David King and Kane Cornes have gone through a few candidates on SEN Breakfast.
See their thoughts below:
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Harry McKay (Carlton)
King: “I’m going with Harry McKay. He hasn’t been the same presence in that forward line the last few weeks.”
“His form against top eight teams – four games, five goals. 12 games against bottom teams, 34 goals.
“Do it against the best. They’ve got an opportunity to go up to Queensland and shake up the season.
“I looked at Harris Andrews last week, I think he’s really gettable, I know he intercept marks a lot, but he’s gettable. So Harry, get it done.”
Jordan DeGoey (Collingwood)
Cornes: “I thought he was excellent against Port Adelaide, he got seven coaches votes.”
“But it is often easier to play well in your first game back, a lot of players returning from injury play well, the challenge for them is that second game back.
“They’re against a very good side, big stage, 14 goals this year, I just feel like it’s a big weekend for Jordan De Goey.”
Ken Hinkley (Port Adelaide)
King: “It’s a big night for Ken Hinkley on Saturday night. Get the matchup right against Shai Bolton or pay a price.”
Cornes: “Is he the hardest matchup in the game?”
King: “No, Jeremy Cameron is the hardest matchup in the game.”
King: “I just think this matchup and the way they use him – it’s the Dustin Martin role – be ready for it, be aware of it, plan for it, and find the right matchup.
Cornes: “I’m trying to go through Port Adelaide’s line-up and work out who are they going to play on him? Martin has got them in big games and they haven’t been ready for that. Darcy Byrne-Jones is there, Dan Houston is in the mix – or do you say to Jase Burgoyne, he’s yours young fella. Finals are off the agenda, it’s about development for Port Adelaide now, I’d like to see him experience what it’s like to play on a player like Shai Bolton.”
Matt TabernerFremantle
Cornes: “He just needs a big weekend. His last five games from him: St Kilda nothing, two goals against Sydney, one goal against Richmond and nothing last week. ”
“Fremantle’s lack of scoring recently in the last three weeks, nine goals against Sydney, seven against Richmond and just five last week against Melbourne.
“It’s a massive issue for them. Can Rory Lobb and Taberner be the combination that is going to put Freo in top four contention once again, I’m not sure.”
alastair clarkson
King: “I think we’ll find out sooner rather than later. You would want this tidied up before the end of the home-and-away season – I don’t think we’d be too far away.”
Cornes: “I get the feeling you’re confident (he’ll coach North).”
King: “Absolutely I’m confident. Why wouldn’t you be confident?
Ed Langdon (Melbourne)
“It’s a big night for Ed, isn’t it?”
“When you make strong statements like that, the focus does come to you and the club and whilst we enjoy the openness of the commentary, no doubt it has brought an extra element of pressure to Melbourne tonight.”
Australian race walker and reigning Commonwealth Games champion Jemima Montag says she’s embracing the pressure of defending her crown just days away from competing at the Birmingham Games.
The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist is shaping to be the walker to beat at the event, aiming to become the first woman since Jane Saville in 2006 to successfully defend a gold medal in walking.
The event distance has been shortened from a 20km road race and will now be contested as a 10km track race inside Alexander Stadium.
“I’m keen for it to be half the distance,” Montag said.
Jemima Montag is aiming to defend her 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medal at this years’s 10km Race Walk Final in Birmingham.(Getty Images: Michael Dodge)
“I really feed off the crowd’s energy and excitement. I remember back to 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and there were so many Australians … just giving us their energy for that entire hour and a half.”
In February, Montag broke Saville’s long-standing 18-year 20km Australian and Oceania record by 13 seconds. It’s a moment in which she reflects on, after her ‘turning point’ when pulling on the green and gold four years ago at Gold Coast.
“Representing Australia means embodying the Australian values of mateship and a fair go and giving our all to something. I think that’s what the Australian audience really want to see us doing,” she said.
“Crossing the line and hitting the tape at the 2018 Commonwealth Games was the first moment I believed in myself as capable of competing on the world stage and representing my country well.
“I tried to enjoy the final couple of laps and interact with the crowd and grab the flag, and crossing that line, hitting the tape, and then having Nathan Deakes pop the medal around my neck.
“It felt like a real rite of passage and a sense of belonging after years of struggling with self-belief.
“I feel pressure and expectation to bring some medals home (at Birmingham), but I remind myself that all the Aussies and my family just want to see us going out and being leaders, setting a good example for the younger generation and embodying those values .”
In February, Montag broke Jane Saville’s 18-year record for the Australian 20km race walk event.(Athletics Australia / Steve Christo)
Change in mentality for national record
Montag said the Australian and Oceania record — at a time of 1:27:27 — came about from a motivational shift in mental techniques. The change lifted the weight of her off her shoulders, going on to reset goals for the remainder of the year.
“We got to the finish line about 30 seconds quicker than the national record,” Montag said.
“I’ve done a lot of reflecting since then about the power of values-based motivation as opposed to fear-based motivation.
“It was a very special day, I think that it was bigger than winning the Commonwealth Games or making it to the Olympic Games or anything.
“Being the fastest woman in the country to cover that distance is pretty cool.”
It was only a matter of minutes after the race that an exhausted Montag received a call from her idol, Saville, who celebrated the achievement with her.
“It was amazing. I was in the tent half-dead on the physio table, and she was there on the phone, so supportive,” she said.
“I think that’s a true sign of an excellent sportswoman when they just want to see their sport moving forward … and she had the record for a couple of decades or whatever it was and she was she was so happy.”
The importance of role models
Despite the accolades on the track, winning doesn’t appear to be everything for Montag. The near misses are cause for just as much celebration, after coming fourth at the World Athletics Championships by just 19 seconds in July.
“Humans have just decided that 1-2-3 get medals and fourth is one spot away from that. I think that fourth rocks, it doesn’t suck,” Montag said after the meet in Eugene, Oregon.
Being successful off the track and showing there’s a human behind every athlete is just as important as Montag inspires the next generation of athletes.
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Australian racewalker Jemima Montag talks about the impact her Nana has had on her
A medicine student who loves to cook and spend time with family, the 24-year-old also talks about superstitions; like the lucky number three, her her lucky pajamas, and a lucky golden bracelet she wears from her late grandmother.
“I lost my nana about a year ago, just before the Olympic Games, and it’s only in the months that have followed that we’ve really been able to unpack her story as a Holocaust survivor,” Montag said.
“It’s something that understandably she didn’t want to talk about much, and there was a lot of pain and trauma there.”
A golden necklace became a keepsake for Montag and her two sisters, who split it into three bracelets to continue her nana’s legacy.
“I wear my nana’s bracelet as a lucky charm now. And it reminds me of that strength and resilience,” she said.
“It’s just a really tangible reminder of what she sacrificed for dad and then me to even be alive. Sometimes, you know, sport is hard and it comes with its challenges.
“(But) it’s a reminder that I choose to be out there day in, day out at these competitions doing what I do. And it’s hard, but it should be fun.”
Jemima Montag became the first Australian track and field athlete to be nominated for the Commonwealth Games for the UK campaign.(Athletics Australia / Steve Christo)
Walking is ‘much bigger’ than just a sport
Montag is using walking as the ‘vehicle’ to create positive messages as a role model.
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“Race walking to me is much bigger than the physical sport. It’s somewhere I belong and it’s a vehicle through which I can explore my values of the pursuit of mastery, of challenging myself, of inspiring the next generation of boys and girls, and just exploring my mental and physical limits,” Montag said.
The Australian champion was chosen as one just 25 athletes across the globe — the sole representative from Oceania — in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Young Leaders Program from 2021-2024.
“We’re choosing a pressing local issue that we’re passionate about that connects to the sustainable development goals, and we’re building a sport-based solution,” Montag said.
“I’ve chosen to focus on the decline of young women and girls in sport and physical activity, which is something I’m passionate about because I’ve seen how much sport and physical activity has brought to me.
“I’ve also seen friends that I’ve made through sport gradually face barriers and drop out and how challenging it’s been for them and how I was almost driven out of the sport.
“I was able to get to the bottom of: what are the unique barriers to women and girls in sport, what’s driving them out at twice the rate of boys?
“Then the tricky part was what do we do about it? Because if we had all the answers, then I’m sure they’d be being enacted already.”
Through Montag’s program ‘Play On’, a vision of creating enabling environments through education and training for young women is changing perceptions.
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Racewalker Jemima Montag on navigating adolescence and puberty as a female athlete
“So often I found that girls and women are blamed for being lazy or just not committed enough for choosing to drop out of sport,” she said.
“And we’re not really questioning whether the environments are made for them or welcoming them or attuned to their needs.
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“I built a team of 14 women experts who are very diverse — some Paralympians and Olympians, some are community leaders, some are doctors, some in the political space.”
With four topics to address positivity — female athlete health, mental health, nutrition, and inclusivity — Montag is aiming for a stronger connection between schools and parents, who often rely on one another to address responsibility gap issues of retaining women in sport.
“We challenge the idea that there has to be a cookie cutter image of what a female athlete looks like that’s tall, blonde, thin, able-bodied, neurotypical of a certain race,” Montag said.
“I’m hoping that by listening to the experts in those four areas, 15-year-old girls have what I wish I had at their age, and that they’re armed with the tools to navigate any challenge that might come up for them and to help themselves.
“Having the opportunity to be a role model for the younger girls and women coming through has added a whole new layer of meaning and enjoyment to my sport.
“No longer is it a lonely individual pursuit, it’s something that I can really leverage and use to make a difference to other people’s lives, which feels amazing.”
That pursuit this weekend at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games is something Montag is hoping to use as inspiration for future walkers who will be watching her race.
“It’s something that’s a really important biological marker of health that we should celebrate and just learn how to navigate on the track and in life,” she said.
“I’m really careful with the legacy that I’m leaving to the next generation and the words I choose and what I say to them.
“It really doesn’t matter what any of us do, it’s really about ‘why’ behind it.
“And so that ‘why’ is belonging to a community and being a good leader and inspiring younger women and girls to take up whatever physical activity it is that feels good for them to look after their physical and mental health.”
Montag will compete in the women’s 10,000m Race Walk Final on Saturday at 7:30pm AEST.
It has produced stars such as James Tedesco and Jack Wighton. Former captains include Nathan Cleary and Campbell Graham.
But not every player gets their fairytale ending.
“I wasn’t ready to deal with it until I was probably in my late 20s or early 30s. I didn’t deal with it properly,” said Auremi. “I’ve never been able to replace the feeling of playing rugby league.”
Even though he regained feeling in his arms and legs, and was able to walk, his neurosurgeon ruled out ever playing again.
“I have [the neurosurgeon] broke the news to Tim,” said Kerry Auremi, Tim’s mother.
“Speaking from his heart he said ‘you cannot play a contact sport again. It’s too risky’.”
“That road back to health was terrible.”
Tim Auremi (left) with Albert Kelly and Paul Sironen at the ASRL team announcement in 2008.Credit:Helen Nezdropa
It’s something Kerry still thinks about because, although Auremi’s injury was an exception, the reality is that most young players will never make it professionally. When that time comes, she says, they aren’t prepared for what they will do after a life in rugby league.
“It was like a death in his life. And you have to grieve,” she said.
“I have [a sports psychologist] said to Tim, ‘on the 24th of April [day of the injury] your life was going in one direction, and on the 25th of April your life has gone in another direction. And until you can come to terms with that, you’re not going to move on’.”
Brendan Barlow, principal of MacGregor High School and coach of the 2008 Schoolboys side, said that Tim was an intelligent player and empathetic leader.
“He was always a dream [to coach],” Barlow said.
“He was the sort of player that you always wanted to coach. He extremely well-disciplined, he had great values, and he was a really good leader of the side. His actions from him were his words from him, and he brought the best out of other players… He was a pleasure to coach.
Adjusting to life after league was difficult for Auremi, and taking up an apprenticeship in a trade job was also out of the picture because of the physical nature of the work.
However, he was thrown a lifeline. That came in the way of a traineeship with NSW Rugby League, after family friend and former Bulldogs player, Tas Baitieri, contacted the Men of League Foundation and was able to organize funding for the position.
Since then, Auremi has worked across the NSWRL in development positions, and is currently working for NRL Victoria as a pathways and coaching manager.
Ash Nisbet decided to chase his entrepreneurial dreams instead of his NRL ones.
For other players who make their way to the NRL through the Schoolboys system, it’s a dream come true. But other dreams start to take over and, suddenly, rugby league isn’t the be all and end all.
Ashleigh Nisbet captained the 2014 Australian Schoolboys side when they toured England and France, and went on to play under-20s and reserves football for Cronulla, Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra.
But when Nisbet tore a pectoral muscle, he was left wondering what he would do if he couldn’t play rugby league.
“When I did that [the injury] I was like, ‘OK, I have to have something else going for me’,” Nisbet said.
“So I just started doing a little bit of personal training work for someone … and then my girlfriend and I started our own business, a little PT business, and then we ended opening up a gym.”
For a while, Nisbet balanced playing and running the gym with his partner Alanna, but his entrepreneurial ambition took over. When the gym started to take off, he picked the business over the NRL. It’s a decision he doesn’t regret.
“The business got pretty full on, and it got to the point where I was juggling them both, and it was getting pretty hard,” said Nisbet.
“I’m pretty happy with what we’re doing. We live a pretty awesome lifestyle… I’m glad how it all worked out.”
As for Auremi, he is working with the NRL to expand the game in Victoria, and is helping young players achieve their dreams of making the grade.
“I’m probably at peace now, but for a long time I wasn’t,” Tim said.
“I get a kick out of helping and seeing young fellas enjoying themselves playing league.”
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For Barlow, making the schoolboys team “is an achievement within itself” and “something that they [people] can never take away from you.”
And he said that he wouldn’t be surprised to see Tim’s name alongside a schoolboys team again, but this time, as the coach.
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All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has unveiled the match-day 23 for the opening Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship Test against South Africa at Mbombela Stadium.
Samisoni Taukei’aho has been named in the run-on side at hooker, alongside tighthead prop Angus Ta’avao in a new-look front row. New faces make up the front-row cover, with Tyrel Lomax and Ethan de Groot named for the first time in the 2022 international season.
The tight five welcome back lock Scott Barrett from injury, while Akira Ioane retains his spot at blindside flanker in the loose forward trio, alongside captain Sam Cane and Ardie Savea.
Another feature of the run-on side is the return of winger Caleb Clarke. Ruled out of the Steinlager Series due to injury, the 23-year-old will play in his first All Blacks Test since 2020.
“What a great way to start this year’s Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship. It’s always an exciting tournament to be part of,” Foster said. “This year’s draw means we have a massive challenge of two games here in the South Africa.
“We have settled in well in Mbombela and are preparing for what is always an intense game against our old foe.
“Many of our squad are here in South Africa for the first time. This gives us another opportunity to add new experiences and grow our game.”
David Warner is unlikely to play in the UAE’s inaugural International League T20 (ILT20) in January, and looks set to remain in Australia with ongoing negotiations to have him play in the Big Bash League (BBL) for the first time since 2013.
Warner, who is contracted to Cricket Australia but doesn’t hold a BBL deal, is set to be available to play franchise cricket in January 2023 after the three-match ODI series with South Africa was canceled and there was significant interest for him to play in the UAE, particularly given his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals own the Dubai Capitals franchise as well.
But ESPNcricinfo understands that a potential deal to sign Warner to the ILT20 is almost certainly off and Warner’s manager James Erskine confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald that they were in negotiations with CA and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) to have Warner play in the BBL.
CA has found itself in a bind over the prospect of Australian contracted players, who are not contracted in the BBL, potentially being offered $US450,000 to play in the UAE.
The last Test of a three-match series between Australia and South Africa concludes in Sydney on January 8, 2023, with Australia’s next international commitment not until mid-February when they are due to tour India for a four-Test series. This means that Warner, Steven Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, among other Test players, will be available to play franchise cricket in that period. CA had hoped that all would play in the BBL given it runs from December 13 to February 4, while the ILT20 is scheduled to run from January 6 to February 12.
The CA-contracted players are not obliged to play in the BBL under their contracts and Warner and Starc haven’t played since 2013 and 2014 respectively, while Smith, Cummins and Hazlewood also don’t have BBL contracts. Starc has already confirmed he won’t make himself available in order to rest while Warner is the only one publicly linked to the UAE so far, although Cummins and Hazlewood have been sought-after recruits in the IPL in recent years and would attract a lot of interest.
Australia’s high-profile T20 players like Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa, Aaron Finch and Tim David all have BBL deals. The big restriction for the players’ potential earnings in the BBL is the $AUD1.9 million ($US1.32 million approx.) salary cap with top contracts in the BBL for Australian players maxing out at roughly $AUD190,000 ($US132 ,000 approx.). There are significant marketing bonuses available on top of that but the total a player can earn in the BBL is still dwarfed by the top contract in the UAE for a shorter tournament.
There has been disquiet among the players about the BBL’s decision to offer $AUD340,000 ($US236,000 approx.) to top overseas players who have been nominated in the draft. A significant portion of that contract will be topped up by CA outside of the club’s salary cap. There is further disillusionment at the fact that a number of those overseas players are likely to only be available for the December portion of the BBL and will then head to the UAE to play the full ILT20 in January for nearly twice the money.
It is written into CA, Australian domestic and BBL contracts that players need “written approval” in the form of no-objection certificates (NOCs) to play in overseas leagues but it is understood that a restraint of trade argument could be mounted under Australian common law should a player wish to go down that route. That contract clause has warded off players from making any decisive moves to the UAE this year but the ILT20 has given Warner the ability to bargain with CA and command a similar sized and structured BBL contract to what the “platinum” overseas players will get this season .
There has been speculation that Chris Lynn would also require an NOC despite not being contracted to a BBL club due to an ICC player-release regulation stipulating players still need NOCs for two years after holding a contract in Australia. But ESPNcricinfo understands that it would be unenforceable as an unreasonable restraint of trade under Australian law. Shane Watson, the current ACA president, previously played in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2019-20 without an NOC having retired from the BBL earlier in the year. It is unlikely, however, that Lynn could play in both the BBL and the ILT20.
Ricky Ponting and Usman Khawaja forecasted these issues last month highlighting the potential earnings gap between the BBL and the South Africa and UAE T20 leagues for both Australian and overseas players.
All of this is taking place as CA and the ACA prepare to start negotiations in the coming months on a new long-term MoU for the players to come into effect in 2023. One of CA’s major broadcast partners Channel Seven has also filed a Federal Court action against CA to terminate their current deal that expires in 2024 over perceived quality breaches in regards to the BBL specifically.
At National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham: England 54 (Eleanor Cardwell: 29/26, Helen Housby: 26/23, Jo Harten: 6/5) New Zealand 44 (Grace Nweke: 29/23, Maia Wilson: 9/8, Te Paea Selby-Rickit: 13/13) 1Q: 15-8, HT: 25-24, 3Q: 39-33.
The Silver Ferns got an early taste of what they could expect from Jamaica at their Commonwealth Games warm-up tournament in Auckland.
New Zealand will take on the Sunshine Girls in the first semifinal in Birmingham (Saturday 8pm NZ time) after losing 54-44 to gold medal favorites England on Friday.
That result saw the Ferns finish second in the pool, setting up a surprise semifinal clash with Jamaica, who stunned Australia 57-55 to top group A. England and Australia will meet in a rematch of the 2018 gold medal match, in what should be a blockbuster in the other semifinal.
Jamaica have fond recent memories against the Ferns at the Commonwealth Games. They knocked over New Zealand 60-55 in the bronze medal match at the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast, in what proved the final game for former coach Janine Southby.
The Sunshine Girls will be full of confidence for the semifinal after their stunning fourth quarter comeback to beat Australia, outscoring them 17-9.
Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua believed their Cadbury Series warm-up games in Auckland against the New Zealand men and mixed invitational side had given them a glimpse of the Jamaican playing style.
Jamaica are blessed with height in their attacking and defensive ends and can score quickly through standout goal shoot Jhaniele Fowler, who was outstanding during her time at the Southern Steel in New Zealand. Captain Fowler converted 47 from 50 in the famous win over Australia.
“I think playing in the Cadbury Series against the men, NZ A and mixed actually sets us up nicely for this [against Jamaica],” Taurus said.
Matthew Impey/Photosport
New Zealand wing defense Kayla Johnson tries to find a way through the England defence.
“That was a stepping stone for all the weeks after then and probably seeing the shift and the growth, not only in individuals and also the team is a testament to what happened in Cadbury Series.”
Taurua was under no illusion about the challenge Jamaica presented. On their day, the Sunshine Girls were capable of beating anyone in world netball, as they demonstrated against Australia.
This was one of the strongest Jamaican sides in history and Taurua said the Ferns would have to be at their best to beat them and make the gold medal match.
Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Jamaica are all smiles after their upset victory over Australia at the Commonwealth Games.
“I always knew they were going to be good. Their bookends are amazing, obviously. You’ve got the shooting prowess of Jhaniele [Fowler] and you’ve got your Shamera’s [Sterling] and every other person defensively who’s strong, so they will have got a lot of confidence [beating Australia] and rightly so once again.”
Taurua was frustrated with the way the Ferns finished against a vastly experienced England side, who look favorites to make it back-to-back gold in Birmingham.
The Ferns had to deal with a raucous home crowd at the National Exhibition Centre. New Zealand players donned headphones at training with the crowd noise playing to try and replicate it.
After trailing by six goals (39-33) at three-quarter time, the Ferns were in the contest with seven minutes to play. They cut England’s lead to five (43-38) and had possession, but captain Gina Crampton was whistled for held ball.
Matthew Impey/Photosport
Silver Ferns goal attack Maia Wilson looks to make a pass against England.
England made New Zealand pay, scoring from the mistake and finished strongly to push their advantage out to 10 goals.
“Pity on that last five minutes. I thought there was a bit of fight in us and we were holding in there as well and they just blew it out to take it to a 10-goal deficit, so that’s probably the most disappointing thing.”
The Ferns were left to lament sloppy starts to both the first and third quarters. They were slow to get into the game with England making a fast start and taking a 15-8 lead into the first quarter break.
Down 25-24 at halftime, the Ferns also struggled to start the second half with England going on an 8-2 run to take control early in the third quarter.
Te Paea Selby-Rickit was one of New Zealand’s best, impressing at goal attack after replacing Maia Wilson after the opening 15 minutes. Kate Heffernan was also injected into the game to start the second quarter at wing defense in place of Kayla Johnson. She was able to slow the supply of ball into the England shooters and pick up some defensive gains.
Taurua stressed Jamaica’s victory over Australia showed how tight it was at the top in international netball – which she believed was much-needed for the sport.
“The most exciting thing is any team can beat anybody on a given day and I think that top four is massive for all of us, so this [semifinal] game is massive for everybody. It’s not a home and hosed you’re going to go through.”
There was no way Micky Yule was leaving Birmingham without a medal.
The Scottish heavyweight para powerlifter came to the Commonwealth Games with the greatest drive and purpose of all, fueled by having his daughter, Tilly, in the crowd.
As the six-year-old held a homemade sign reading “DAD”, it was all the inspiration he needed.
“I could see her in the crowd and I looked for her. I needed to see her and [think]’Listen, your daughter’s here tonight, you’re not gonna leave without a medal when she’s here’,” he explained.
Micky Yule says his daughter is his biggest inspiration.(Getty Images: Al Bello)
The 43-year-old was bursting with magnetic passion and emotion reflecting on his performance, tightly gripping Tilly’s hand while speaking to reporters.
“Maybe in other competitions I have missed [lifts]. But I wasn’t going to do it today. I was looking her straight in the eye, and I was bringing that emotion.
“I couldn’t just drift through this competition. I needed to be emotional. I needed it to mean more than ever. I needed to lift like it was my last-ever lift and that’s what I’ve done.”
End of a chapter
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In 2010, Yule was serving in Afghanistan with the Royal Engineers when he stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED).
He immediately lost his left leg, and his right leg also had to be amputated, while he was left with other significant injuries.
Afterwards, he was flown to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, still in a coma, and spent eight weeks there undergoing multiple surgeries.
In the lead-up to the Games he described his return to the city as a full-circle moment. Perhaps now, leaving with the bronze, it’s something else.
“Maybe it’s a chapter closed and maybe it’s the next one to be opened,” he said.
“The people of Birmingham have been here for me before, when I came back from Afghanistan cut in half, in a coma, and now, hopefully, they’ll witness that and [the medal is] for everyone.
“It’s for Scotland, Birmingham, the whole country.”
Spurred on by crowd and fellow Scot, Eilish McColgan
Yule didn’t just lean on his daughter to get him through the competition. He also urged the crowd to cheer him on for each of his three lifts from him.
He’d had the disappointment of missing out on a medal at his home Games in Glasgow in 2014 and thought he might never get to experience that crowd again.
But the Brummies embraced Yule as their own, and he re-paid them.
“I wanted to whip the crowd up. I wanted to get the Birmingham crowd behind me,” he said.
After each lift, Micky Yule turned to the crowd to try to amp them up.(Getty Images: Al Bello)
He admits he also felt some responsibility to perform, having carried the Scottish flag at the opening ceremony, alongside badminton player Kirsty Gilmour.
“You don’t just be the flag-bearer [who] comes in and competes and, maybe, same old excuses for Micky,” he said.
“You compete and you win a medal and you make sure that not only the flag-bearer is a memory but the medal’s a memory as well.”
Yule also looked to fellow Scot Eilish McColgan, who produced one of the highlights of the Games the previous night, sprinting to the line to win the women’s 10,000m to join her mum, and coach Liz, as a Commonwealth champion in the event.
“I must have watched that 20 times,” Yule said.
“She fought back, and she fought back when everybody thought she was going to quit and she didn’t quit.
“Seeing her run to her mum [when she won], I said: ‘Right, that run to her mum is my daughter. Don’t you dare quit on yourself’.”
It has been an extraordinary para sport journey for Yule, one that started in Birmingham in one of his lowest moments, and now — as he suggests he’ll likely retire — he’s finished with one of his highest.
“[Sport] gave me a drive from having surgeries and learning how to walk and being in pretty dark place. It took my mind off it,” he said.
“Elite sport will give you highs and it’ll give you lows as well, and I’ve had them [both]certainly, but this is a high end and it feels like a pretty good time to go out.”
Watson soaks up her coming of age in para sport
Australia’s Hani Watson was another athlete ecstatic to be on the medal dais, after winning bronze in the women’s heavyweight division.
“I was about to lose my banana peel up there and start crying,” she said.
Watson says it has been a tough year, juggling back-to-back competitions, while working full-time, but the bronze is the perfect pay-off.
Hani Watson of Australia also captured a bronze medal in the women’s for powerlifting.(Getty Images: Al Bello)
“It can be exhausting, but it’s also very thrilling and very exciting at the same time,” she said.
“I feel old sometimes. I’m 39, about to turn 40, and this is epic. This is a great 40th birthday present to myself. It’s just nuts.”
Watson had been targeting a top-five finish and, after failing her second attempt at 125kg, she went all out on her last effort and lifted 127kg.
It was the “cherry on top” of her first Commonwealth Games experience, which has galvanized her in so many ways.
“As a kid growing up and wanting to be an elite athlete, I couldn’t do that because I had a disability and it wasn’t introduced into the right areas,” she said.
“But then it sunk in when I was at the opening ceremony to come out and to see everyone cheer you on: their energy, it was overwhelming for me.
“I’m not just a potato at home bench-pressing. This is real. This is epic.”
And Watson has a warning for the world: she’s only just getting started.
“I told you Australia was coming. And now we’re coming in 2024, we’re gonna get gold for Paris [2024 Paralympics].
Meanwhile, Australia’s Ben Wright was fourth in the men’s heavyweight division.
Jamaica has defeated Australia for the first time in Commonwealth Games netball history, springing a shock 57-55 upset to shake up the race for gold.
Both nations went into the hotly anticipated clash undefeated and faced their first proper test to decide the winner of Group A.
There was nothing in it in the first half as the Diamonds and the Sunshine Girls went goal for goal, and Australia took a 30-29 lead into halftime.
Australia dominated the third quarter and took a six-point lead into three quarter time, largely thanks to their control of the midcourt and Gretel Bueta and Steph Wood firing on all cylinders in the shooting circle.
But just as the Aussies looked home and hosed, Jamaica somehow found another gear in the final term and chewed up the deficit in just a handful of minutes to hit the lead.
Bueta was silenced in the last quarter — she finished with 36 goals from 39 attempts, while Wood had 19 goals at 86 per cent shooting.
“How quickly this game has been turned on its head,” legendary Diamonds shooter Cath Cox said in commentary on Channel 7.
“It looked like Australia had taken control and it was all over.”
Jhaniele Fowler was superb at goal shooter for Jamaica in a physical duel with her West Coast Fever teammate Courtney Bruce.
Adelaide Thunderbirds duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson were outstanding in defense and secured ball at will for Jamaica with countless deflections.
“Extraordinary scenes, the Diamonds defeated for the first time this tournament,” Sue Gaudion said.
Cox said Jamaica’s performance “screamed ‘we can medal at these Games’,” adding Australia appeared to “shut up shop” in the last quarter.
“Australia couldn’t win the ball back — it was some brilliant defensive work from Jamaica. They really just lifted another level in the fourth quarter,” she said.
The two-point victory was Jamaica’s first over Australia in Commonwealth Games history and will seriously shake up the race for the medals.
It’s far from disaster for Australia, but they will now likely come up against England in the semi-finals on a more difficult path to the gold medal match.
Australia’s last Commonwealth Games netball gold medal came in Glasgow in 2014. The Diamonds claimed silver on the Gold Coast in 2018 after losing a thrilling final to England.
World No.2 Minjee Lee took the opening day honors in the British Open super group and is well placed to not only emulate compatriot Cameron Smith but also seize the No.1 ranking.
Lee recovered from a flat start and made three crucial birdies in the last seven holes to finish three shots off the lead as she chases her second major of the year.
Playing with world No.1 Jin Young Ko and No.3 Nelly Korda, Lee was one over par after six holes but turned for home at even par after a birdie on the seventh at Muirfield in Scotland and then began her climb up the leaderboard.
Lee finished the opening day three shots behind former champion Hinako Shibuno in the $10m event and will be back in action on Friday afternoon Australian time with an early second-round tee time for the Open super group.
“I made really quite a few good up-and-downs on the back nine,” Lee said.
“And to be three under the back nine I think is quite good considering how 14 and 15 play really tough.
“The wind got up – it was pretty similar to yesterday when I played in the pro-am – so I think I got a little used to the conditions while I was out there yesterday
“But I feel like I was quite committed on every shot that I hit because it was so windy, and I just think I did that really well today.”
Korda finished two shots back from Lee after opening with a one-under 70, while Ko struggled to five-over after shooting 76.
Steph Kyriacou is the best of the other Australians in the field with a one-under 70, placing her equal 13th.
Hannah Green posted an even-par 71 and Whitney Hillier a one-over 72, but Su-Hyun Oh never recovered from dropping three shots on the opening two holes, finishing with a 77.
