The involvement of team-mate Felise Kaufusi and the fact that Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s right hand was under Wayde Egan’s left arm helped convince the Match Review Committee not to charge the Storm prop over a tackle that left the Warriors hooker with broken teeth.
MRC manager Luke Patten revealed that the committee had considered whether Asofa-Solomona could be charged with a crusher, a head slam or dangerous contact and cleared him of all three offences.
While some feel the Melbourne prop should have been sent to the judiciary to determine whether he had done anything illegal after Egan left the field fearing he had broken his jaw, Patten said the MRC felt there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley admitted that there would be criticism of the MRC’s view that Asofa-Solomona’s forearm made “minimal contact” with Egan’s chin, but Patten said the committee had analyzed the tackle in detail before making their decision.
“First of all, we identified that there was an extra player, Kaufusi, contributing to the force of the tackle, so [it was] two big men on a smaller man,” Patten said in a pre-recorded video shown at Annesley’s weekly media briefing.
“We identified that Nelson creates space so there was no crusher and no force applied to Egan’s neck here.
“There were a couple of other things that we had to clear in this tackle, firstly there was the head slam. We see that there is a clear separation from Nelson’s right arm as player Egan gets thrown to the ground.
“Nelson has a good grip with his left arm but there is clear separation, whereas with a head slam you would see that arm isolate the head and really slam it into the ground. We have cleared that because his arm does separate from Egan. ”
Patten said the MRC had also considered a dangerous contact charge but believed it had merely been a “forceful tackle” and Egan’s head had hit the ground.
Asofa-Solomona was helped by the fact his right arm had been placed across Egan’s chest, as he had his hand under the left arm of the Warriors hooker.
“As I mentioned previously, Nelson has a grip with his left arm and there is separation,” Patten said.
“On one of the angles, you can see that Nelson gets a grip under Egan’s left arm under the under arm there and we believe that Nelson’s right arm was diagonal from that grip so it was diagonally across his chest.
“There might be possible minor contact at the end of the tackle with Nelson’s forearm, possibly with the neck or chin area, but that it was only minor contact.
“It was a forceful tackle which unfortunately resulted in Egan’s head going into the ground but these were all the things we considered when we ruled that this actually incident was NFA [no further action] for us.”
Egan underwent dental work to repair two cracked teeth on Monday but Annesley said injury was only taken into account after a player had been found to have committed an offence.
The severity of the injury would be used to help determine the grading of the charge.
Graham Annesley weekly football briefing – Round 20
“There are a range of factors that the MRC considers,” Annesley said.
“They do a very forensic analysis and they take as long as is required to reach a decision and they look at things in great detail because you are talking about a very serious incident when a player gets charged.
“It either has a financial impact on a player or it means that a player misses games, so they are important matters for them to determine and they are required to look at them in great detail.”
The teen who stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death as she walked home from school on the NSW Central Coast has walked free nearly 17 years after her murder.
Tania Burgess was stabbed 48 times after she hopped off a school bus and walked through the car park of Forresters Beach Resort on July 19, 2005.
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Now Tania’s family are calling for the identity of their daughter’s killer to be revealed to the public.
The convicted murderer, known to the public only as “DL”, has been in custody since he was 16, and because the offense occurred when he was a minor he cannot be named for legal reasons.
With the killer now aged 32, Tania’s parents believe the suppression of her killer’s name should be lifted in the interest of “public safety”.
Tania’s parents Mandy and Chris Burgess told Sunrise last month they felt frustrated that her killer was to get a second chance at life.
“I felt anger and helplessness because it’s really like riding as a backseat passenger in a car for the last 17 years,” Mandy said.
Tania Burgess was stabbed 48 times after she hopped off a school bus in 2005. Credit: 7NEWSThe convicted murderer, known only as ‘DL’, has been in custody since he was 16. Credit: 7NEWS
“We had this most beautiful 15-year-old daughter, and she was taken away from us and now he gets to have his life back.
“He gets to have a second chance at life, and we can’t do that for Tania.
“She’s not going to get a second chance at life.”
The devastated parents admit they felt “a lot of anger” when seeing their daughter’s killer again in court.
“I was just such a hard thing to do, to see his face again,” Mandy said.
Mandy and Chris have also met with a handful of ministers to discuss the suppression order.
“They’re all very much all about releasing the name because it gives accountability for their crimes,” Chris said.
“And it’s not like they stole a car, they did something significantly more serious, so they should be accountable for their crimes, not just able to hide behind anonymity. “
Tania’s family are calling for an end to the suppression of her murderer’s identity. Credit: 7NEWS
DL was convicted back in 2005 by a jury and was jailed for at least 17 years, with a maximum term of 22 years.
This was reduced on appeal by four years in 2018, meaning he has been eligible for parole since mid-2018.
During a hearing, Justice James Wood accepted the expert advice from the Serious Offenders Review Council that strongly advised DL should be released with supervision before his full-time sentence expired.
“The priority is now supervision to foster his reintegration and the protection of the public,” the council report stated.
DL must provide authorities daily notifications of all his movements and undergo treatment by a forensic psychologist, along with other strict conditions.
A proposal by the Biden administration to exchange notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner and former marine Paul Whelan, two high-profile Americans currently detained in Russia, has been met with praise, confusion and fury.
While some have praised the Biden administration and state department for doing whatever it takes to bring back Griner and Whelan, others have cast skepticism towards the deal, especially when it comes to releasing Bout, who has a notorious international reputation.
Many have wondered: is it worth exchanging two wrongfully detained Americans for an arms dealer nicknamed the “Merchant of Death”? Others ask if the deal should include Marc Fogel, the “other American” currently imprisoned in Russia after trying to enter the country last year with half an ounce of medical marijuana? Still more wonder if any exchange might encourage further hostage-taking? What about the several hundred thousand Americans who continue to be arrested domestically on marijuana-related charges?
In February, Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport after authorities found vape canisters containing cannabis oil – for which she had a doctor’s recommendation – in her bags. The arrest of the Phoenix Mercury star quickly made headlines as it came amid heightened US-Russia tensions ahead of Moscow sending its forces into Ukraine a week later.
Griner has since been detained in Russia and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting drugs.
Brittney Griner speaks to her lawyers standing in a cage at a courtroom prior to a hearing in Khimki, Russia on 26 July. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
In December 2018, former US marine and corporate security executive Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia on espionage charges and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. According to Russian officials, he was caught with a flash drive that contained classified information. Whelan, who also holds passports from Canada, the UK and Ireland, has repeatedly denied the charges and claims that he was set up.
The US government has denounced Whelan’s charges as false and declared both Whelan and Griner as “wrongfully detained”.
On Wednesday, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, announced that the US has made a “substantial proposal” to Russia to release Whelan and Griner. Although Blinken refused to say what the US was offering in return, a source familiar with the matter confirmed a CNN report that Washington was willing to swap Bout, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the US, as part of the exchange .
Prisoner swaps have been a long part of the history between the two former cold war adversaries. The first major exchange between the US and the Soviet Union occurred in February 1962 when Americans gave up Rudolf Abel, a convicted KGB spy, in exchange for American pilot Gary Powers, whose U2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union two years earlier. The exchange, which took place on the fog-covered Glienicke Bridge on a cold, cloudy Berlin morning, was adapted into a Steven Spielberg thriller over 50 years later.
The Powers-Abel exchange paved the way for further prisoner swaps. A little over 20 years later, the US conducted what one American official called the “biggest spy swap” in history. The US released four eastern European spies in exchange for 25 people detained in East Germany and Poland. In more recent memory, 10 Russian agents detained by the US were exchanged in 2010 for four Russian officials that the Kremlin had jailed over their illegal contacts with the west.
Paul Whelan holds a sign as he stands inside a defendants’ cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, Russia, on 15 June 2020. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
In April, former US marine Trevor Reed was released back to the US after being detained in Russia since 2019. Russian authorities had accused Reed of attacking a Moscow police officer and sentenced him to nine years in jail. In exchange for Reed, the US released jailed pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced in 2011 to 20 years in prison for conspiring to import more than $100m worth of cocaine into the US.
Despite these exchanges, none have quite involved the notoriety of a figure like Bout. Born in 1967 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to a bookkeeper and a car mechanic, Bout went on to train as an interpreter at Moscow’s Soviet Military Institute of Foreign Languages.
Rumored to speak six languages, Bout developed a decades-long career by acquiring Soviet military transport plans and filling them with various weapons that were left behind after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. Since then, Bout has supplied weapons to conflicts around the world including Afghanistan, Angola, Congo, Lebanon, Somalia and Yemen.
For decades, governments and rebels fought each other with weapons that Bout sold to either side.
In 2008, Bout was arrested in Bangkok after he was caught on camera trying to sell weapons for use against Americans by undercover US Drug Enforcement and Administration agents. He was convicted in a New York court in 2011 and was sentenced to 25 years at a federal prison in Marion, Illinois.
Reports of Bout’s potential release have since been met with an array of emotions.
Kathi Austin, founder of the Conflict Awareness Project, a non-profit that investigates major arms traffickers, expressed concerns about the possibility of Bout’s release.
“I spent nearly 15 years chasing Bout around the globe to stop his trade in death… My life and that of other colleagues and UN peacekeepers were put on the line to bring him to justice,” she told the Guardian.
“You cannot imagine how much I have emotionally struggled with the idea of Bout’s release … Putin knew very well what he was doing by making Brittney Griner a bargaining chip … In a post-release situation … Putin is certain to weaponize Bout in areas of the world where the Merchant of Death has a proven track record,” she said.
Viktor Bout waits in a holding cell in Bangkok on 9 March 2009. Photograph: Sukree Sukplang/REUTERS
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the nonpartisan membership organization Arms Control Association, echoed Austin’s concerns.
In a statement to the Guardian, Kimball said: “Releasing Viktor Bout … could certainly lead to adverse consequences … If he is part of a prisoner swap with Russia, it could damage future efforts to hold accountable those who illegally facilitate dangerous weapons transfers to warlords , conflict zones and undemocratic regimes.”
Jodi Vittori, a former air force lieutenant colonel and current professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, said: “Given that Mr Bout has been incarcerated since then, it is unlikely that his arms trade networks remain significantly intact.”
Nevertheless, Vittori expressed concern over the irony of such a proposal, saying: “Trading American hostages for a notorious Russian arms trafficker with the ominous moniker of the Merchant of Death sends the world mixed messages at a time when the United States is striving to arm Ukraine as it fights for its life and democracy against Russia.”
Jordan Cohen, a defense policy and arms sale analyst at the Cato Institute, cast doubt on Bout’s ability to cause harm in the short term if he is released. “US and western intelligence will likely track him and his network to make sure no sudden arms trafficking deals are happening. Beyond that, his years in prison and solitary confinement also likely diminished his ability to quickly mobilize his network, ”Cohen told the Guardian.
Others have praised the Biden administration for its proposal. Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, tweeted: “I applaud @SecBlinken & @StateDept efforts to bring Britney Griner and Paul Whelan home even if it means handing over Viktor Bout.”
However, I have urged the state department to also include Marc Fogel in the deal. Fogel, a former history teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, was arrested last August after trying to enter Russia with medical marijuana that his doctor prescribed him to treat “severe spinal pain”. Russian authorities sentenced him to 14 years of hard labor, accusing him of committing “large-scale drug smuggling”.
“The tragic situations of Brittney Griner and Marc Fogel seem very similar. So I would hope Fogel could be included in a package deal. Getting three innocent Americans back, not just two, for one real criminal, seems like a good trade to me,” McFaul, whose sons Fogel taught at the Anglo-American School, told the Guardian.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Jane Fogel said that her hopes of securing her husband’s release have been fading, saying: “There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that Marc will be left behind.”
While Griner’s wife received a call from Joe Biden, Fogel’s family has been stalled at the state department’s “mid-functionary level”. In a letter Marc Fogel recently addressed his family regarding the prisoner swap reports that the Washington Post reviewed, he wrote: “That hurt… Teachers are at least as important as bballers.”
Meanwhile, others have criticized the irony of the state department’s proposal as hundreds of thousands of Americans remain incarcerated over marijuana charges.
The Libertarian party of New Hampshire responded to the news of the prisoner swap by writing about action on drug offenses in the US, saying: “America is mad at Russia for doing to Brittney Griner what it does to 374,000 people per year.”
another user tweeted: “I often wonder how Americans who have family members still in American prisons over weed, feel watching this entire #BrittneyGriner thing unfolds?”
If you’re a new parent, then you’ll be understandably nervous about how your precious baby sleeps. Nanit is a leading smart baby brand that connects parents to their baby’s wellbeing and development. Today they announced new functionality for the Nanit camera, enabling Split Screen and Alert Zone functionality.
The new Split Screen feature allows Nanit users to view more than one camera on the same screen at the same time. The first smart baby camera to offer the capability, the feature is the most requested by parents.
Nanit is committed to helping families thrive by supporting sleep which is at the heart of family wellbeing. While sleep is pivotal, we know that there is so much more to parenting. We heard from parents that split screen is an essential function that they want. Nanit is supporting families by providing the most informative and useful products and technologies. These new capabilities allow families with more than one child, from infancy and well beyond, to stay connected without worry.
Sarah Dorset, CEO.
Since its founding, Nanit has been creating cutting-edge technology and tools that keep families connected. This continues with Split Screen and sets up the brand’s next wave of innovation. With Split Screen, parents can select up to two cameras to view in the Nanit app at the same time. This feature is available now to all users with more than one camera and any Insights subscription.
In addition to Split Screen, the capability for users to set up an Alert Zone will be available later this month as an option. Nanit users can designate an area within view of the camera and if motion is detected in the designated area, the user will receive an alert from the Nanit app. The new function is available when using the Nanit Flex Stand (formerly known as the Multi-Stand). The feature does not require a subscription.
The company also unveiled new bundles that meet users in myriad stages of parenting. From families on the road to first-year essentials, Nanit’s new bundles take the guesswork out of the purchase process with these customized offerings. The bundles, which are available exclusively on nanit.com, include:
Best Seller Bundle
Packed with Nanit’s best-selling and must-have products: Nanit Pro Camera, Wall Mount or Floor Stand, Flex Stand, Travel Case, one small sensor-free Breathing Band, one set of Smart Sheets, and one year of Insights Premium subscription plan .
Nursery Essentials
The must-have products for easy nursery set-up: Nanit Pro Camera, Wall Mount or Floor Stand, one small sensor-free Breathing Band, one set of Smart Sheets, and one year of Insights Basic subscription plan.
The Travel Bundle
For families on the go, this bundle includes the products you need for traveling (or a secondary set-up): Nanit Pro Camera, Flex Stand, one small sensor-free Breathing Band, one Travel Case, and one year of Insights Basic subscription plan. The Travel Bundle will be available later this month.
Ultimate First Year
This bundle includes every product and accessory that is needed for a baby’s first year: Nanit Pro Camera, Wall Mount or Floor Stand, Flex Stand, four sets of Pajamas, one small sensor-free Breathing Band, one set of Smart Sheets, and one year of Insights Ultimate subscription plan.
To learn more about Split Screen and new bundles, please visit www.nanit.com.
Port Adelaide president David Koch says he feels “played” after Collingwood denied the Power’s request to wear their prison bar jumper in the Round 23 Showdown.
Reports surfaced late last week that Port Adelaide’s request from earlier in the year had been knocked back. The club hasn’t worn their Guernsey heritage since their 150th celebration in 2020, with Pies CEO Mark Anderson confirming on Saturday that Collingwood had bunkered down on their agreement with Port.
Koch labeled the objection “disappointing” and “disrespectful”, suggesting that new Pies president Jeff Browne had let down the Power with his previous updates.
“It is really disappointing. I think a bit disrespectful to our history and disrespectful to our members as well,” Koch said on FIVEaa Breakfastbut The SportingNews.
“Two weeks ago the Collingwood president Jeff Browne rang me out of the blue and said, ‘Mate Kochie, we’re taking your request really seriously, we understand how important it is to your members.’
“(He said), ‘I’ve been canvassing opinions in Melbourne and SA and I’m putting it to my board and I don’t want to get your hopes up but I’m quietly confident we could have good news for you .’
“I’m fuming because we have done the right thing, just quietly gone about it, and I can’t help feel that good nature has been played.
Koch also suggested former Pies president Eddie McGuire was pulling the strings behind the scenes. McGuire pledged to take the Power to court if they wore their prison bar jumper without permission during his tenure of him, while the AFL has also said Port could lose premiership points if they wear the guernsey.
“Eddie’s the one who said, ‘We own black and white’,” he added, per the Herald Sun.
“I don’t know if it’s a case of the big Victorian clubs once again going, ‘Hey, you just keep in your place’.
“On the weekend in the VFL, Collingwood played the Southport Sharks – who are black and white. So why can’t we play in our traditional prison bar Guernsey in showdowns in Adelaide?
“I think a bit disrespectful to our history and disrespectful to our members as well.
“You look at virtually every AFL club being able to play in a heritage Guernsey this year – a retro Guernsey – celebrating it. But we’re not allowed to do the same.”
Port Adelaide Chairman David Koch has expressed disappointment that Collingwood has again declined the club’s request to wear its iconic Prison Bar Guernsey in the Round 23 Showdown.
Koch also reaffirmed to the club’s website a 2007 agreement exists where the Power, Collingwood and the AFL signed off on Port wearing the prison bar jumper in heritage round every year, except against Collingwood.
Former Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins on Friday urged Port to wear the jumper in Round 23 regardless of the Magpies’ objections, while Andy Maher labeled the decision “mean-spirited”.
Senior Grampians Tony Driscoll is being remembered as a ‘wonderful’ community member after he died over the weekend.
Key points:
Northern Grampians Mayor Tony Driscoll died on Sunday
He was last elected to the mayoral position in November last year
Council meetings will be postponed until August 15 as a mark of respect
Cr Driscoll started his third stint as major of the Northern Grampians Shire Council last year but sadly passed away on Sunday after battling illness.
Fellow councilor Murray Emerson said he was devastated by the news.
“Tony and I first came together about 11 years ago when we joined the Northern Grampians Shire and we instantly took a liking to each other,” Cr Emerson said.
“[It] It wasn’t hard to get along with Tony Driscoll, he was a person who was very easy to become a friend with.”
Cr Driscoll represented the Kara Kara ward, taking in St Arnaud, since October 2012 and remained active with the council until his death.
He has served as major three times, with his most recent appointment beginning in November 2021.
Cr Driscoll was also the oldest from 2016 to 2017 and from 2017 to 2018.
Murray Emerson (far left) says Tony Driscoll (far right) played a key role in major council projects and helped secure government funding.(Supplied: Northern Grampians Shire Council)
Leader who fought for region
In council statement, his colleagues remembered Cr Driscoll for his dedication, integrity and as “a passionate advocate for his community”.
Cr Emerson said Cr Driscoll campaigned the state government for funding for major projects like the Grampians Peaks Trail, the Underground Physics Laboratory, and was involved in their decision-making.
“Tony was part and parcel of all of that and he just had that way about him, that he could get people to agree with some of our requests,” Cr Emerson said.
“Tony had a lot of sayings, some of them that I could quote and some I couldn’t, but Tony was just easy to get along with.
“He was a wonderful person, he was a wonderful councillor, and he was a great mate.
“He’d been sick for a little while but you never expect this sort of thing to happen.”
Flags at Stawell Town Hall in Stawell and St Arnaud would be flown at half-mast and council meetings postponed until August 15 while councilors respected a period of mourning.
Cr Driscoll is survived by his wife Annette, two sons, two daughters and his grandchildren.
Tony Driscoll (back left) is remembered for being a proactive advocate for the community.(Supplied: Northern Grampians Shire Council)
Former President Donald Trump “has to be rattled” now that the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on US Capitol is speaking with some of his former top Cabinet officials, a biographer of his said on Sunday.
The comment came from Tim O’Brien, the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald and senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion, during an interview on MSNBC after he was asked about the possible plans for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to be interviewed by the panel.
The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the House committee interviewed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and that lawmakers had asked the former Trump official about discussions at the Cabinet level to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office in the wake of the riot. Pompeo is also likely to speak with the panel soon, according to the AP, which has also reached out to former Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
Former President Donald Trump “has to be rattled” now that the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol is speaking with top former cabinet officials, a biographer of his said Sunday. Above, Trump is seen on Friday in Bedminster, New Jersey. Mike Stobe/LIV Golf
“Mike Pompeo said he’s considering talking to the committee about possibly testifying. Do you think Trump is rattled by these senior members of his administration cooperating?” MSNBC host Lindsey Reiser asked O’Brien.
“I can’t get inside his head that completely, but Trump has always believed in unwavering loyalty….And I think throughout most of his presidency that was a pretty firm wall. I don’t think you saw many people in his inner circle—they quit before they really decided to rat him out,” he responded.
The biographer said he believes “the work” of the January 6 panel “has convinced” high-ranking Trump officials to testify. He added that it’s “unfortunately very late in the process,” but thinks these ex-Cabinet members “took their cues” from other Republicans like former Attorney General Bill Barr, who testified before the committee, and Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is vice-chair of the panel.
“The substance of what the committee appears to be asking Mnuchin and Pompeo and others about…is whether or not they were so alarmed by what happened on January 6 that they wanted to invoke the 25th Amendment and force Trump’s removal from office,” O’Brien said. “So he has to be rattled by that because these are people in the past…I think who would never have publicly gone on the other side against him.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s press office for comment.
In a separate interview earlier this month, O’Brien said that Republicans are “telling themselves lies” and are hoping that Trump will go away.
Anyone who is Sydney-based and has a vested interest in skincare will have heard of Diandra Politano. As one of Australia’s leading dermal therapists, Politano is known (and loved) for her customized, results-driven approach, combining high tech treatments with holistic techniques for optimal skin health.
Politano has been changing complexions for the better from her eponymous Balmain salon for years, so it makes perfect sense that Dior have tapped her as their local skin expert. The partnership will see Politano bring her de ella wealth of experience and professionalism to the house of Dior, and working the prestigious skincare into her salon de ella.
read more: THIS ICONIC SERUM WILL LEAVE SKIN BRIGHTER IN JUST ONE WEEK
Image: Supplied
Dior is best know for skincare innovations such as Capture Totale Serum, a brightening, refining serum boosted with Madagascan Longoza extract from the Dior garden in Madagascar. There’s also the newer La Mousse Off/On Cleanser, a rich balm-to-foam that deeply purifies, removes makeup and leaves the skin silky soft.
read more: GISELE BÜNDCHEN ON HER DIET, SKINCARE ROUTINE AND AGEING: “I FEEL BETTER AT 40 THAN I FELT AT 30”
read more: YARA SHAHIDI JOINS NATALIE PORTMAN AS THE FACE OF DIOR’S NEW FOREVER FOUNDATION
Politano’s ethos is one that marries luxury with efficacy – one that deeply aligns with the house of Dior. Watch this space to hear more about comes from the partnership.
This time last season we wondered when Tony Finau would win again, what with his five-plus-year drought since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. His fans of him gnashed their teeth on Sundays, tried to console themselves on Mondays. The close calls mounted, none more painful than at the 2020 WM Phoenix Open, when it all seemed so unfair his oldest son, Jraice, was in tears.
Well, so much for all that.
One week after winning the 3M Open, Finau shot a clinical 67 to jump away his second victory in as many weeks at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. His 26-under-par total set a tournament record and left him five clear of Patrick Cantlay (66), Cameron Young (68), and Taylor Pendrith (72).
Oh, and with his victory at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National almost exactly a year ago, Finau has now racked up three wins in 12 months. Who’s laughing now?
“I’m very optimistic,” Finau said. “I’ve always been that way. I’ve always had hope and faith that things will turn out if I just keep working hard and putting myself there.”
Call it grit, stubbornness or perseverance. If he just kept putting himself in uncomfortable situations, if he kept learning more about the emotions that bubbled up in those situations, eventually, Finau reasoned, he would figure it out. And now he has.
“I’m proud of the way that I fought through adversity through my career,” he said, “and now I’m a back-to-back champion. … They say a winner is just a loser that just kept on trying, and that’s me to a T. How many times do I lose? But one thing I won’t do is give up and I’m only here as a winner because I chose not to give up and just keep going.”
The last player to win in back-to-back weeks during the FedExCup Regular Season was Brendon Todd in 2019. The last to win in back-to-back starts was Xander Schauffele earlier this season, at the Travelers Championship and Genesis Scottish Open.
This Rocket Mortgage wasn’t as lopsided as the final score. Finau pulled his tee shot at the par-3 ninth and hit his pitch shot 11 feet past the hole. With a bogey, Pendrith would be only one back. Cantlay, two groups ahead of them, had made the turn in 31 and would be two back. But Finau charged his par putt, and the ball caught the lip, spun around the cup, and dropped.
“Some of those putts haven’t gone my way in the past, I feel like, where they’re lipping out instead of lipping in,” said Finau, who added that he got a read off Pendrith’s birdie try. “So when that lipped in going on the low side, that gave me some momentum right into the back nine. I was able to make (a birdie) on 10 and then I was in control of the golf tournament.”
Added his caddy of two years, Mark Urbanek, “Sometimes those par putts feel bigger even than the birdies, especially on a course like this, where you feel like you’re losing more than one shot with a bogey. That was a nasty lie over there on 9; that was a good up-and-down.”
Finau came into the week as clearly the hottest player in the field, and he leaves having perhaps amended that to the hottest player in all of golf.
“I’ve seen rounds this good, but to do it for 144 holes and win back-to-back is impressive,” Urbanek said. “We talked before the round that if he can take care of the par 5s and coast the rest of the way, be patient and get our looks, it would be really hard for someone to catch him. I mean, Taylor could, but anybody else was going to have to shoot 9 or 10 under.”
Seeking his first win, Pendrith never looked at ease and faulted his lack of feel on the greens.
Finau hit 46 of 56 fairways and 66 of 72 greens in regulation and, not surprisingly, led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He was 6-for-6 in scrambling for the week, also first in the field, and ranked 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting (+4.478).
Hard to believe, but he didn’t love Detroit Golf Club the first time he saw it. (He tied for 53rd in 2020.) It’s a classic, tree-lined Donald Ross, and Finau was curving the ball so much he had trouble keeping it in the fairway. He and his coach, Boyd Summerhays, worked hard to fix that.
“He still shapes it,” Urbanek said, “but no more than the width of a fairway. He’s not having to start it over the trees and try to bring it back.”
Added Finau, “I’m a lot better than I was just a couple years ago.”
After making birdies at 10, 12, 14 and 17 – the latter two being par 5s, making him 4-for-4 on those holes for the day – and a drama-free par on 18, he embraced wife Alayna, who flew from their home in Utah late Saturday.
“I’m not surprised to see this,” she said. “He’s worked so hard. But it does feel cool.”
The couple have five children, and the 3M Open marked the first time the family had been on site to see him win. Alas, they had to go home afterward, as Jraice, 10, had two golf tournaments, and there was also a baby shower and a family reunion to attend.
Finau has his foundation golf tournament Monday, and then it’s on to the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the start of the FedExCup Playoffs. With his fourth career win, he moved from No. 17 to No. 7 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List, and while he’s got a lot of ground to make up – Scottie Scheffler remains in pole position, well ahead – Finau said he is unknown.
“Those guys will be hard to catch,” he said, “but the way the points work in the FedExCup, you’re able to race up that, climb that ladder pretty fast. I at least have given myself a chance. I’ve said it before, a week can change your life. I guess when you look at mine, two weeks is now back-to-back weeks has now changed my life, and it’s a great feeling.”
Dr Robert Moss, a University of Melbourne epidemiologist within the Victorian government’s epidemic-tracking team, said: “It does look as though BA.5 may have peaked in a number of states. It’s a little earlier than we might have expected.”
However, I have added that the stress on hospitals “could remain uncomfortably high for a while yet”.
BA.5 is a subvariant of Omicron, which caused a huge spike in cases in January.
This version of the virus is particularly good at evading the antibody protection generated by vaccines or infection. At the same time, vaccine protection has been waning, with only 71.3 per cent of Australians over 16 having had a booster shot.
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While McCaw fears the worst may be to come for hospitals, other epidemiologists noted the number of people needing a bed was falling in several states.
Dr Romain Ragonnet, part of Monash University’s epidemiology team, said: “I am quite confident that our hospital system has now passed its most testing times. We seem to have passed the flu peak and we are approaching warmer days.”
Unlike earlier in the pandemic, authorities no longer have a firm grip on how much virus is in the community, as many people are either not getting tested or not reporting test results. Victorian authorities have said they suspect about half of new cases are being missed.
Rather than just looking at daily cases, some epidemiologists are now focusing on the total percentage of positive tests to track the virus.
In Victoria, that rate peaked in the first week of July and has since fallen slightly, while it has fluctuated in NSW.
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“New cases have flattened out and are now likely to decline in the majority of states, and we’re not seeing any rises in PCR-positive percentage,” said Associate Professor James Wood, a disease modeller at the University of NSW who provides data to state governments. “So that trend is realistic.”
University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely came to the same conclusion, pointing to falling hospitalization rates across the country as evidence that the surge is past its peak.
Blakely said BA.5 may continue to circulate, causing smaller waves as immunity from the vaccine wanes, or another variant may emerge and become dominant, leading to a new, larger wave.
“What happens beyond this wave? No one really knows,” he said.
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