分类： sports

The National Rugby League’s Round 23 delivered a nail-biting fixture at Allianz Stadium on Friday that ended in both a dramatic result and fresh injury chaos for two contending clubs, as the Sydney Roosters edged out the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 20-18 to leave both teams facing very different outlooks heading into next week’s crunch fixtures.

For the Roosters, the positives far outweigh the concerns: their narrow win dragged them level on competition points with league-leading Penrith Panthers, and coach Trent Robinson offered a promising injury update on star fullback and captain James Tedesco. Tedesco sat out Friday’s clash after picking up an ankle injury during the Roosters’ 70-point blowout of North Queensland the week prior, but Robinson confirmed the representative star is on track to return for next Thursday’s high-stakes top-of-the-table clash against the Panthers. The Panthers, meanwhile, will already be without their standout lock Isaah Yeo, who suffered a pectoral injury during their away fixture in New Zealand, handing the Roosters a major boost ahead of the game.

For the Bulldogs, however, Friday’s result carried far more devastating consequences. The club, which has emerged as one of the form teams of the 2026 NRL season, conceded two late tries in three second-half minutes to throw away their lead and drop the two-point result. That loss will see them finish the round outside of the top eight, the cut-off for finals qualification, and their prospects have been made far worse by a damaging recurrence of an injury to their standout forward Sitili Tupouniua.

Tupouniua, who has been the Bulldogs’ best performing forward through the 2026 campaign, made his return to the field on Friday after six weeks out with a high-grade hamstring injury. Just five minutes into his comeback, he re-injured the hamstring in the exact same location, forcing him immediately back to the sidelines. He will undergo scans in the coming days to confirm the full extent of the new injury, and faces a potentially extended spell out of the side.

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo spoke after the match about the devastating blow for the player and the club, noting “He’s pretty devastated because he was training really well and he was just excited to get back playing. This is what he does, this is what he loves doing, so he’s pretty shattered. Not sure how bad it is, but he’s felt it in the same spot where he injured it about eight weeks ago, so not ideal.” Hamstring strains are well-documented to have a high rate of recurrence, with the greatest risk of repeat injury coming in the first games back after an initial tear.

Despite the heartbreak of both the loss and the injury, Ciraldo insisted his side’s confidence remains unshaken heading into another critical round next week. The Bulldogs will face off against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who are currently level with them on 26 competition points but hold an extra game in hand, a fixture that will go a long way to deciding both clubs’ finals fates. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re not leaving here with any less confidence than what we came here with,” Ciraldo said. “We didn’t play the way we wanted to tonight. Roosters deserved the win. They were really good for periods, but I think they’ll probably think they can play better as well. We know when we play our style of footy what we can do, but too many errors tonight didn’t allow us to do that.”

The Bulldogs had put in a promising performance for large parts of the game, with a rock-solid defensive effort in the first half keeping them in the contest before a blistering 20-minute attacking burst after half-time put them in a position to take the win, before late errors let the Roosters claim victory.

Unrelenting public speculation has pushed Geelong Cats AFL defender Jake Kolodjashnij to step forward and identify himself as the player at the center of the league’s growing concussion waiver controversy, breaking his days-long silence to address the situation directly. The long-serving Cats star released an official public statement through his club on Friday evening, just hours after Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking fielded questions from reporters about the unresolved scandal.

“While I am grateful for all the efforts that were made to protect my privacy and keep me unnamed, the constant swirling speculation left me with no choice but to address this matter personally,” Kolodjashnij said in the statement.

The 2022 premiership winner confirmed he completed the full assessment process through the AFL’s independent concussion panel, abided by the panel’s independent ruling, and accepted the final outcome that cleared him to continue competing. He has remained an active player in the league since the decision was issued.

For Kolodjashnij, the most upsetting part of the entire controversy is the unauthorized leak of his sensitive personal health data. “Every single person deserves the fundamental right to keep their confidential medical information private,” he emphasized. “That right was violated here, and that is what disappoints me most.”

The defender went on to extend gratitude to his support network, which includes his immediate family, the Australian Football League Players’ Association, his personal management team, his Geelong teammates, and the club’s entire administration. All have stood by him through the 24 hours of intense speculation that preceded his public statement.

Closing his address, Kolodjashnij reassured fans and stakeholders that he is in good health: “I am healthy, feeling good, and focused on playing my role for the team for the remainder of the season.”

A one-club player who made his AFL debut in 2015, Kolodjashnij has notched 209 senior appearances for Geelong across his career, and played an integral role in the Cats’ 2022 premiership victory. This season alone, he has featured in 11 senior matches for the club, with his most recent senior outing coming against Greater Western Sydney (GWS) last month. He also competed for Geelong’s reserves Victorian Football League (VFL) side just this past Friday. The scandal has already sparked additional comment from club leadership, with Hocking earlier this week denying claims that Kolodjashnij was coerced into signing the concussion waiver, while GWS has rejected unsubstantiated reports of internal player rifts tied to the controversy.

Western Australia’s newest national rugby league franchise, the Perth Bears, has hit another key milestone in its pre-launch journey, pulling back the curtain on its first official home kit for the 2027 NRL premiership season that carries deep historical ties to the founding of Australian rugby league itself.

Unveiled to the public on Friday, just days before the NRL’s Storm versus Manly clash in Perth this weekend, the new jersey centers on the iconic red and black hooped design that first became synonymous with the North Sydney Bears, one of the sport’s eight original foundation clubs when top-grade rugby league launched in Australia back in 1908. To further cement this intergenerational connection, the 1908 founding year and North Sydney’s original team crest are featured on the jersey’s back collar, anchoring the new expansion franchise to the code’s earliest origins.

Perth Bears Chief Executive Anthony De Ceglie framed the jersey reveal as a major step forward for the expansion club, describing the Bears project as the most compelling new development in Australian sport right now. “While our club is a new entity built for the west coast, it does not come without a rich shared history,” De Ceglie explained. “We are building forward on the foundations laid by both the North Sydney Bears and decades of rugby league development in Western Australia. We could not be prouder to carry these iconic red and black colours into a bold new era, while still honouring the legacy that got us here.”

The new jersey has already locked in a strong slate of commercial partners ahead of the team’s 2027 debut: global secondhand retail network Cash Converters serves as the principal partner, insurance brand Budget Direct holds the premier partner position, and Penrite Oil, Atlas, and XFM join the lineup as major founding partners.

This jersey launch comes on the heels of another key announcement for the franchise, just one day prior: English international forward Morgan Smithies became the latest high-profile recruit to sign on with the Bears, penning a long-term deal that will see him leave the Canberra Raiders at the end of the current NRL season.

Club head coach Mal Meninga, one of the biggest legends in Australian rugby league, stepped forward to model the new kit during the unveiling, and expanded on the franchise’s dual mission of honouring its past while building a unique new identity for Western Australian rugby league. “It’s really important to acknowledge our shared history, but also to carve out a new identity for the Bears here on the west coast,” Meninga said. “A bear doesn’t shy away from a challenge; a bear stands up, a bear is bold and courageous, and that is exactly the identity we are building for this team. Our whole focus is on building a club that both Western Australia and North Sydney can be proud of, and we will deliver a team that lives up to that legacy.”

One of the National Rugby League’s most iconic coaching figures, Melbourne Storm’s Craig Bellamy, has confirmed he will remain at the helm of the club for the 2026 season, while dropping the strongest hint yet that his legendary NRL career could draw to a close as early as 2027. The 66-year-old coaching great, who has been contracted with the Storm through the end of the 2028 season, shifted to a year-by-year career planning approach after receiving a diagnosis of a neurodegenerative disorder this past April.

Speaking at a pre-game press conference held in Perth on Friday, Bellamy made his near-term plans official for the franchise he has led for nearly a quarter century. “I’ll be coaching next year, but yeah, I think that might be the end,” Bellamy told assembled reporters. “Anyway, we’ll see what happens.”

This announcement carries significant roster implications for the Storm, particularly for star player and Queensland Maroons captain Cameron Munster. Munster, who has been with Melbourne since 2014, previously stated he would stay with the club as long as Bellamy remained in charge. Though he had been granted approval to enter contract negotiations with the newly expanded Papua New Guinea Chiefs, a franchise set to join the NRL in 2028, Bellamy’s confirmation makes it far more likely Munster will remain in Melbourne.

Bellamy opened up about the deep, long-standing bond he shares with the star playmaker, praising Munster’s commitment to the club and his teammates. “We have (a bond), and it’s been a long one, too, you know? We’ve seen ups and downs, ins and outs, and whatever together. Like I say, he’s been just a wonderful clubman, he’s been a wonderful player, too. The care he’s got for his teammates and the care he’s got for our club, I haven’t seen too many players with more care than what Mun has for the Storm.”

This 2025 season has been a challenging one for Bellamy and the Storm. After 20 matches, the club holds just 8 wins and sits in 12th place on the league ladder, all but certain to miss the 2025 NRL finals series. Despite the underwhelming campaign, Bellamy says his squad remains focused on closing the season with momentum. The Storm is set to face off against the Manly Sea Eagles at Perth’s HBF Park at 3pm Saturday.

“We still want to try and finish the season on an upward note, you know? So we’ll see what happens,” Bellamy said. “Like I say, as long as we keep preparing well and training well, it gives us a chance to do that. They’re all working hard at the moment, so that’s all we need to do.”

Bellamy’s tenure with Melbourne is one of the longest and most decorated in modern rugby league. The 2026 season will mark his 25th year with the franchise, and he already hit a major milestone earlier this season when he coached his 600th game for the club.

As the Greater Western Sydney (GWS) Giants gear up for a critical clash against the Gold Coast Suns this weekend with their thin finals hopes on the line, head coach Adam Kingsley has moved quickly to shut down swirling rumors of internal division surrounding star forward Jake Stringer. Recent media reports have claimed that the club’s leading goalkicker this season, who is currently out of contract for 2025, damaged trust within the playing group after a business venture he led collapsed. The failed project centered on a fish oil product, which drew investments from multiple current GWS players, coaches, and even staff from Stringer’s former club Essendon. Contrary to some speculation, all investors have already been fully refunded by Stringer, leaving no participants out of pocket from the failed initiative. Speaking to media on Friday morning, Kingsley flatly rejected claims of festering unrest in the Giants’ locker room, saying any reported issues are not evident within the club. “Yeah, no concerns from my areas,” Kingsley told reporters. “The issues, to me, don’t appear obvious and I don’t think it’s impacted our locker room at all. That’s what is reported but I don’t see it.” A veteran of the AFL, Stringer began his top-flight career with the Western Bulldogs, where he claimed a premiership flag in 2016, before moving to Essendon and eventually joining GWS. Beyond the Stringer controversy, Kingsley also addressed growing speculation linking the Giants to out-of-contract Richmond veteran Dion Prestia, who worked closely with Kingsley during the Tigers’ dominant premiership run in the late 2010s. The 33-year-old midfielder is set to hit free agency at the end of the current season, and media reports have suggested GWS could target him to bolster their midfield for a 2025 push. Kingsley did not rule out interest in the veteran star, but pushed any decision to the end of the current campaign. “That’s an end-of-the-season conversation and I haven’t spoken to Dion but I did see the photo of the giant meatball or whatever it was,” Kingsley joked. “He’s a terrific player, he has been a terrific player for a long period of time. I don’t know what his plans are for next year, whether he wants to play or coach I am not sure. But, again, we’ll cross those bridges at the end of the season.” For this weekend’s must-win match against Gold Coast, the Giants have received a major boost with the return of captain Toby Greene, who has recovered from a quadriceps injury that kept him sidelined in recent weeks. Greene’s comeback comes at a critical time, as GWS needs a win to keep its narrow post-season chances alive entering the final stretch of the regular AFL season.

One of rugby league’s most decorated coaches, Wayne Bennett, is standing firm in his commitment to protect star players from excessive media scrutiny – and he has made clear he will not back down even if the National Rugby League (NRL) introduces harsh penalties for clubs that restrict player access to the press. Bennetts’ stance comes amid growing tensions between the league’s governing body and club leadership over player media availability, a issue that has moved to the forefront of discussions after a landmark, record-breaking broadcast rights deal that league officials say requires the sport’s biggest names to maintain consistent public visibility.

Earlier this week, reports confirmed NRL administrators are set to meet with the Rugby League Players Association to address the growing issue of high-profile stars declining midweek media requests. Several top players have been flagged by league headquarters for their limited media appearances this season: South Sydney Rabbitohs superstar Latrell Mitchell has only completed a single midweek interview all year, which came ahead of a milestone match for teammate Campbell Graham. Mitchell’s inactivity is part of a longer pattern, with the star barely making any media appearances over the past two seasons. He is joined on the league’s watchlist by Rabbitohs forward David Fifita and Brisbane Broncos standout fullback Reece Walsh.

League observers have noted that widespread restrictions on player media access leave fans without the opportunity to hear directly from the athletes they support, a growing issue given the massive new investment in NRL broadcast content. But Bennett, who has built a decades-long reputation for prioritizing player mental wellbeing, says he will continue to block media access when he believes it is in the best interest of his players. The legendary coach argued that harsh, critical media coverage takes a measurable toll on athlete performance and mental health, and that players are far better served focusing on their on-field work rather than engaging with the press.

“I’m a bit of a fan of some of them not being available sometimes,” Bennett told reporters. “You (the media) beat them up big time, and it has an impact on them, there’s no doubt about that. They’re better off saying less and just playing football. The NRL can do it (punish clubs) but I’ll stand behind my player every time I think he shouldn’t be in the media and the limelight because of a situation that may have happened or because some journo decided he’s the flavour of the month. I’ve seen players driven out of the game in this country because of media exposure, so I’m no fan of just having open slather for players.”

Beyond the media policy standoff, the Rabbitohs are navigating significant injury hurdles heading into their critical Saturday clash against the Parramatta Eels, as they fight to secure a place in the 2024 NRL finals. Bennett confirmed that Mitchell, who has been sidelined with back and calf injuries since round 11 of the competition, remains unavailable to play, with no clear timeline set for his return. The club suffered a fresh injury blow this week when Graham was ruled out of the Eels match with a calf strain, forcing a last-minute positional change. Young winger Jye Gray will step into Graham’s spot to match up against Eels speedster Josh Addo-Carr, with Bennett optimistic Graham will be able to return to the side next week.

“He’s got a bit of a strain. It’s not too serious but he’s not quite right,” Bennett said of Graham’s injury. “(Jye will replace him on the wing) so we’ve matched the big guy with the big guy.”

In a positive development for the Rabbitohs, three key stars – Cameron Murray, Tallis Duncan, and David Fifita – are set to return to the starting lineup this weekend. South Sydney currently sits on the edge of the top eight, locked in a tight finals race with the Canterbury Bulldogs, North Queensland Cowboys, and Newcastle Knights. In the coming weeks, the Rabbitohs are scheduled to face two top-four contenders, the New Zealand Warriors and Sydney Roosters, before a critical, season-shaping clash against Canterbury next week. When asked if every remaining match on the Rabbitohs schedule is a must-win, Bennett pushed back on the idea that the club is under immediate do-or-die pressure.

“I wouldn’t say that (it’s must win each week),” Bennett said. “We certainly have to win some games, but it’s not a position where we have to win each week because the teams around us are playing some pretty tough opposition as well, so we can probably afford to lose one or two games.”

A stunning mid-season turnaround for AFL side Carlton has catapulted the club from the bottom of the ladder into wildcard contention, yet the architect of that resurgence, interim coach Josh Fraser, still declines to definitively say he wants the permanent top job.

When former head coach Michael Voss parted ways with the Blues earlier this season, the club was mired in a dismal slump: just one win from its opening nine matches, sitting 16th on the competition ladder with little sign of improvement. Since Fraser stepped into the caretaker role, the narrative has flipped dramatically. The interim leader has guided Carlton to nine wins across his first 11 games at the helm, transforming a disappointing season into one with genuine finals aspirations.

This Sunday, Carlton will face 11th-ranked St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, with a win nearly locking in their spot in the upcoming finals series. Despite the on-field success that has sparked widespread speculation about his candidacy for the full-time position, Fraser is taking a deliberate, cautious approach to confirming his intentions.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the interim coach acknowledged his long-term career goals while pushing for time to make a considered decision. “I’m very ambitious about being a senior coach,” Fraser said. “If I don’t put my hand up for the role, there will be a reason for that. I’m in a fortunate position where the club has given me time to gather all the information I need around the position. I’d love for it to be as simple as just saying ‘yeah, I’m all in’, but it’s not that straightforward.”

Fraser emphasized that leading a top AFL club carries enormous weight, and a rushed decision would do the club a disservice. “Coaching this football club is a huge responsibility,” he explained. “I’d be doing a disservice to the process if I wasn’t making a decision based on all the information all together. It’ll take some conversations, and I need time to work through that.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s critical clash, Fraser warned his side against falling into the habits that have derailed past Carlton campaigns, urging the team to focus on process rather than obsessing over the finals outcome. “We need to lean into the occasion to a certain extent, but it’s important that we attach ourselves to the process around this game and not get too outcome driven,” he said. “This club maybe historically has ridden the wave, and I just look at where we’re at, and I think we’ve got so much work in front of us still.”

As world rugby champions South Africa prepare to face Argentina in a one-off Test in Buenos Aires this Saturday, Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has warned his squad against underestimating their opponents, dismissing the idea that the match is a mere warm-up ahead of their upcoming series against New Zealand.

Erasmus, the mastermind behind South Africa’s back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023, stressed that the Pumas, despite their inconsistent results in the recent Nations Championship, will pose a bruising, high-stakes test for his side in the iconic Estadio Jose Amalfitani. “Argentina are a quality outfit and we are preparing for a physical and gruelling battle,” Erasmus told reporters ahead of the clash. “They are a well coached team who have tested us in the last few years, so it will be a good challenge for us. They gave us one of the biggest hidings we have suffered since I became involved with the Springboks in 2018.”

The lead-up to the match has been marked by mixed results for Argentina in the inaugural Nations Championship. The Pumas secured a solid win over Wales but fell to Scotland and England in a controversial, ill-tempered closing clash. In that match, Argentina thought they had scored a late game-tying try, only for referee Angus Gardner to disallow the score following a lengthy VAR review. The call sparked an angry reaction from Pumas fly-half Tomas Albornoz, who had to be restrained by teammates and staff while confronting the official. Albornoz has since received a four-match suspension, ruling him out of Saturday’s clash against the Springboks.

Even with the absence of their star playmaker and primary goal-kicker, Erasmus said he has not eased off preparation for the match, rejecting growing narratives that the game is a warm-up for South Africa’s four-Test home series against New Zealand, set to kick off on August 22. “This match was not planned with that reason in mind — it was always about honouring our relationship with Argentina,” he insisted. This year, the annual Rugby Championship, which traditionally includes two regular matchups between the Springboks and Pumas, has been canceled to accommodate the All Blacks tour schedule.

South Africa has named an experimental starting XV for the Test, with only five players penciled in as probable starters for the opening New Zealand clash. The match marks the long-awaited return of several key stars from injury, including fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, and captain and flanker Siya Kolisi. Only two players from the Springboks’ dominant 43-0 win over Wales in Durban retain their starting spots: full-back Aphelele Fassi and scrum-half Cobus Reinach.

For Argentina, head coach Felipe Contepomi has handed a starting Test debut to tighthead prop Francisco Moreno. Three other players — hooker Leonel Oviedo, and back-rowers Juan Penoucos and Juan Martin Scelzo — are in line to earn their first international caps if they come off the substitutes bench on Saturday. English referee Christophe Ridley has been named to officiate the cross-hemisphere clash.

Ahead of one of the most high-stakes matches of Carlton’s AFL season this Sunday against St Kilda, the club’s coaching hierarchy is prioritizing long-term player health over short-term results, confirming star defender Jacob Weitering will not be rushed back into the senior side.

Weitering, the Blues’ vice-captain, has endured a nightmare 2024 campaign marked by a string of debilitating injuries. A rib fracture sustained during the State of Origin clash, followed by a concussion and repeated calf setbacks, have sidelined the key defender since Carlton’s round 12 matchup against Geelong. He has only managed to take the field for 10 senior games this year, leaving the gap in Carlton’s backline to be filled by emerging young talent Harry Dean.

While a victory over St Kilda would push Carlton significantly closer to locking in a top-eight finish (corrected from the original report’s top-10 framing, consistent with AFL finals structure) and keep its finals momentum building after last weekend’s stunning upset over reigning premier Brisbane Lions that shook up the entire finals race, interim head coach Josh Fraser says a gradual return through the reserves competition is the only responsible path forward.

“Jacob has progressed really well through his rehab, and he will be available to get some game minutes under his belt in the VFL this weekend,” Fraser told reporters this week. “Every decision we make around a player coming back from injury is always centered on what is best for that individual player in the long run. Weiters has put in an enormous amount of work to get himself back to this point, and all Carlton fans should recognize just how much effort he has invested in his recovery. This week, he will continue that progression through the VFL.”

When asked whether previous coaching regimes at the club may have pushed Weitering back into the senior side earlier despite his lack of match fitness, Fraser declined to comment on past decisions, noting he was not part of the club’s setup in previous seasons. He did, however, double down on the club’s current approach to injury management.

“It’s hard for me to speak about previous years, not having been here,” he said. “But my approach is always to gather all the available information from our medical and performance staff, and ultimately do the thing that is best for the player. He has missed a fairly substantial amount of game time, and he has been working incredibly hard to get back to full fitness. Logically, getting some minutes in the VFL is the right next step for his progression.”