标签： Oceania

One of the Australian Football League’s most anticipated rivalry clashes is just days away, and Collingwood has confirmed last-minute changes to its 22-man squad for Saturday night’s high-stake showdown against traditional foe Carlton.

Magpies head coach Craig McRae announced Thursday that the side will lean into youthful attacking energy inside 50, recalling 20-year-old key forward Charlie West and young prospect Harvey Harrison to the senior lineup. The selection shake-up comes at the cost of veteran defender Jeremy Howe, who has been rested from this week’s match to manage minor wear and tear, with a short five-day turnaround between this round and next week’s fixture looming on the calendar.

Howe’s spot in the defensive backline will be filled by returning defender Isaac Quaynor, who was close to selection last week after a recent injury layoff. McRae explained that while the 16-season veteran passed a Thursday fitness test, coaching staff made the deliberate call to hold him out to avoid a higher risk of more serious damage. “We could arguably push Howe to the line, but then we may be at risk of further injury, so we’ll leave him out this week,” McRae told reporters. “When we’ve got a five-day break coming, it’ll be touch and go to put him out there … why are we pushing a guy to the edge when we have further risk of injury? He should be available for next week’s fixture with the extra recovery time.”

For West, the recall marks a well-earned second chance at senior football, after a dominant VFL (reserve league) campaign that has seen the young key forward boot 23 goals from his matches this season, with multiple scoring opportunities in every outing. McRae highlighted West’s elite one-on-one marking ability as a critical asset the side will need against Carlton, adding that the young forward will bring much-needed fresh energy to Collingwood’s attacking 50. “Charlie is going to play, it’s a good pick-up,” McRae said. “He’s a great one-on-one mark and we think that’s going to be something we need this week.”

Beyond the Magpies’ selection changes, McRae also weighed in on the stunning resurgence of Carlton this season, which has seen the Blues post seven wins from their past eight matches under caretaker coach Josh Fraser. The turnaround comes as no surprise to McRae, who worked closely alongside Fraser for three seasons during Fraser’s tenure as Collingwood’s VFL coach and head of player development. In fact, McRae says Carlton’s current playing style bears a clear resemblance to the Magpies’ own gameplan.

“Yeah, (they’re) playing a lot like Collingwood, really, there’s a lot of Collingwood flavour to it,” McRae said. “I say that respectfully, he spent a lot of time in our building. They’re defending the ground well and maintaining possession really well, so the game at times is going to be a bit of a struggle, a bit of a wrestle.” McRae added that the clash will differ from the Magpies’ past four outings, which have been high-flow, high-turnover matches. Still, he expressed confidence that his side is prepared for any style of contest: “We’ve got the tools and resources to get the job done in whatever environment we’re in.”

The Sydney Roosters are prioritizing long-term player safety over a quick return for veteran forward Lindsay Collins, as the representative player continues his recovery from a recent concussion sustained in late June. Head coach Trent Robinson has outlined the club’s deliberate, cautious approach to Collins’ comeback, revealing a final call on the 30-year-old’s return to matchday action will be made next Monday.

Collins suffered the latest head knock during a June 26 clash against the Brisbane Broncos, where he developed noticeable concussion symptoms during halftime and was immediately pulled from the game. The injury forced him to miss the high-stakes State of Origin decider, and he was also sidelined for the Roosters’ narrow victory over the Parramatta Eels last weekend. He has not been included in the matchday squad for Friday’s highly anticipated showdown against the Melbourne Storm, though a potential return for the following week’s fixture against the Newcastle Knights remains on the table if his recovery progresses as expected.

The club’s extra precaution stems from Collins’ well-documented history of repeated head knocks, and as of this week, the forward has not yet resumed full contact training with the squad. “He’s had a really good week, and I’d say Monday there’ll be a decision on the following week,” Robinson told reporters ahead of the Storm clash. “It’s just a cautious approach. Obviously he couldn’t play Origin and that took him out, so we’ve just taken a bit of a longer route to get him back on the field and do it in the right way.”

In other squad updates, strike centre Robert Toia, who was initially named on the bench as backline cover, will also miss Friday’s match after carrying heavy fatigue from a gruelling State of Origin campaign. The Roosters will welcome back two representative players, however: hooker Reece Robson and young halfback Sam Walker, both of whom were rested for last week’s Eels fixture to recover from their Origin commitments.

Amid ongoing contract negotiations surrounding Walker’s future with the club, Robinson offered glowing praise for the 20-something playmaker following his breakout maiden State of Origin series for the Queensland Maroons, where he claimed the prestigious man-of-the-match award in the series’ second game. Robinson highlighted the clear developmental benefits Walker gained from the high-level representative experience, noting that the opportunity has already elevated his on-field performance back at club level.

“I’ve seen some really good understanding. I thought he played exceptionally well in his first series. I thought his understanding of what was needed was great,” Robinson said. “I’ve seen some real benefits walking back in here from that time, so that’s a real positive. Sammy’s been on a path for a long period of time. He’s played a lot of footy already, over 100 games at his age. Now he’s played Origin, and the best years are still yet to come for Sammy. That development and any experience you get over and above the round games of footy – whether you play finals footy, whether you play grand finals, whether you play State of Origin, whether you play for your country – they’re all experiences that layer on towards better development as a player.”

In a drama-charged World Cup semi-final that will go down as one of the most memorable chapters in the decades-long Argentina-England football rivalry, Lautaro Martinez’s 92nd-minute match-winning header sealed a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory for defending champions Argentina, who will now face European champions Spain in Sunday’s historic final. Played out in front of a packed crowd of 68,239 fans at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the contest lived up to every bit of its billing as a clash between two of the sport’s most storied national sides.

As the Australian Football League (AFL) season enters its critical mid-to-late stretch, a wave of unrivaled optimism is sweeping through St Kilda Football Club’s Moorabbin headquarters, centered on star key forward Max King’s long-awaited return from a debilitating multi-year injury layoff. Head coach Ross Lyon has confirmed that King, who has not appeared in a senior AFL match for more than two seasons due to repeated setbacks to his knee and surrounding soft tissue, is now hitting every key rehabilitation milestone and has successfully returned to the full running program required for elite AFL competition.

Lyon shared the latest update on King’s recovery in a press conference this week, noting that the club is targeting a potential return next week, while cautioning against overly rigid timelines that have proven problematic for injury comebacks in the past. “We’ve never been more optimistic about where Max is at,” Lyon told reporters. “He’s hitting all his milestones, and he’s back to hitting his full 23-minute running blocks at AFL standard. We’re hoping for next week, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We take it day by day. I loved what Max said in his recent Telstra interview – he told reporters he isn’t doing all this rehab just to play in the reserves Victorian Football League, and I align completely with that mindset. We’re optimistic, but we still have steps to get through before we can confirm his return.”

Off the field, Lyon reaffirmed the club’s commitment to star big man Rowan Marshall, who is contracted to St Kilda through the end of the 2027 season. When asked about expected rival club interest in Marshall during the upcoming mid-season trade period, Lyon confirmed the club’s stance would remain unchanged from last year, when it rejected all offers for the key player. “Two things are clear: any rival interest is noted, and he is firmly contracted to us,” Lyon said in a characteristic closing remark before exiting the press conference.

Before any potential announcement about King’s comeback, the Saints face a season-defining top-flight fixture this Thursday night against the Geelong Cats, a perennial AFL powerhouse that has stumbled to an uncharacteristic ninth position on the premiership ladder, with only one win recorded since Round 11. Despite the Cats’ underwhelming win-loss record, Lyon warned against writing off the 2022 premiers, noting that context around their recent results has been lost amid widespread public discussion of their poor form.

“I wouldn’t say Geelong is out of form at all,” Lyon explained. “They played Fremantle without star defender Tom Stewart and key midfielder Bailey Smith, and they were still in the game right down to the final siren. Against a red-hot Brisbane Lions side that’s near the top of the ladder, they generated 61 inside 50 entries and only let themselves down with inaccurate goalkicking of 6.6. Against Greater Western Sydney, they were six goals up before three key players went down with injury, which completely flipped the result. All that nuance and detail gets lost in the noise around their win-loss record, but it doesn’t get lost in our analysis. We’re heading into this game knowing we’ve got a serious, dangerous challenge on our hands.”

The Australian Football League Commission has taken decisive disciplinary action against former St Kilda star Nicky Winmar, stripping the once-celebrated player of his induction to the Australian Football Hall of Fame after a court found him guilty of multiple domestic violence offenses.

Earlier this month, Winmar was convicted in Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on three counts of unlawful and common assault for a violent incident in which he dragged a woman by her hair and repeatedly slammed her head into a door. Under AFL Commission rules, the body has the authority to revoke an individual’s Hall of Fame membership if their criminal actions are judged to have damaged the reputation of the league, the sport, or the honor of Hall of Fame induction itself.

AFL Commission Chair Craig Drummond emphasized the league’s zero-tolerance stance in a formal statement following the ruling. “Violence against women has no place. Not in our community, not in our game, and not in the values the Australian Football Hall of Fame seeks to uphold,” Drummond said. He acknowledged Winmar’s decades-long on-field contributions to Australian rules football, noting that the Commission recognizes the player’s place in the sport’s history. Even so, Drummond explained, the recent guilty verdict means retaining Winmar’s spot in the Hall of Fame would be incompatible with the honor’s core values, and the Commission bears a legal and ethical responsibility to protect the integrity of the institution.

St Kilda Football Club, where Winmar played 231 of his 251 career AFL games, has enacted its own separate disciplinary measure. The club’s board voted to suspend Winmar from its own internal Hall of Fame pending the final outcome of all legal proceedings, including any potential appeal Winmar may file. In an official statement, the club echoed the AFL’s stance, saying “Violence against women has no place in our community. Our thoughts are with anyone impacted by this matter.” A final ruling on whether Winmar will be permanently removed from the St Kilda Hall of Fame will be issued once all legal processes are fully completed.

This disciplinary action follows other public removals of Winmar’s legacy honors in the weeks since his conviction. In the days immediately after the verdict was handed down, a public statue honoring the AFL great was taken down from Perth’s Optus Stadium, a step that preceded the national Hall of Fame’s formal decision to expel him.