And that is it from me. Thank you for your company, your comments and your emails. And check back to the Guardian tomorrow when we will do it all again.
COLLINGWOOD WIN!
Final score: Collingwood 104 - Lions 73.
There have been three goals in the first 18 minutes of the 2018-19 Premier League season. The live blog for Newcastle v Spurs is up now.
Back down south, and with four minutes to go, it’s Collingwood 102 - Lions 65. I’m not going to hedge my bets here. The Pies will win.
And, for the umpteenth time today, there was a score as soon as I saved the post. And then another. It’s GWS 94 - Crows 75.
Five minutes into the fourth quarter in Canberra and it’s Giants 88 - Crows 69.
And of course, as soon as I saved that previous post, Eric Hipwood got a goal for the Lions, followed quickly by a behind for the Pies. It’s Collingwood 95 - Lions 64, with 11 minutes to go.
In Melbourne, it’s Collingwood 93 - Lions 58. Brisbane have 13 minutes left to rescue this game, but they don’t look like they are capable of doing so.
In Canberra at three-quarter time it’s GWS 80 - Crows 69.
Back to Melbourne and two minutes into the fourth quarter, it’s Collingwood 86 - Lions 52.
EELS WIN!
Jarryd Haynes with three tries and Mitchell Moses with several conversions (sorry, I lost count) were the headline players, but the whole team did Parramatta proud. Final score: Eels 40 - Dragons 4. This was not an outcome anyone could have predicted before the game.
Updated
It’s three-quarter time in Melbourne and the score is Collingwood 80 - Lions 52. The visitors have a lot of work to do in the last quarter if they are going to pull this one out of the fire.
Eight minutes to go in the NRL and it’s still Eels 34 - Dragons 4. I’m going to make a bold prediction that the Eels are going to win this one.
Showing how cold it is in Canberra, a couple of people in the crowd are holding up a sign saying “Turn on the heater.” More importantly, on the field, it’s Giants 67 - Crows 55, with Bryce Gibbs having just scored a goal.
Back to Melbourne, and it’s Collingwood 66 - Lions 46, with nine minutes left in the third quarter.
And now Josh Kelly has scored a goal for the Giants. It’s GWS 66 - Crows 49.
The Giants are taking care of business so far in the third quarter. They now lead the Crows 60-49.
They are three minutes into the third quarter in Canberra and it’s GWS 48 - Crows 49.
While I flicking over to the AFL, there was another score in the NRL. Parramatta are running away with this. It’s Eels 34 - Dragons 4, 15 minutes into the second half.
AFL update: Collingwood 44 - Lions 40, three minutes into the third quarter.
We’re eight minutes into the second half at ANZ and there have already been two tries, first for the Dragons, then the Eels. Moses converted the Eels try and it’s Parramatta 28 - St George 4.
And, as has happened often today, just as I launched the previous post there has been a score. A goal for the Giants, followed by four behinds means the score is GWS 45 - Crows 49 at half-time.
AFL update: Collingwood 37 - Lions 34 at half-time, and Giants 36 - Crows 48 with three minutes to go until half-time.
Half-time at ANZ stadium, and the Eels are totally dominating, leading 22-0 over the Dragons.
Updated
It’s that man Hayne again, scoring his third try of the game. Moses converts and it’s Eels 22 - Dragons 0 with a minute left in the first half.
Back to the NRL, and the Eels have increased their lead. It’s now Eels 16 - Dragons 0, with four minutes left in the first half.
Updated
What a turnaround in just a few minutes in Canberra. It’s now Giants 35 - Crows 41, after two quick goals from Adelaide.
AFL update: Collingwood 19 - Lions 22, eight minutes into the second quarter, and GWS 35 - Crows 29, seven minutes into the second quarter.
The Dragons’ Garreth Widdop is off the field with what looks like a dislocated shoulder. He won’t be back tonight. This game is going from bad to worse for St George.
Cameron McInnes of the Dragons has been sin-binned with 13 minutes left in the first half. Can the Eels take advantage over the next 10 minutes?
As I said in the first post, hours ago, most of the people reading this blog are in Australia, but I want to say hello to those reading in the UK, New Zealand, US, Ireland, France and 24 other countries on every continent. And a particular thank you to the two people reading in Cambodia and one each in Kenya, Georgia, Guernsey and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
AFL update: Collingwood 9 - Lions 22 at quarter time, GWS 28 - Adelaide 27, also at quarter time.
Hayne’s bandages have not hindered his play. He’s just got his second try. Moses makes no mistake this time with the conversion. It’s Eels 10 - Dragons o after 13 minutes.
Updated
Jarryd Hayne is being trussed up with over the head and round the chin bandages. Whatever lead to this happened while I was looking at the AFL. He is playing on.
Updated
AFL update: Collingwood 3 - Brisbane Lions 16 after 13 minutes of the first quarter, and GWS 25 - Crows 13 after 11 minutes.
HAYNE SCORES!
Jarryd Hayne opens the scoring with a sweet try. Mitchell Moses hooks the conversion, so it’s Eels 4 - Dragons 0 after five minutes.
Here are the line ups for the Eels v Dragons game.
Final teams for #NRLEelsDragons!#NRLFantasy pic.twitter.com/IvKOyjPqEj
— NRL Fantasy (@NRLFantasy) August 11, 2018
Next up in the NRL is Eels v Dragons. At least one punter is not confident of this being a good game.
Drinking game. Eels vs Dragons. Potentially worst game of season. Drink for every dropped ball. Let's see how drunk we get.......
— Briggsy (@champingyon) August 11, 2018
The weather in Canberra, unlike the early spring in Sydney, is currently “feels like -1” according to a weather app. Depends on what phone and what app you use, probably.
In the other current AFL game, it’s GWS 6 - Adelaide Crows 7 after three minutes.
Next up on super sport Saturday is Collingwood v Brisbane. The visitors are leading 1-0 after three minutes.
MANLY WIN!
On a balmy winter’s night on Sydney’s northern beaches, the home side prevail. Final score: Manly 18 - Canterbury 6. A fabulous Brad Parker was the highlight of the closing minutes. The end result is Manly will probably not be this year’s NRL wooden spooners. The Bulldogs might yet suffer that ignominy though.
Updated
That was a massive finish by West Coast and McGovern. Nerves of steel, that man.
WEST COAST WIN!
Jeremy McGovern scores at the final whistle to steal the win. Port Adelaide 9.4.58 - West Coast 9.8.62.
TRY FOR MANLY!
NRL update: Will Hopoate was keeping Manly from scoring, but even he couldn’t prevent Addin Fonua-Blake from bursting through for a try. Cherry-Evans, who made the final pass before the try, converts. It’s Manly 18 - Canterbury 6 with 11 minutes to go.
AFL update: Port Adelaide 57 - West Coast 48, with 10 minutes to go in the final quarter.
TRY FOR MANLY!
And just as I made that last post, Tom Trbojevic scored a try, but Hodkinson missed the conversion. It’s Manly 12 - Canterbury 6.
Updated
NRL update: the momentum has turned in Manly’s favour and they now lead 8-6 over the Bulldogs.
AFL update: It’s Port Adelaide 56 - West Coast 41 at the start of the final quarter.
I’m off to get a cup of tea while I can. In the meantime, have a read of this, where Jürgen Klopp compares his team to a fictional boxer.
Half-time at Brookvale: Manly 4 - Canterbury 6. The Bulldogs not only didn’t take advantage of having an extra man for the last 10 minutes, Manly kicked a penalty in that time. Wooden spoon football.
AFL update: Port Adelaide 56 - West Coast 28, nine minutes into the third quarter.
Another penalty for Manly and another conservative decision from Cherry-Evans. Still, he scores, and that’s a good thing when they have 12 players against 13 at the moment. It’s Manly 4 - Canterbury 6, with four minutes to go in the first half.
A poor kick from Kerrod Holland means Penrith miss a great opportunity to increase their lead with Manly down a man on the cusp of half-time.
Trent Hodkinson gets 10 minutes in the sin-bin for a professional foul. Manly’s evening just got worse.
If, like me, your interest in round ball football began with Liverpool when they still won things with great regularity, this article from Barney Ronay will make happy reading:
Updated
TRY FOR BULLDOGS!
Michael Lichaa scores Rhyse Martin converts. Manyl 2 - Canterbury 6, 21 minutes into the first half.
In case you didn’t believe me about Canterbury’s socks:
I’m loving the socks the doggies have on 😍 #NRLManlyBulldogs #WomenInLeague
— Georgia Barone (@georgia_barone) August 11, 2018
AFL update: Port Adelaide 38 - West Coast 20 at half-time.
A conservative decision from Cherry-Evans. but understandable when you’re staring down the barrel of a wooden spoon.
Penalty to Manly and captain Daly Cherry-Evans takes his points. Manly 2 - Canterbury 0.
The disallowed try was from Moses Suli.
3 mins: Tom Trbojevic tapped it forward to himself, so the resulting try has been disallowed.
After a day in which the weather was more like mid-spring than late winter on Sydney’s northern beaches, Manly will be looking for a home win.
MANLY V CANTERBURY MATCH STARTS!
The Bulldogs are wearing bright pink socks for the women in league round.
AFL update: Port Adelaide 32 - West Coast 13, with 10 minutes left in the second quarter.
Here is the AAP report on the netball semi-final.
Fever beat Giants to host netball final
West Coast Fever will host the 2018 Super Netball grand final in Perth after defeating the Giants 63-57 in Sydney.
The Giants will face either the Queensland Firebirds or Sunshine Coast Lightning next weekend for a chance to play the Fever for a third time in four weeks in the decider on August 26.
West Coast and Super Netball’s leading scorer, Jhaniele Fowler, was helped off the court after injuring her knee in the first quarter on Saturday, marking the first real shift in the game’s momentum, when an eight-goal Fever lead was reduced to three.
A heavily strapped Fowler wasn’t as mobile as she might have liked on her return but she was accurate when she had a clean shot at goal, claiming 48 goals from 48 attempts.
Fever goal keeper Courtney Bruce and goal defence Stacey Francis frustrated the Giants at the other end.
Six intercepts from Bruce and strong body positioning saw goal attack Jo Harten (33 from 38 attempts) and goal shooter Susan Pettitt (24/30) hit the floor a number of times.
The Giants refused to give up, completing a five-goal run just before halftime to threaten the Fever’s dominance before being ground back down to eight behind midway through the third period.
The seven-goal run from Giants that followed would see them just a single goal away from tying up the game as they headed into the final quarter, but Fever controlled the Quaycentre clash until the final whistle.
And here is how they will line up:
Final Teams for #NRLManlyBulldogs!#NRLFantasy#NRL pic.twitter.com/hQHWKfTOAl
— NRL Fantasy (@NRLFantasy) August 11, 2018
Coming up next in the NRL is Manly against Canterbury. This will be the first time since 1965 the teams have met while both are in the bottom four of the ladder.
WEST COAST FEVER WIN MAJOR SEMI-FINAL!
Netball major semi-final full-time: West Coast Fever 63 - Giants 57
Back to the AFL. At quater time, it’s Port Adelaide 31 - West Coast 7.
PENRITH WIN WITH A GOLDEN POINT!
Cleary scores. Final score: Gold Coast 16 - Penrith 17. What a finish.
Cleary with a very long kick which hit the post and went under. Still 16 each. Just over two minutes left in the first GP period.
What a finish to what was not a good game until the last few minutes. We’re in golden point territory.
Cleary misses the conversion! He really should have score there. It was not a difficult angle.
Watene-Zelezniak got the try.
PENRITH EQUALISE!
Seconds on the clock and Penrith score a try. Unbelievable!
90 seconds to go and Gold Coast are just trying to wind down the clock now.
And Cleary converts his own try. It’s Gold Coast 16 - Penrith 12 with four minutes to go.
TRY FOR PENRITH!
Nathan Cleary scores for the Panthers. This game is not over yet.
This is not a game for the neutrals. Very scrappy, with too many avoidable errors and Gold Coast are not taking full advantage of the punch drunk state of Penrith. Just over six minutes to go.
Back to tbe NRL and it’s still Gold Coast 16 - Penrith 6, with nine minutes to go.
Netball update: with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, it’s Giants 47 - Fever 53.
AFL update: another game has started. Five minutes into the first quarter it’s Port Adelaide 6 - West Coast 0.
Jack Riewoldt got that final goal for the Tigers.
RICHMOND WIN!
Final score: Gold Coast 7.9.51 - Richmond 19.11.125.
Updated
And just as I saved that last post, the Suns scored. It’s Gold Coast 51 - Richmond 119, with just over a minute to go.
Back to the AFL. Two minutes left in the fourth quarter and it’s Gold Coast 45 - Richmond 119. I think we know how this one is going to finish.
And the conversion makes it Gold Coast 16 - Penrith 6. Questions are going to be asked in western Sydney.
TRY!
Amazing run from Anthony Don for the Titans. It’s Gold Coast - 14 - Penrith 6, with 20 minutes to go.
58 mins: very odd and nervy play from Penrith. Off-field matters are obviously weighing heavy on their mind.
Right, back to the NRL after that exciting diversion to AFL land. It’s Gold Coast 10 - Penrith 6, 13 minutes into the second half.
Netball update: Giants 31 - Fever 37, with nine minutes to go in the third quarter.
AFL update: Gold Coast 33 - Richmond 100, with 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
HAWTHORN WIN!
Hawthorn are into the top 4 with an 11 point win over Geelong. Final score: Hawthorn 10.11.71 Geelong 8.12.60
Jaeger O’Meara scores a goal to settle the Hawks’ nerves. It’s Hawthorn 71 - Geelong 59 with 30 seconds left.
Ablett is being booed every time he touches the ball. 90 seconds to go, one kick in it. Hawthorn 65 - Geelong 59.
What a fantastic finish to this game with Geelong coming back strongly, but missing opportunities.
Another missed opportunity for the Cats. The ball hits the post. Hawthorn 65 - Geelong 59. Three minutes left.
James Parsons gets a behind after making a mark. He’ll be disappointed he didn’t do better there. Hawthorn 65 - Geelong 58. with four minutes to go.
Irishman Mark O’Connor saves the Cats from conceding a goal that would have settled matters. Geelong could still pull this one out of the fire.
Tim Kelly has just scored another goal for the Cats. It’s Hawthorn 65 - Geelong 57 with seven minutes to go.
AFL: Well, I went to make a cup of tea and look what happened – Geelong have come storming back and it’s now Hawthorn 65 - Geelong 51 with just over eight minutes to go. Can the Cats complete an unlikely comeback?
Netball update: Giants 23 - Fever 26, with four minutes left in the second quarter.
AFL update: Gold Coast 26 - Richmond 85, 12 minutes into the third quarter, and Hawthorn 64 - Geelong 38, six minutes into the fourth quarter.
Half-time: Titans 6 - Panthers 6. James Maloney, Penrith’s captain, took a heavy knock in the last tackle of the first half, just before the Gold Coast line.
39 mins: Can Penrith score before half-time, despite being down to 12 men?
Just saw a clip of Hetherington on the bike, not looking happy at his sin-binning.
37 mins: Down a man on the pitch, under serious pressure off the pitch, the Panthers are hanging out for half-time.
This sort of behaviour is becoming a bit of a habit for Hetherington and is not what Penrith needed. Cooler heads is what they need, even if the decision to sin-bin Hetherington might have been a bit harsh.
Hetherington sin-binned
33 mins: The tension in the game almost blows over, but a lot of huffing and puffing and shirt grabbing does not, thankfully, lead to any punches being thrown. But the referee is laying down the law and Jack Hetherington has been sin-binned for 10 minutes.
Updated
30 mins: Josh Mansour almost got across the line for the Panthers. It took four Titans to prevent a try.
Back to the NRL. Knock on by Nathan Peats as he was trying to down the ball behind the Panthers line. It remains Gold Coast 6 - Penrith 6, with 15 minutes to go in the first half.
AFL update: Gold Coast 23 - Richmond 53 at half-time, and Hawthorn 51 - Geelong 31, 12 minutes into the third quarter.
Super Netball update: Giants 3 - Fever 6, 10 minutes into the first quarter.
Gold Coast come roaring back, but a fine run ends up with a forward pass and a wasted opportunity to regain the lead.
And Nathan Cleary converts. It’s Titans 6 - Panthers 6.
TRY! Penrith get on the scoreboard.
13 mins: Waqa Blake scores a beauty at the corner flag. Penrith finally turn dominant possession into a score.
9 mins: Penrith had a scrum 12 metres from the Gold Coast line, but nothing came of the possession. Penrith seem to be lacking spark.
Much better by the Panthers now, but great defence by the Titans, so close but no score.
This is not the start Penrith would have hoped for. Gold Coast have settled quickly with the benefit of home advantage.
And Ashley Taylor converts. It’s Titans 6 - Panthers 0.
TRY! Titans take the lead
4 mins: Captain Ryan James and leads by example and scores a nice try by reaching his hand between the posts.
The teams are:
Final teams for #NRLTitansPanthers!#NRLFantasy #NRL #RedFantasyGuru pic.twitter.com/4NHvzQXv6s
— Fantasy Guru (@RedFantasyGuru) August 11, 2018
Peep! The game is under way at CBUS stadium.
The Panthers have won their last three games against the Titans, by an average of 11 points. Can they do the same again today after the week they’ve had?
It’s a lovely sunny afternoon on the Gold Coast as the Titans v Panthers game is about to kick off.
AFL: Hawthorn 38 - Geelong 18 at half-time.
Updated
AFL update: Gold Coast 8 - Richmond 28, five minutes into the second quarter.
Good news if you’re an A-League or W-League fan in America.
Football Federation Australia has announced that ESPN+ has reached a multi-year media agreement to broadcast the A-League and W-League in the US.
The agreement will see ESPN+ carry up to 140 A-League matches from October through to May and at least 17 W-League matches which will be streamed from October through to February.
FFA’s chief commercial officer Luke Bould was excited. “To be one first football leagues featured on their world leading new ESPN+ platform is a great coup. The US is an important market for us, particularly in women’s football. With so many Westfield Matildas playing there in the Westfield W-League off-season, there is a significant following which will only grow through this agreement.”
Greg O’Rourke, FFA’s head of the A-League and W-League, was equally pleased.
“In a week which saw Melbourne Victory secure the signature of Japanese Football legend Keisuke Honda, interest in our leagues only continues to grow around the world,” he said.
The quote is from Andrew Gaff.
Preamble
Good afternoon (or morning or evening, depending on where you are in the world, but most likely you are in Australia).
Another action packed Saturday of sport coverage will start soon, but in the meantime, have a read of this piece about the possibility of the AFL introducing a red card system and consider this quote from a certain player a year ago, saying there was merit in having a sending off system. “It was a little bit unfair for Sydney to lose a player, but also for the Melbourne player to stay out there for the whole game.” Have a guess in the comments who this quote is from. Or google it.
