Carlton’s one-wood this season has been their brutal dominance in clearance and contested ball situations.
That has been largely thanks to the trio of Patrick Cripps, George Hewett and Matt Kennedy.
Well… the Blues will be 0/3 when they face Melbourne on Saturday night.
Cripps failed to overturn his two-match ban at the Tribunal, while Kennedy and Hewett remain sidelined with injuries.
So what do they do now?
Sam Walsh and Adam Cerra remain from the first-choice on-ball unit and will be forced to carry a heavy load.
Paddy Dow was poor in his second game of the year against Brisbane, but simply must keep his spot and take on that third spot in the starting midfield rotation.
Zac Fisher will also likely continue to rotate through as he has done this year.
Beyond that? How do the Blues compete with the size and power of Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney?
Ed Curnow would be nice, but he suffered a hamstring setback in the VFL. David Cuningham also remains sidelined as he returns from a torn ACL.
Could the Blues finally unleash Liam Stocker and/or Brodie Kemp on-ball as intended on draft night?
Stocker’s availability is unknown coming off a concussion a fortnight ago, but he has the size and was initially billed as an inside midfielder.
Will Setterfield is another who came to the club as an inside midfielder, but has played almost exclusively on the wing because their hasn’t been a spot available.
He will surely receive his chance on the inside if he retains his spot on the side.
Mid-season draftee Will Hayes has impressed in the VFL at stages on-ball, Jack Carroll has received a few AFL opportunities this year and Lachie Fogarty is another option.
Do the Blues get creative with someone like Kemp or potentially Jack Silvagni as a pure on-baller?
I did tag Nathan Fyfe earlier in his career. Is this the opportunity to try him on Oliver? James Aish did so successfully recently.
Carlton needs to win one more game to make the eight. They will have to do so without their fearless leader and half their starting midfield … and at least 14 unavailable players pending this week’s medical report.
It’s that time of the year again — you’ve done your Premier League fantasy draft and are now checking which picks have worked out and which have let you down. If you selected any Manchester United players, it might already be a good time to move them on.
The painful reality for United supporters and fantasy managers alike right now is that no members of Erik ten Hag’s squad would come anywhere near to making a Premier League Best XI. And that won’t change if United are successful in completing one of the most surprising transfers of the summer — any summer — by signing journeyman forward Marko Arnautovic from Bologna.
Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford against Brighton & Hove Albion was a disastrous start for Ten Hag in his first competitive game as United manager. The former Ajax coach will have known that he was taking on a big challenge when, earlier this summer, he became the fifth permanent managerial appointment since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, but the manner of the Brighton defeat will have been a jolting reality check .
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Ten Hag saw first-hand that teams such as Brighton, without even half of the financial might and historical power of United, can outsmart and outplay a club with such apparent riches simply by being astute and strategic on and off the pitch. But with United, it always gets back to the players because they simply aren’t good enough, and that decline in quality stems back to before Ferguson stepped down.
That said, when Ferguson retired after guiding United to a 20th league title, more than half of his team would have made it into a best Premier League XI. Manchester City and Chelsea would have had a couple of players each, too, but the likes of David de Gea, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie would all have earned a place among the outstanding Premier League team of the 2012-13 season.
Throughout the first 20 years of the Premier League, it would have been a similar story. United may not always have dominated the best XI, but they would at least have had two or three players in it. If you were to repeat this exercise now, how many teams would you have to pick before a United player would be selected? The best Premier League XI of 2022-23 would be dominated by City and Liverpool players. You could make a case for Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane being the one outsider, but the England captain might have to accept a place in the second XI due to the claims of Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah.
The second XI would again be made up by those City and Liverpool players who didn’t make the first XI, with maybe Kane and Son Heung-Min added to it.
The third XI? Probably full of Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal players, with West Ham United’s Declan Rice anchoring the midfield as a rare selection from outside the so-called Big Six.
Which takes us to the fourth-best Premier League XI, and probably where Bruno Fernandes or Christian Eriksen — and maybe even Cristiano Ronaldo — would find a place alongside those City and Liverpool players who didn’t make the first three teams. De Gea’s decline in goal since 2013 would see him nowhere near any of the top 10 best XIs, while the rest of Ten Hag’s squad are either so low on confidence — Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho — or lacking in top- level quality — Scott McTominay, Fred, Diogo Dalot — that they wouldn’t be in contention either.
This is obviously a fantasy exercise based purely on opinion and everyone will have a different view, but what is clear is that Manchester United no longer have the best players. They are stacked with mediocrity and struggle even to get rid of those who are no longer good enough, such as Phil Jones, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Eric Bailly. It’s probably a statement of the obvious considering the club’s performances and lack of trophies in recent years, but it is also an important point about how the team has been run in the post-Ferguson era.
United would always challenge to sign the best players. They wouldn’t always get them, with Alan Shearer, Ronaldinho and Eden Hazard being three of the most high-profile players to reject a move to Old Trafford, but they had the ambition to pursue them and, more often than not, they beat a big rival to sign a Ferdinand, a Rooney or a Van Persie.
Romelu Lukaku was probably the last high-profile player that United signed ahead of a Big Six rival, with the Everton forward rejecting Chelsea to move to Old Trafford in 2017. Since then, a failure to close the deal has been seen United miss out on the likes of Haaland, Jude Bellingham, Darwin Nunez and, potentially this summer, Frenkie de Jong.
Joining United is now seen as a risky move by the best players. Why go to Old Trafford when the club is in such a state of flux, with fans protesting against the owners and the trophy cabinet beginning to gather dust?
That is the challenge facing Ten Hag. He not only has to build a winning team, but make the club an attractive proposition for new players to join. But it is a long way back, and it’s difficult to predict when United will have a player in the Premier League Best XI again.
Daniel Ricciardo has asked for an eight-figure pay-out in exchange for the early termination of his Formula 1 contract with McLaren.
The Australian has unwittingly become embroiled in the Oscar Piastri contract saga, and looks set to lose his drive at the papaya operation in favor of his young countryman.
It’s understood Ricciardo is the only party to have the right to cancel his current contract, which runs until the end of next year.
Multiple sources have revealed the West Aussie’s initial asking price is $21 million, though that is expected to be reduced as the team haggles over price.
It’s likely also that, should Ricciardo secure a drive elsewhere next season, any salary component he receives would see the same value refunded to McLaren.
For example, should he receive $10 million from Alpine for 2023, Ricciardo would be required to refund McLaren $10 million of whatever settlement figure may finally be agreed upon.
However, it’s also possible that McLaren will be on the hook for any legal costs Piastri incurs as a result of the current situation.
The Melburnian is the central figure in a dispute between Alpine and McLaren over his services, with the latter apparently holding the overriding contract.
It’s believed Alpine does not hold a valid ‘Formula 1’ contract, explaining why McLaren was able to lodge its with the Contract Recognition Board without conflict.
That further suggests that any contract in place with Piastri, likely therefore to be with the Alpine Academy, could be pursued through the (presumably French) civil legal system, a point Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer has suggested he would likely explore.
In that instance, it’s probable that an indemnity clause in the deal with McLaren would see any costs incurred passed from Piastri to McLaren.
On that front, a figure as high as $15 million has been suggested which, combined with the pay-out to Ricciardo, could see the 21-year-old’s arrival at Woking cost well over $30 million.
That is if the matter goes that far, and the Australian is found in some way liable for the costs incurred by Alpine – and of that there is currently no certainty.
The situation raises the question of why McLaren is prepared to stump up a significant sum to end its relationship with Ricciardo, and potentially be on the hook for another with Piastri.
“And I am absolutely intent on correcting those sets of circumstances, led by a public apology (from) Tim Silvers (on) day one, and myself yesterday with Tim Silvers in an open letter.”
Olsen confirmed that he had seen the medical report prepared in the camp’s aftermath.
“I can’t tell you how many players are involved because the report doesn’t identify individuals appropriately so. It talks about circumstances affecting individuals,” he said.
“There are one or two aspects of that report that I consider a concern – where people shared private and confidential information on the basis where it would be exactly that, and that for then to be exposed in the camp was inappropriate and inexcusable in my view .”
Walker, speaking in a paid radio spot, on a show that is co-hosted by close friend Ricciuto, Walker said he was holding private meetings to get to the bottom of the camp fiasco.
“I can put my head on the pillow at night, and put my hand on my heart and say that I did everything I could,” Walker told Triple M Adelaide.
“I knew something was not right post the camp; I knew blokes weren’t feeling that great about it.
“I was having one-on-one meetings, I was having some confidential meetings at my house to try and work out exactly the path to take, and I can honestly say that I did everything I could to try and fix it.”
Walker’s comments come just hours after the club made another attempt to explain the situation and offered an apology with its letter to members.
“I took a positive experience out of it,” said Walker, who was captain from 2015-19.
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“But that does not take away from the feelings of hurt that those boys are going through at the moment.”
Among the accounts of some former players was that private and personal information was used against them on the camp.
In an interview with News Corp earlier this year, camp organizers claimed that all details of the camp were provided to then Adelaide CEO Andrew Fagan and the board.
Walker said the Crows were now concentrating on moving forward and creating an environment under coach Matthew Nicks that priorities looking out for each other.
“We’re certainly doing that to the best of our ability,” Walker said.
“As footy club we still have to work through this … because sitting here you don’t like hearing that past players are feeling that way.”
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Serena Williams is retiring from tennis after the US Open because she wants to have more children.
The 40-year-old broke the news in a self-penned article in Vogue Magazine and admitted she “hates” the decision.
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” Williams wrote.
“I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.
“Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”
“There is no happiness in this topic for me. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain,” she added. “It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate that I have to be at these crossroads. I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not. I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next.”
That includes expanding her family – a topic which is regularly brought up by her five-year-old daughter Olympia, who is desperate to be a big sister.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,” Williams wrote. “I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.”
Williams revealed she has been trying to have another child with husband Alexis Ohanian for the past year.
“We recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family,” she wrote. “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”
Williams, who won her first match in over a year on Monday at the National Open in Toronto, confirmed that she would play at the US Open in Flushing Meadows at the end of the month. That will be her from her last grand slam event from her.
Williams has won 23 grand slam titles — the most in the Open Era and one short of Margaret Court’s all-time record.
“Unfortunately I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this year,” wrote Williams, who lost to Harmony Tan in the first round of the All England Club.
“And I don’t know if I will be ready to win New York. But I’m going to try. And the lead-up tournaments will be fun. I know there’s a fan fantasy that I might have tied Margaret that day in London, then maybe beat her de ella record de ella in New York, and then at the trophy ceremony say, ‘See ya!’ I get that. It’s a good fantasy. But I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst.
“But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words. You have carried me to so many wins and so many trophies. I’m going to miss that version of me, that girl who played tennis. And I’m going to miss you.”
NRL rising star Manase Fainu did not start a bloody brawl in a church parking lot but he “ended it” when he plunged a steak knife into the back of a youth leader, a court has been told.
Mr Fainu, 24, is fighting allegations that he stabbed Faamanu Levi in the back during a brawl outside a Mormon church dance nearly three years ago.
The Manly Sea Eagles hooker has pleaded not guilty to wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after Mr Levi was stabbed in the back near his shoulder blade and cut above his right eye.
Mr Fainu’s trial has entered its final stages, with Crown prosecutor Emma Curran using closing submissions on Tuesday to point to the evidence of one eyewitness who told the court that he had seen Mr Fainu stab Mr Levi.
Mr Fainu during his evidence said he played no part in the brawl, which took place between two parked cars in a parking lot at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Wattle Grove in Sydney’s southwest.
NRL player Manase Fainu says he played no part in a wild brawl in a church parking lot. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian GillesSource: News Corp Australia
During his evidence on Monday, Mr Fainu said he was approximately 10 to 12m from the fight between his friends and another group of men when he heard someone yell “knife, knife”.
He had undergone shoulder surgery a month earlier and on October 25, 2019, he had his left arm in a sling.
Tony Quach said he saw Mr Fainu stab his friend Mr Levi and was able to identify him by his sling.
During his evidence, Mr Quach said Mr Fainu had not started the fight but “he ended it” by stabbing Mr Levi.
“Manase Fainu jumped over a fence into the grounds of the church, he was with four of his friends and the group of them approached Mr Levi and his friends,” Ms Curran said.
“A brawl broke out and when things looked like they were getting out of hand, Mr Fainu pulled out a knife and plunged it into the back of Mr Levi, causing a wound that punctured his lung and caused internal bleeding.”
CCTV footage shows Manase Fainu jumping a fence into a Mormon church dance shortly before a wild brawl. Picture: SuppliedSource: Supplied
Mr Quach said he saw Mr Fainu with an angry look on his face and a knife in his right hand and his arm bent at a 90-degree angle.
It is not an issue that Mr Fainu was in the car park, his left arm was in a sling, and there was a brawl during which Mr Levi was stabbed before Mr Fainu scaled the wall once again and ran to his car.
However, the identity of Mr Levi’s attacker is in dispute.
Ms Curran said another man, Kupi Toilalo, said he saw a man approach him and his friends with his left arm in a sling holding a knife.
“When Kupi saw this, he was at arm’s length away from the person holding the knife, nothing obstructing his view,” Ms Curran said
Faamanu Levi was stabbed in the back following a brawl at a Mormon church dance. Picture: Shannon TonkinSource: SuppliedTony Quach said he saw Mr Fainu stab a man in the back. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles.Source: News Corp Australia
Mr Fainu told the jury on Monday that he was “scared” because he knew he could not defend himself if he became involved in the fight.
He denied brandishing a 10cm steak knife that was used to stab Mr Levi, saying he did not see any of his friends with a weapon on the night.
Mr Levi underwent surgery after the stab wound punctured his lung and caused internal bleeding.
Mr Fainu is fighting allegations he stabbed a church youth leader in the back. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles.Source: News Corp Australia
Mr Fainu said he went to the church because his friend Uona “Big Buck” Faingaa was seeking to recover money owed to him by a man.
The court was told that before the brawl, two of Mr Fainu’s friends were involved in an altercation on the dance floor and were asked to leave.
Mr Fainu said he left the church grounds as his mates were being escorted out, apologizing to a security guard on the way out.
CCTV footage showed Mr Fainu and four of his friends shortly afterwards jumping a fence from a Coles carpark back onto the church grounds.
Mr Fainu testified that he had told his friends that he would go inside to collect Mr Faingaa’s money by himself; however, they followed him over.
Defense barrister Margaret Cunneen SC said Mr Fainu had been identified as being present during the brawl because of the distinguishing nature of his sling, but all of the eyewitnesses were mistaken about him being the stabber.
“Mr Manase Fainu is a man who was never before in trouble for any violence whatsoever,” Ms Cunneen said.
“He did not stab Mr Levi. No one condom what happened to Mr Levi, it’s appalling.”
The jury will withdraw to consider its verdict after Ms Cunneen’s closing submissions.
The trial before Judge Nanette Williams continues.
Serena Williams hinted that retirement might not be far away after winning her first singles match for more than a year.
The 40-year-old defeated world No 57 Nuria Párrizas Díaz 6-3, 6-4 at the Canadian Open in Toronto for her first taste of success in singles since the French Open in the spring of 2021.
Williams had been very vague about her future plans after returning from a year out at Wimbledon but, asked in Canada about her motivation to keep playing, she told reporters: “I guess there’s just a light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know, I’m getting closer to the light. Lately that’s been it for me. I can’t wait to get to that light.”
Asked what the light represented, she replied: “Freedom. I love playing though, so it’s amazing. But I can’t do this forever. So sometimes you just want to try your best to enjoy the moments and do the best that you can.”
Williams lost to Harmony Tan at Wimbledon in her first singles match for a year and will be hoping to find something like her old form before the US Open later this month. “I was happy to have a win,” she said. “It’s been a very long time. I forgot what it felt like. I felt like I competed well and I think that’s what I needed to do is just to compete. Mentally I feel I’m getting there. I’m not where I normally am and I’m not where I want to be. But I think any match that I play, whether I win or lose, it helps me get there.
“Physically I feel much better in practice, it’s just getting that to the court. But literally I’m the kind of person who just takes one or two things and then it clicks. So I’m just waiting on that to click.”
Venus Williams, who turned 42 in June, was unable to win her first singles match since last year’s Wimbledon, though, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann.
The Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina won her first match as a grand-slam winner, battling past Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-1, while last year’s US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez made a winning return from a foot injury suffered at the French Open, beating Storm Sanders 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.
Ninth seed Emma Raducanu makes her debut at the tournament on Tuesday against big-hitting Italian Camila Giorgi.
Nick Kyrgios says his way of thinking has changed and admits that being in a serious relationship has had a positive impact on his career as he now has a “partner I see a future with and I want to provide for.”
Kyrgios, 27, started dating Costen Hatzi in late 2021 and his girlfriend has been accompanying him at tournaments throughout the entire 2022 season. Kyrgios looks extremely happy on and off the court as he has been playing the tennis of his life in 2022.
With girlfriend on his side, Kyrgios’ motivation to do well is off the charts. “Honestly, I feel as if I’m a lot older, a lot more mature, and I feel like when you get older, you realize you shouldn’t be taking these things for granted, the way you’re feeling, the way your body feels.
Also, I have a partner with me now I see a future with and I kind of see that I have to provide for. So I feel like my motivation is a lot higher than it used to be,” Kyrgios said, per Sportskeeda.
Kyrgios on those who still think he is bad for the game
“I don’t care about what people say about my tennis, like always disrespectful to the sport, all this, all that.
I know that deep down that I try really hard to do it my own way. I know that I inspire millions of people, and I’m just playing for them,” Kyrgios said. The 2022 season has been absolutely great for Kyrgios, who became a Grand Slam champion earlier this year after he and Thanasi Kokkinakis won the Australian Open men’s doubles title.
After winning the Australian Open men’s doubles title, Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon. Kyrgios fell short to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final but won his first title of the year last week after beating Yoshihito Nishioka in the final. This week, Kyrgios plays Sebastian Baez in the Montreal first round.
Patrick Cripps’ home and away season is over after the Blues star failed to have his two-game ban overturned at the AFL Tribunal.
Cripps’ legal team argued his bump on Brisbane Lions player Callum Ah Chee was nothing more than a “football act”, but the AFL wasn’t having it.
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The Blues used Willie Rioli’s hit on Matt Rowell from earlier in the season as the example as to why the star shouldn’t be sanctioned.
Rioli left the ground and bumped into Rowell.
“My eyes are purely fixed on the ball,” Cripps said.
“I’m trying to turn and protect the drop zone of the ball, I’ve got my arms outstretched. The ball is there to be won.
“No way I can answer that ball without a collision being there
“In the heat of battle when the ball’s there to be won, I’m going to try and take possession of the ball.”
AFL counsel Nicholas Pane however argued that Cripps elected to bump and because of that decision, he was responsible for the outcome.
Cripps’ lawyer pleaded with the jury to let the star Blue off as it was simply just two players contesting the footy.
“This was a very even contest with milliseconds in it,” Cripps’ lawyer Peter O’Farrell said.
“The consequences of impact do not determine the reasonableness of an action.
“Concussion is a serious issue in sport, but it’s not to be explained away by blaming players all the time.
“On occasion there will be injury. Players can and do get hurt.”
A long kick down the line from Adam Cerra was punched high into the air by Brisbane’s Daniel Rich and Lions teammate Callum Ah Chee camped himself underneath it.
As the ball came down, Cripps came in at a hundred miles an hour and launched off the deck and flattened Ah Chee with a nasty hip and shoulder.
The impact of the hit left Ah Chee flat on the Gabba surface as several Lions teammates remonstrated with Cripps.
Medical staff rushed to Ah Chee’s side and he remained hunched over on his hands and knees before he was able to get back to his feet and under his own power make his way off the ground.
Ah Chee was subbed out of the game. Cripps was sixth favorite for the 2022 Brownlow Medal on TAB markets heading into the game.
Former South African umpire Rudi Koertzen, labeled the ‘slow finger of death’ by the media, has died in a car accident, a family member told AFP on Tuesday.
He was 73.
“Rudi suffered fatal injuries after an accident near Stilbaai between Cape Town and Gqeberha,” said the family spokesperson, who requested anonymity.
“My father went to a golf tournament with some friends and they were expected to come back on Monday, but it seems they decided to play another round of golf,” his son Rudi told a Gqeberha radio station.
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The South African team will wear black armbands on Wednesday in honor of Koertzen when they face England at Lord’s in London in a Test match.
Koertzen first umpired in 1981, handled his maiden international assignment 11 years later, and retired in 2010 after a Test between Australia and Pakistan in Leeds, England.
Rudi Koertzen and Ricky Ponting in 2009.Source: AFP
He became known as the ‘slow finger of death’ because he very slowly raising his finger whenever indicating a batsman was out.
“Every umpire has their trademark and that was mine. The media labeled it the ‘slow finger of death’ and I found that pretty interesting. There is a story behind it,” Koertzen said in an interview.
“When my umpiring career first began, I used to hold my hands in front of me and every time there was an appeal, I would fold them against my ribs,” said Koertzen.
“The someone told me ‘Rudi, you cannot do that. Every time you raise your hands to fold them, the bowler thinks you are going to give him a wicket’.
“So I started clasping my wrists at the back. The finger comes out slowly because it takes time for me to release my grasp at the back.”
