Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Megan Maurice

Sportwatch: Lions take top spot, Eels hold on and Lightning beat Giants – as it happened

Brisbane Lions
The Lions celebrated a huge percentage booster that took them to the top of the ladder. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Final remarks

Well that’s it from me tonight - I leave you in the very capable hands of Richard Parkin as he takes you through the Bledisloe Cup / Rugby Championships match between the Wallabies and the All Blacks. Fingers crossed it’s not too much of a blood bath. Thanks for your company and I’ll be back some time in the not too distant future to Sportwatch again!

AFL: Brisbane beat Gold Coast 22.12 (144) to 8.5 (53)

Well it was a percentage booster the Lions were after and boy did they get it in the Queensland derby! An impressive 381 disposals at 76% efficiency for the Lions in that game will fill them with confidence going into the final few rounds. With that win they’ve shot to the top of the ladder, but West Coast and Geelong are yet to play this round.

NRL: Eels 20-14 Knights

Reed Mahoney will be in Mitchell Moses’ good books, scoring the only try for the Eels that was in a good position for the kicker to convert. It was an arm wrestle of a game and won’t fill the Eels with confidence as they look to cement their place in the eight on the run in to finals.

In the end it was superior possession (55% to 45%) and a higher completion rate (89% to 83%) that really sealed the deal for the Eels. They will take some positives from that, but will be looking to turn that possession into points much more often over the coming weeks.

Super Netball: With the top of the ladder NSW Swifts and the third-placed Vixens about to get going in Sydney, take some time to get up to speed on a bit of an ugly Round 11 courtesy of Erin Delahunty’s brilliant column. I know she was particularly proud at being able to use the word ‘claret’ in this one - not a super common occurrence for us netball writers - so please enjoy!

Drugs in sport: This was a really interesting piece from during the week about why we’re still seeing athletes being caught for doping many years into the future.

“That athletes from the 2012 Olympics are still being caught cheating might come as surprise. But the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC 2015) provides for a 10-year window following a competition to test athletes’ samples for a possible doping violation. This is known as retrospective testing.”

WinnieOfOz has a great story about her dad to share:

Mine was a born and bred Geelong fan, and I have two main memories of him: One is standing in the front yard in Bendigo, early sixties, desperately trying to get/keep reception from 3GL. Second was dashing from the church before the bride and groom (my younger brother) to listen to the car radio, given they had the gall to get married during the finals.

Being from a family where you were Geelong from birth, I find it odd to come across families where people cheer different teams. Obviously it’s different if both parents are passionate.

I know a couple who married many decades ago (kids are adults) where he said ‘they can have your religion, but they’re getting my football team’. Sounded like a fair compromise to me.

My husband and I have been lucky in that we’re passionate about different sports, so we don’t have to fight over our daughter’s loyalty. She does have a difficult time understanding that the Richmond Tigers are never going to play the St George-Illawarra Dragons though. How have other Sportwatchers dealt with competing sporting loyalties?

Rugby: Wallaroos 10-47 Black Ferns

A much improved second half wasn’t enough to stop the Ferns - an unstoppable force with no immovable object in their way. Rugby in Australia is facing an uphill battle in all facets of the game, but perhaps it is most stark in the women’s game where years of sidelining girls has created such a small player pool to draw from - and most of those players are choosing other sports. Some serious hard work to be done from administrators in marketing and promoting the game outside the sphere of private boys’ schools in Sydney and Brisbane if they want to compete with the sensational New Zealanders.

Wallroos captain Grace Hamilton was definite on areas for improvement when she spoke after the game.

“We’ve just got to maintain possession,” she said. “Key errors really lost us that game. I thought our scrum was dominant, so that’s a nice positive to take out of this. Our backs were great also, we didn’t do enough to support them defensively, but I’m really proud of them.”

Cricket: It’s been unusual to see Australia’s pace attack without Mitchell Starc during the first Ashes test. Though the bowlers undoubtedly did their job, we have grown accustomed to Starc’s face and pace bearing down on opposing teams in recent years. Adam Collins caught up with Alyssa Healy’s other half to see how he’s coping with this unexpected stint on the sidelines.

Supplements: This was a fascinating read during the week by the excellent Stephanie Convery on the supplements saga in sport in the wake of the Shayna Jack incident. Steph has done a great job of breaking down the issue with some of these supplements and the huge market they have created in the last few years.

NRL: Half-time at Parramatta and the Eels lead the Knights 8-2. Clinton Gutherson has been the go-to for the home team, scoring both tries, though I think Mitchell Moses might appreciate him scoring them a little closer to the posts so he can convert them. They’re strong at home, the Eels with seven wins and just two losses from home games this year, so they will be looking to build that momentum into the second half.

Love this comment from ID9357571:

I grew up in an internationalist house with a dad who abhorred narrow sporting nationalism for its boorishness. He adored, amongst others, Ali, George Best and Viv Richards. He loved his politics and wore them on his sleeve. He carried a few odd sports conspiracies, like the America’s Cup was given to Australia as a win, win swap for Rupert Murdoch.

So for me it was natural to find a team from other countries to follow. Apart from South Africa and Queensland (of course) I had favourite teams from all over the world. In RU I landed with the AB’s (tough at times) and still follow them today. They have had a deserved but at times charmed run against the Wallabies. But tonight I think they will be turned over by an Australian side that is gearing up nicely for the world Cup. I’m looking forward to people admitting they like the game again.

I must admit I am starting to come around to that point of view of not necessarily following Australia in every sport. Not sure I could ever come around to being a full time All Blacks supporter though, that might be a bridge too far - along with becoming an England cricket supporter!

Cricket: Enigma One in the comments is joining me in being quite happy to see England in a panic after one test. They say:

The series is of course still very much alive so I don’t want to get too carried away, but it’s always fun to see England and its fans in panic mode. Said “fans” eviscerate their own like no other fans on the planet. It’s incredibly entertaining, in its own weird way.

It’s true, no one panics quite like the English. Though I wonder if they’re panicking quite enough about this whole Brexit palaver? Seems a little more pressing than a couple of Steve Smith centuries perhaps?

AFL: The Lions have a strong lead over the Suns in the Queensland derby, going into half-time 38 points ahead. Charles Cameron is having an absolute field day out there, with four goals and five disposals at 100% efficiency. This is a big game for the Lions as they attempt to boost their percentage and make a move for top spot on the ladder.

Rugby: Half-time in the women’s rugby test and the Wallaroos haven’t yet found an answer to the Kiwi defence, other than “It’s really, really good.” Their attack isn’t bad either to be honest, they lead the Australians 22-0 at half-time. It’s a hard ask beating a country that lives and breathes rugby, but the Wallaroos desperately need to find some answers during the break.

Football: It’s nice to read some truly happy and wonderful sports news and this article put a smile on my face during the week. It brought back memories of the women’s State of Origin last year and the kiss between NSW Blues star Vanessa Foliaki and Queensland skipper Karina Brown. Little moments like this can have a huge impact and it’s wonderful that women’s sport so often provides them.

Cricket: With only four days before the next Ashes Test and England in a panic, it’s good to hear that Australian coach Justin Langer has a plan in place to make them panic a bit more. Adam Collins, who may well be a British citizen by now, as he’s been over there since the start of the World Cup, which as well all know went for 24 years, spoke to Langer during the week and found out just how the Australians are planning to destroy the English.

Suburban Sportwatch: Very keen to hear how all the Sportwatchers have gone in their games today - let me know in the comments if you had a milestone game, a big win or you’re just celebrating getting out there and competing. I dashed to Guardian HQ from my netball game today, where we went down 57-46 in our last round game before the semis. We were pretty happy with the effort against the top ranked team and think we can take them down during the finals series. You can see me here living my best WD life.

Rugby league: As I mentioned earlier, I was at the Women in Sport Summit this week and as part of the conference, we were treated to a screening of a pretty incredible documentary called Power Meri made by rugby league journalist Joanna Lester on the journey of the PNG Orchids to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. Do yourself a favour and find a way to see it - I highly recommend trying to get a screening at your local school or sports club. It’s an amazing story and beautifully told. A hugely inspiring group of women.

Rugby: We are underway in Perth with the Wallaroos, with the Wallabies to follow later tonight. It’s a big year for rugby and Bret Harris has done a great job of explaining why the Australia and New Zealand battles are so important, even in a World Cup year.

NRL: St George-Illawarra 40-28 Gold Coast

Oh my goodness, it happened. The Dragons won a game! It wasn’t pretty, but it happened. The Titans looked dangerous through the middle of the second half, but the Dragons held them off after the score got within eight and finished with a try of their own to seal the win. Tariq Sims bagged a double for the day, while Tyson Frizell and Paul Vaughan were seemingly unstoppable, making 169m and 237m respectively.

Super Netball: Giants 56-60 Lightning

A poor third quarter ultimately hurt the Giants, going down by six while keeping pace in every other quarter in the match. They don’t call it the championship quarter for nothing. Uncharacteristically low shooting percentages from both goal attacks for the Giants - Jo Harten going to the bench with 16/25 at 64% and Kiera Austin taking her place and managing 4/7 at 57% - was a big factor. The shooting circle looked to have finally found its rhythm a couple of weeks ago against the Magpies, but hasn’t been able to find it again since then. The Lightning were typically clinical, Steph Wood bouncing back from a below par performance by her standards last week to shoot 21/27 at 77% along with 15 goal assists and 19 feeds. Karla Pretorius played at her incredible best with eight gains, three intercepts and four rebounds. How any team can stop her with finals just around the corner is the big question.

AFL: Port Adelaide beat Sydney 15.13 (103) to 7.14 (56)

So my old friend Dr Rudi tells me in the comments that it is indeed quite windy in Adelaide today too, so we might forgive the Swans a bit for their inaccuracy. Though Port seemed to be able to find some non-windy moments to score double the amount of goals the Swans managed. Big game for Connor Rozee with 20 disposals, 10 kicks and three goals for the home team. The 47-point win was just enough to squeeze Port into the top eight ahead of local rivals the Adelaide Crows - who will look to take eighth place back when they play West Coast tomorrow.

Ollie Wines was happy with his team, especially managing to snag the last goal, which got them over the line percentage-wise.

“Today was really important for us, we’ve put two wins in a row together now and just want to ride that momentum and win the last two,” he said after the game. “We adapted throughout the game today and were able to pull off the win, which was really pleasing.”

Motor sport: “Three years of planning for a three month season” could be the description of all manner of women’s sporting competitions. There are so many barriers in the way, but good on Catherine Bond Muir for knocking them down. Looking forward to seeing where the W Series goes in future.

Football: Look, I’m not going to pretend to have too much clue about what went on with all the Premier League transfers this week, but I know it was HUGE NEWS. Fortunately we have some awesome football writers here at the Guardian who were all over it and they’ve provided this excellent summary of who’s in, who’s out and which teams did the best out of the window.

It’s time to toot my own horn a bit - my favourite time in the Sportwatch session! I had a fabulous week at the Women in Sport Summit that was held in Melbourne listening to lots of incredible speakers. I wrote a piece off the back of it that attempts to pull it all together and look at where to next for women’s sport in Australia? It’s been a huge three years, but what is the next step to keep that momentum going?

Netball: Dr Rudi, one of our regular commenters here on Sportwatch asks:

Megan - by the way, isn’t Laura Clemesha too young to call it quits? There’s a spot for her in the T-birds if she wants.

It is pretty unusual for a netballer to retire so young, but I suspect Laura has probably been advised that she’s surplus to requirements for the Firebirds next season and has either scoped out likely places available interstate or decided she’s not keen on leaving Brisbane. While we are seeing much more player movement in the Super Netball days, it’s still a big ask for a player like Clemesha, who would be at the lower end of the payment spectrum, to shift her life for $30k a season.

AFL: Collingwood beat Melbourne 10.10 (70) to 7.11 (53)

Not a game that either team will be overly happy about in the scheme of things, but Collingwood will be happy to walk away from it with the four points, which will push them above GWS on the ladder. Steele Sidebottom was everywhere for the Pies, with 28 disposals and 18 kicks. Speaking after the game, Scott Pendlebury was happy with the performance, though recognises the Pies have a way to go before finals.

“I think we played our way for the majority of today,” he said. “We’ve been building from last week into today - it’s good to get a couple of wins in a row. Sidebottom just runs guys into the ground and it looks like he’s got so much space, but we know he’s probably just run 3 or 400m to get it.”

Rugby: A big game coming up tonight for the Wallabies - this will really test where they’re at before the start of the World Cup next month. Richard Parkin has you covered for this one, he will be live blogging the match and will be looking at all the key talking points as they arise.

Super Netball: An enthralling battle is underway in Sydney, with the Giants taking a one-goal lead into the half-time break. The teams have split the bonus points on offer so far, with the Lightning going into quarter time one ahead. Smart play from the Giants at the end of the first half saw them use up enough time to score themselves and make the Lightning use their next centre pass without scoring, meaning they will come back with the first centre pass next half. In a game this close, those little moments can be crucial. Good to see the Giants have tidied up since last week and are not attracting as much whistle - they have only 21 penalties so far to the Lightning’s 23, a far cry from their 59 last week.

NRL: Half time at Kogarah and the Dragons are - sorry, how do we spell this, winning? Sure, it’s only by six and they let in a needless late try, but this is a very unfamiliar feeling for the Red V. Hopefully someone is petitioning the NRL to give away ladder points for half-time leads as we speak. The usual suspects stepping up with tries to Paul Vaughan, Tariq Sims and Tyson Frizell, while Gareth Widdop has been solid with the boot.

Cricket: I love that there are over 1000 comments on this article. Mass panic in the motherland since the first Ashes Test and no one is quite sure how to stop Steve Smith. He’s like some kind of evil genius and I hope he really leans into that coming into the second test and goes full moustache twirling, white cat stroking super villain on them. Maybe the plan should be to select James Bond for the next game?

AFL: A very interesting piece from Kirby Fenwick this week on the long overdue move from the AFL in addressing the many mental health concerns arising out of the game. Along with concussion, this is due to be one of the most crucial issues in professional sport of the current age, so it will be fascinating to follow the progress of this move.

Cricket: Lovely piece here from Isa Guha on the comebacks of Steve Smith and Ben Stokes. They’ve had very different journeys and different roles in their teams, but it is interesting to compare and contrast how they have dealt with returning to the top level of the sport.

AFL: Port Adelaide had a strong second half to build their lead over the Swans, up by 15 at the main break. At first glance I was thinking the strong winds in Sydney today were affecting the Swans’ ability to kick, but it turns out the Adelaide Oval is not in Sydney - who would have guessed? Perhaps the players have got some sympathy kicks going on with their fans back home? Either way they’ve managed only four goals today, but 10 behinds, meaning they have had as many scoring shots as Port, but haven’t been able to convert at the same rate. The good news for the red and whites is that they’re not being comprehensively out-played, they just need to find a way to get on target. If they can tighten that up in the second half they’ll be sweet.

AFL: Half-time in a very low scoring affair at the G today, sees Collingwood leading Melbourne by 18 points. Despite a very poor start from the Pies, they had a strong second quarter to take a pretty decisive lead in the context of the game. Brody Mihocek has been the standout for Collingwood with eight disposals, six kicks and two goals for the first half, while Scott Pendlebury and Josh Thomas are also seeing plenty of the ball and distributing it well. We’ll keep an eye on how this one progresses and see if the teams are able to find the space between the two big sticks a bit more often this half.

Updated

Preamble

Another big day in sport awaits us - so strap yourselves in and get ready for a full afternoon of sport here on Sportwatch before I hand you over to Richard Parkin for the Wallabies big game against the All Blacks later this evening.

But before then we have some huge clashes coming your way, with a couple of AFL game already underway, Super Netball and NRL about to get started and the women’s rugby test coming up in a couple of hours. So let’s get into it and hope we don’t get snowed on like the poor old Giants and Hawks last night!

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Clavicular arrest: Who is the controversial influencer and what is ‘looksmaxxing’
The 20-year-old controversial social media star promotes the theory that maximizing male attractiveness — often through surgical intervention – is the key to success and superiority
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Why Zendaya Is ‘Disappearing’ From Public Life After 2026
Why Zendaya Is ‘Disappearing’ From Public Life After 2026
Marie Claire
Marie Claire
“This Is Why She Can’t Keep A Man”: Jennifer Lopez, 56, Brutally Slammed Over Her Daring Stage Outfit
“When grandma won't accept that she's just embarrassing," wrote one user.
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
Las Vegas girl gets a random DM from a woman and finds out she’s being stalked by a rude regular at her gym: ‘There’s photos of you in his phone’
The safety of our digital footprints is a recurring anxiety in the age of social media. For Las Vegas gym creator Klair Elena (TikTok/@klaielena), that fear became a chilling reality after a stranger’s DM.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Astronaut’s spooky image aboard the ISS sparks fear with some convinced they’re looking at an alien
NASA astronaut Don Pettit has finally shared the real story behind a bizarre, tentacled object photographed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) that had many people online convinced it was an alien. This image, which quickly went viral, had social media users scratching their heads and even feeling a little…
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Woman calls out Starbucks barista online for shooting his shot but soon finds out that the internet isn’t on her side
A woman who took to TikTok to call out a Starbucks barista for what she felt was an inappropriate “secret message” on her coffee cup has found that the internet isn’t quite on her side. Ari Chance shared her experience online, expecting widespread agreement, but instead, viewers offered a mixed…
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play