focus was so sharp that she could make out individual hairs on the ball during rallies. “I’m super happy with the way I played and then that I got revenge for Madrid final and I’m happy that I’m in my first-ever Grand Slam final,” Andreeva said after the match.

Kostyuk came into the semi-final riding a 17-match winning streak on clay, fresh off her own massive upset win over four-time defending French Open champion Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals. But the 23-year-old Ukrainian, who was also playing in her first Grand Slam semi-final, struggled with unforced errors all afternoon, finishing the match with 34 unforced errors that derailed her run. “Obviously not the greatest match from me today,” she admitted after the match. Despite the loss, Kostyuk can take pride in a breakout clay-court season that includes titles in Rouen and her first WTA 1000 title in Madrid. For Andreeva, the win extended her 2025 tour-leading win total to 35 match victories for the season, cementing her status as one of the most in-form players on the tour this year. Saturday’s final will now pit two of the tour’s most surprising breakout stars against each other, with one set to claim the most prestigious clay-court title in the sport.

Roland Garros witnessed one of the most remarkable underdog stories in modern Grand Slam tennis on Thursday, when Poland’s unseeded world number 114 Maja Chwalinska outlasted Russia’s 25th seed Diana Shnaider in straight sets to etch her name into French Open history books. The 24-year-old secured a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 victory to become the first qualifier in the Open (professional) era to advance all the way to the women’s singles final at Roland Garros.

This historic run is far more than a one-tournament upset: Chwalinska is competing in just her third main draw appearance at any major tournament, and her first ever main draw start in Paris. She also joins an elite club, becoming only the second woman to navigate qualifying and reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era, following Emma Raducanu’s legendary title-winning run at the 2021 US Open. Having failed to qualify for Roland Garros on three previous attempts, Chwalinska has now won nine consecutive matches across three weeks of qualifying and main draw play, putting her one win away from the sport’s most prestigious clay-court title.

The match itself pitted Chwalinska’s versatile, crafty all-court game against Shnaider’s signature power hitting. The Pole claimed an early break to go up 3-1, capitalizing on deft touch: a well-placed drop shot followed by a cleverly disguised deep backhand slice created three break opportunities, which she converted when Shnaider sent a forehand wide. Shnaider responded quickly, breaking right back to level the set, even earning an impressed thumbs-up from Chwalinska after a perfectly weighted drop shot of her own.

In the opening-set tiebreak, a wild off-target forehand from Chwalinska put Shnaider ahead 4-1, but the patient Pole flipped the script, winning six of the next seven points to close out the first set. To open the second set, the two players traded breaks of serve under partially cloudy skies that left the centre court roof partially open. When Shnaider held a 4-3 lead, she called a medical timeout to receive treatment for back tightness. Chwalinska adjusted her game plan after the break, extending rallies to tire her opponent, and broke Shnaider in the very next service game to move within one game of the upset. She sealed her historic spot in the final with a clean forehand winner.

Minutes after the match concluded, Chwalinska told reporters on Court Philippe Chatrier that her breakthrough run feels nothing short of miraculous. “It’s like a dream,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on, I just… I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry, I’m just very happy.” The statement drew raucous applause from the packed centre court crowd. When asked about the ice-cold composure she has displayed throughout her underdog run, Chwalinska admitted her outward calm hides a flurry of emotion. “I’m crazy sometimes also, yeah,” she said. “But I try to stay composed because I know it’s the best way for me… But inside there’s a storm believe me.”

Chwalinska will next face Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s championship match, for what will be her 10th and final match of the tournament. When asked about her preparations for the title decider, Chwalinska said she plans to savor the moment before turning her focus to recovery. “I will give my all, it’s a Grand Slam final,” she said. “Let me enjoy this moment for now… I just want to breathe a little, enjoy it today then just recover as best I can.”