博客

It has been two full seasons since star St Kilda Saints forward Max King last graced the field at the top-tier Australian Football League (AFL) level, and his highly anticipated comeback against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Sunday ended in sudden disappointment. Ruled out mid-match due to what the club has described as hamstring tightness, King left the venue early before the traditional post-match team song, and is scheduled to undergo medical scans on Monday to assess the full extent of the new issue. Now, St Kilda captain Callum Wilkie, who has been teammates with King for eight years after the pair entered the league via the same draft, has publicly backed the club’s decision to bring the forward back to the senior side, and offered public support to the injury-plagued athlete.

Speaking to sports outlet SEN, Wilkie refuted any claims that King was rushed back into AFL action. He explained that King’s prior hamstring injury, sustained earlier this year during a comeback stint in the lower-tier Victorian Football League (VFL), was always managed with a deliberate, conservative approach. “It’s not like we rushed him back,” Wilkie noted. “He did the hammy 12 weeks ago and it wasn’t a 12-week hammy, it was about a four-five week hammy. They took a very conservative approach with it and built his training loads and conditioning up over the last 12 weeks, but especially the last month or so when he was hitting game loads at training.”

As someone who trained directly alongside King in the lead-up to Sunday’s match, Wilkie said he saw first-hand that the forward was fully prepared to return to senior competition. “I was playing [against him in intra-club training] and saw what he can do, he was ready to come back and it was great have him back out there playing with us,” Wilkie said. “The fans loved it, we loved it as players and he’ll be back very soon I imagine.”

In Sunday’s match, King started each of the first three quarters on the interchange bench, entering the game roughly eight minutes into each term. He finished the short outing with just two disposals: a misaligned shot on goal and a quick handball, having taken a mark and attempted a score in the second quarter. After the match, head coach Ross Lyon defended King and the club’s selection call in a tense press conference, noting he prioritized preparing for the win over collecting immediate medical updates.

Wilkie reached out to King after the match after the 24-year-old left the stadium early, and told reporters he reassured King that the setback would not change his standing within the club. “Yeah, well he left early so didn’t get a chance to see him in the rooms after but, you know, (I) messaged him saying we love him and are right behind him,” Wilkie said. “Whatever this is doesn’t change who he is and what he means to our football club. But, hammy tightness like Ross said, he’ll get a scan today and then the club will release a statement to the extent of what that actually is.”

Wilkie also addressed the enormous public pressure King has faced amid his well-documented history of injuries, which has kept him sidelined from AFL competition for two full years. “I’ve been with Maxy for eight years – we got drafted together – and he’s obviously had a storied injury career that the media and everyone has addressed thoroughly,” Wilkie said. “There’s so much pressure on that young man’s shoulders, what’s it been, two years since he played an AFL game? He would’ve been rightfully frustrated and devastated and the club made that call that he was allowed to go home and we live by that.”

The 2024 Tour de France wrapped up on Sunday with two historic moments that will be remembered for years in cycling: Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar etched his name into the sport’s record books by securing his fifth overall title, while Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel pulled off a nail-biting victory on the iconic Champs-Élysées that capped a stunning turnaround for his team.

Pogacar’s fifth Tour win puts him in an exclusive group of all-time cycling greats, joining legends Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only riders to claim five overall titles at cycling’s most prestigious Grand Tour. But rather than dwelling on his place in history, the 25-year-old Slovenian said he is ready to step away from the pressure of competitive racing and savor quiet life after three weeks of grueling competition across France.

“Right now I just want to enjoy the moment of winning the Tour,” Pogacar told reporters after crossing the finish line in Paris. “If it’s the fifth or the first, it doesn’t matter — it’s unbelievable to wear the yellow jersey and to cross the line in Paris winning it. I will just enjoy this moment, not thinking about any history, not thinking about joining any club. I just want to live this moment, come back home, relax, enjoy the small things of life.”

Pogacar added that each of his five Tour victories holds a unique place in his heart, saying: “I’m really happy and proud to win a fifth Tour. Every single one has a different story, a different meaning, different emotions. Each one of them feels incredible and unbelievable for me.”

While Pogacar took home the overall yellow jersey, the final stage belonged to van der Poel, a cobbled classics specialist who achieved a long-held career dream with his dramatic win on Paris’s most famous avenue. The 31-year-old broke away from the peloton alongside Pogacar on the Montmartre climb, where thousands of cheering fans packed the route to create a electric atmosphere. The two riders held off a chasing group of sprinters for 10 kilometers, pushing all out to hold their lead to the line.

In the final 700 meters, van der Poel surged ahead alone as a fatigued Pogacar was unable to match his acceleration. In the end, the Dutchman held off the chasing pack by the thinnest of margins, forcing a photo finish that confirmed his win. “It was no words, no communication, we just both rode to the death, to the final and I ran out of gas,” Pogacar said of the final sprint. “I knew that we had to go all out, he knew we had to go all out, we both committed and he took a beautiful victory.”

Van der Poel admitted he never expected to hold off the chasers all the way to the line, saying he spent the final 500 meters bracing for a rider to pass him. His Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jasper Philipsen came the closest, with van der Poel only spotting the Belgian’s wheel alongside him in the final meters. “I thought we were going to get caught back, but then I was just thinking about this moment, and I just put my head down in the last 500 metres,” van der Poel said. “I just went as hard as I could, and I was just waiting until a wheel was coming past, and it didn’t happen… In the very end, I see a Pirelli tyre next to me, and it’s the one from Jasper.”

The win marked a bright end to a difficult Tour for van der Poel and his team, a outcome he said proved the squad’s resilience. “It just shows that we never give up. Maybe the start of our Tour was not good, but I won on the Champs Elysees. I think it’s pretty good,” he said. When asked where he found the strength to hold on, van der Poel joked: “If there was one race I still wanted to win in my career, I have a few, of course, but this was one of them. We have a saying in Dutch that it has to come from your toes. I don’t know where this came from, but not from my toes!”

Behind Pogacar in the overall classification, Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel secured the best result of his Tour de France career, finishing second overall with two stage wins including a victory in a high mountain stage. The performance silenced critics who had claimed Evenepoel, a renowned time trial specialist, was not built to contend for overall victory at three-week Grand Tours, even after he won the 2022 Vuelta a Espana. Evenepoel said the result proved he deserves to dream of winning the Tour one day.

“Second place, for me was more like the fact to prove towards myself that I did well to not let go my dream of stepping on the podium of Grand Tours as much as possible and aiming to try to win them,” Evenepoel said. “Because that’s my career goal. After this result, I think I’ve shown towards myself, my team and also to the outside world that I deserve to dream and aim for that.”

The 2026 Commonwealth Games continued to deliver thrilling competitive action across swimming and gymnastics on Sunday, with veteran athletes producing career-defining performances and young contenders pulling off major upsets against pre-race favourites.

In the biggest headline of the day, 32-year-old Australian swimming icon Cameron McEvoy cemented his legacy at the multi-sport event by claiming his first ever individual Commonwealth Games gold medal in the men’s 50m freestyle. Not only did McEvoy dominate the race from start to finish after a blistering start off the starting blocks, he also smashed the existing Commonwealth Games record to secure a historic win that completed an Australian 1-2-3 podium sweep, with Flynn Southham taking silver and Jamie Jack claiming bronze.

McEvoy’s long-awaited individual gold adds to his three previous Commonwealth Games gold medals won in relay events, capping a decades-long run of consistent podium finishes: he took silver and bronze in the same 50m freestyle event at the 2014 Glasgow Games and the 2018 Gold Coast Games held on home Australian soil. The iconic sprinter now holds an Olympic title in the 50m freestyle alongside his new Commonwealth individual crown.

Elsewhere in the swimming pool, British superstar Adam Ramsay-Peaty has locked in his spot for the upcoming 50m breaststroke final after qualifying fifth fastest in the semi-finals, and he says he has a clear battle plan to bounce back after a disappointing third-place finish in the 100m breaststroke final that left him emotional. The 31-year-old is chasing a piece of history this Games, aiming to become the first English swimmer ever to claim Commonwealth gold at four different editions of the event. However, he will enter the final ranked third overall, trailing 100m breaststroke champion Sam Williamson and South Africa’s Michael Houlie in qualifying times.

Reflecting on his recent disappointment, Ramsay-Peaty framed setbacks as an inevitable part of elite sport. “In sport, it’s not really about when you get beat down because it’s going to be inevitable. It’s actually how long it takes you to look at it, respect it, and turn it around,” he told reporters ahead of Monday’s final. “I’m really happy with that. I’ve got a great trajectory for tomorrow.”

The day’s swimming schedule delivered no shortage of other standout results. Australian distance swimmer Lani Pallister claimed her second gold medal of the meet with a dominant performance in the women’s 1500m freestyle, while 20-year-old Australian underdog Iona Anderson pulled off a massive upset to edge pre-race favourite Kylie Masse of Canada in the women’s 100m backstroke. Australia also extended their perfect run in relay events, clinching another gold in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. After several days of overwhelming Australian dominance in the pool, Sunday’s competition brought more diversity to the podium, with multiple other nations locking in top finishes.

South African swimmer Pieter Coetze added a 200m backstroke gold to his 50m backstroke title won on Saturday, while Canada’s Josh Liendo snatched a narrow one-hundredth of a second victory over Australia’s Matthew Temple to take gold in the men’s 100m butterfly. Host nation Scotland also earned a swimming gold, as Angharad Evans mounted a stunning late comeback to win the women’s 100m breaststroke.

Gymnastics competition also delivered drama and historic moments for host Scotland and Canada. In the men’s all-around final, 21-year-old Scot Reuben Ward held off a late charge from Canada’s Felix Dolci to claim gold by just 0.200 points, with Australia’s Jesse Moore rounding out the podium. Ward called the win an almost unreal achievement, comparing the path to gold to climbing a mountain. “I knew I could do it, but to actually do it. When the score came through, it is just jubilation and joy,” he said. “Incredible! I’m so lucky to be in this position. I would not have been in this position without my family and my team-mates. It is like climbing a mountain.”

Dolci, who already earned team gold with Canada earlier in the competition, overcame a disastrous start that saw him fall twice from the pommel horse in his first apparatus to mount a stunning comeback, turning in five near-perfect routines that nearly earned him the top spot. The Canadian said he was proud to showcase the value of resilience even when all odds seem stacked against an athlete. “I wanted to show that it’s never done until it’s done. That’s something I deeply value and I’m glad I was able to showcase that,” he said.

Canada also earned gold in the women’s all-around final, where 30-year-old veteran Ellie Black outscored Australia’s Breanna Scott and 16-year-old Canadian teammate Lia-Monica Fontaine to take the top spot. Black said that entering the competition, her primary goal was just to get back to competing at a high level, making the gold an unexpected bonus. “I’m so proud. My goal was not to come in and win. It was to come in and compete again,” she said. “To come out on top, is the cherry on top. I love the Commonwealths, it’s so fun to be here.”

Outside the pool and gym, netball pool stage action delivered two high-stakes matches, with Australia producing a dominant 66-47 win over England in the day’s biggest pool clash, while New Zealand earned a narrow 53-48 victory over Jamaica in the second key Pool B match.

Australian Football League (AFL) has officially confirmed a three-year fixture plan for its revived State of Origin series, bringing both long-awaited clarity for fans and disappointing news for supporters based in Victoria, who will be locked out of hosting the showcase match for the entire three-year cycle. The announcement, made Monday, marks the next chapter of the event’s comeback after a nearly 30-year hiatus that concluded earlier this year with an electric opening clash.

The 2023 return of State of Origin saw Western Australia play host to Victoria at Perth’s Optus Stadium, where a sellout crowd of more than 58,000 spectators turned out to watch the inter-state showdown. Victoria claimed victory in the high-stakes match, with Greater Western Sydney defender Lachie Ash taking home the best afield honors, while Jesse Hogan earned the top player title for Western Australia.

Under the newly locked-in three-year arrangement, South Australia will rejoin the series starting next season (2027). The 2027 matchup will pit Western Australia against South Australia at Perth Stadium, with Perth retaining hosting duties for that fixture. In 2028, South Australia will step into the host role, welcoming Victoria to the iconic Adelaide Oval for the annual Origin clash. The cycle will reset in 2029, when Western Australia will once again host Victoria back at Perth Stadium.

AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon noted that the multi-year scheduling agreement brings much-needed certainty for all stakeholders of the series, a feature he says will let supporters lean into the long-held inter-state rivalries that define the event. “State football is one of the great traditions of our game, and we are pleased to see it continue in 2027 and beyond after the huge success of its return earlier this year,” Dillon said in a statement following the announcement.

“Origin inspires passion, State pride and draws upon decades of rivalries that are central to the history of our game and our greatest players,” he added. “Locking in the structure for the next three years provides fans, clubs, players and stakeholders certainty on Origin, allowing them to embrace the state rivalry and celebrate our great game.”

Dillon also extended gratitude to the state governments that have partnered to support the series over the coming three years, acknowledging Western Australian Premier Roger Cook and his government for supporting the 2027 and 2029 matches, as well as South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and his administration for their partnership to bring elite state-level football back to Adelaide in 2028.

For Victorian fans disappointed by the three-year hosting gap, a scheduling conflict provides context for the decision: Victoria was always seen as an unlikely candidate to host the 2027 match due to a pre-scheduled Ashes Test cricket match between Australia and England that will occupy the state’s major sporting venues during the same window.