Carlton will quickly regroup in preparation for a mouth-watering “final elimination” against arch rival Collingwood next week, coach Michael Voss says.
Voss was trying to take positives out of Saturday night’s heartbreaking loss to the Demons, who stole a five-point victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to a classy Kysaiah Pickett goal with 11 seconds left in the game.
Shattered Blues players slumped to the ground on the final siren as Melbourne denied Carlton the opportunity to cement a finals berth for the first time since the 2013 season.
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Asked where it went wrong, Voss told reporters: “A bit of detail in the last couple of minutes didn’t quite get right, so I guess it’s easy to focus on that two minutes.”
Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd, who was at the MCG on Saturday night, witnessed a frustrated Voss walk towards the Blues’ rooms after the final siren, before he u-turned, consoled his players and walked from the field with them.
“This is as bad as a home and away loss gets … I’ve lost a prelim by a point but this is as close to what you get with a home and away loss,” Lloyd told Channel 9’s The Sunday Footy Show.
Patrick Cripps of the Blues and Michael Voss leave after the loss. Picture: Mark StewartSource: News Corp Australia
“Vossy, he stands on the bench with the players and coaches from down there – he just started charging off on his own, disconsolate, hands in his pockets. He was going to head straight down to the rooms.
“Just as he got close, I reckon it triggered and he thought: ‘I can’t just go off and leave my players there.’ He turned back around, walked 60m back, he tapped every player on the bum, he and ‘Crippa’ (Patrick Cripps) walked down arm-in-arm.
“So I reckon he thought to himself: ‘I’ve got to be here with my players and we’ve got one week to try and salvage and turn this around.’”
With the ninth-placed Western Bulldogs, who are a win behind Carlton, set to start as favorites in their own do-or-die clash against Hawthorn next Sunday, the Blues simply must beat old foe Collingwood to cement a finals berth.
Carlton, vying to feature in September for the first time since 2013, will take on the miracle-working Magpies in a sequel to the thrilling Round 11 affair in which the Pies won by four points.
“It’s really exciting for us,” Voss said.
Patrick Cripps of the Blues and Michael Voss. Picture: Mark StewartSource: News Corp Australia
“I’ve spoken about the opportunity that’s there and it’s about exposure for us playing in these sorts of games. It can only be a good thing for us and how we grow and develop out of this as a footy team.”
Voss said his troops would relish the opportunity to take on the in-form Collingwood in front of an MCG crowd likely to exceed 80,000.
“It’s effectively an elimination final,” Voss said. “We know what the week holds.
“We’ll get back to work and turn up here next Sunday, in what will be a really big game. I’m sure it’ll be really built up.
“The energy that we brought today was just real excitement to be able to play these sorts of games. I hope we bring that same energy.”
Demons rob Blues on the Buzzer! | 03:03
The Blues are likely to regain Adam Cerra, who was a late withdrawal because of groin tightness but Voss conceded his side wouldn’t have the luxury of bringing fellow midfielders George Hewett and Matthew Kennedy back into the line-up despite the high-stakes nature of the clash.
“(Close) just couldn’t quite get going this morning,” Voss said.
“George (Hewett) is starting to get going a bit, but I think the prognosis for him is that if he does actually start to train it might be more towards the finals.”
Dragons young gun Talatau Amone has bagged an early double to get his side out to a 12-6 lead over the Raiders in a must-win clash at GIO Stadium.
MATCH CENTER: Raiders vs Dragons live updates, video, stats
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19TH MINUTE
Talatau Amone backed up his try with another one. Jack Bird got around a Raider and then offloaded to Amone who dived over the line.
6TH MINUTE
The Dragons hit back through young gun Talatau Amone who had to push through several Raiders players to ground the ball.
1ST MINUTE
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to get on the board with Hudson Young pouncing on a Zac Woolford grubber to score.
MATCH PREVIEW
Ricky Stuart will be forced to watch from home when his Raiders take on the Dragons in a must-win clash at GIO Stadium to keep their final hopes alive.
Stuart was suspended by the NRL after his “weak-gutted dog” spray directed at Panthers player Jaeman Salmon last weel.
The Dragons are also still in the finals hunt but after losing to the Sharks last week they now sit two wins outside of the eight.
If they are to get sneak into the finals they’ll need to win all four of their last games — but they’ll do it without veteran Tariq Sims who has been banned for a careless high tackle. Josh McGuire moves into the starting side for Sims and Tyrell Fuemaono joins the bench.
In a boost for the side, Cody Ramsey returns from a knee injury at fullback, forcing Moses Mbye into the centers and Jack Bird to lock.
The Raiders welcome back electric fullback Xavier Savage from an ankle injury but will be without star prop Joe Tapine and winger Nick Cotric.
Tapine has succumbed to a rib injury that was suffered last week, while Cotric is out through suspension.
Emre Guler replaces Tapine in the starting pack with Corey Horsburgh joining the bench after a successful return from pneumonia via reserve grade last week.
Meanwhile, Savage’s return allows Albert Hopoate shift to the wing to replace Cotric.
TEAMS
raiders: 1. Xavier Savage 2. Albert Hopoate 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Zac Woolford 10. Emre Guler 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Adam Elliott 14. Tom Starling 15. Ryan Sutton 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Replacement player: 18. James Schiller
Dragon’s: 21. Cody Ramsey 2. Mathew Feagai 1. Moses Mbye 4. Zac Lomax 5. Tautau Moga 6. Talatau Amone 7. Ben Hunt 8. Jack de Belin 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Josh Mcguire 12. Jaydn Su ‘A 3. Jack Bird 13. Michael Molo 15. Aaron Woods 16. Tyrell Fuimaono 17. Billy Burns. Replacement player: 20. Jayden Hunt
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Cameron Ciraldo has landed his first NRL head coaching gig as he reportedly inked a five-year deal to take over the Canterbury Bulldogs from 2023.
Ciraldo, considered one of the brightest coaching minds in the game, has spent several years as Ivan Cleary’s understudy at the Penrith Panthers.
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He has also turned down a number of approaches from other teams for a head coaching position previously, including one from the Wests Tigers in June.
Ciraldo had been heavily linked with the vacancy at Belmore after Trent Barrett left the role earlier this season.
The 38-year-old, who will also become the youngest head coach in the NRL next season, is no stranger to Bulldogs GM of football Phil Gould as the duo worked together at the Panthers.
According to The Daily Telegraphan emotional Ciraldo broke the news to the Panthers playing group at training on Sunday.
speaking on Fox League’s broadcast, Michael Ennis and Greg Alexander, two figures who have connections to the Bulldogs and Panthers respectively, spoke glowingly of Ciraldo’s credentials.
“It’s exciting times for them (Bulldogs),” Ennis said.
Sharks secure top 4 against Tigers | 00:56
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“Cameron’s very much where Craig Fitzgibbon was 12 months ago where he’s done a wonderful apprenticeship in a really good system.
“He’s had some previous experience when Anthony Griffin was moved on, did a great job at the back end of the season with the Panthers.
“So many of those young superstars that are now dominating at the top level, not just in club football but at Origin level, have such a wonderful wrap on him.”
While Alexander was upset to see Ciraldo move on from the Panthers, he believes it’s a sign that the club will continue to catapult assistant coaches into first grade gigs in the future.
“I’m excited for Cameron. It’s disappointing, but assistant coaches, everyone knows they’re about to move on. There’s been three moving on in the last two years.
“Trent Barrett left Penrith and went to the Dogs, Andrew Webster’s going to the Warriors and Cameron Ciraldo is going to the Dogs.
“Penrith’s assistant coaches, in terms of getting first grade jobs, have been pretty good.”
The hire of Ciraldo is also likely to keep five-eighth star Matt Burton at the club in a major boost to the club’s playing squad.
Ciraldo will take over a resurgent Bulldogs outfit thanks to interim coach Mick Potter’s efforts.
His departure is no doubt a massive blow to the Panthers, as Cleary must now search for two new assistans for next season following the looming exits of Ciraldo and Andrew Webster, who will take over the New Zealand Warriors in 2023.
Brodie Grundy reportedly walked away from a recent meeting with Melbourne very impressed.
Plus why the Power are well placed for the next few years and the two-club race for a Giants star.
Get the latest player movement news and updates in AFL Trade Whispers!
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PIES STAR ‘BLOWN AWAY’ BY DEES IN MEETING
Brodie Grundy was reportedly “blown away” by Melbourne when the Collingwood star met with key Dees figures in recent weeks.
The Demons, as well as Geelong, last week emerged as “potential new suitors” for Grundy, who’s now central to ample trade speculation as the Pies consider offloading the 28-year-old’s lucrative contract — worth around $1 million per season until 2027 — to clear cap space for the likes of rival players Dan McStay, Bobby Hill and Tim Taranto.
Giants football boss Jason McCartney was seen meeting Grundy’s manager last month, while Port Adelaide has also been linked to the dual All-Australian.
While the Giants are now considered out of the race, the Dees have emerged as the front-runners for Grundy, who reportedly met with Melbourne figures, including coach Simon Goodwin, footy boss Alan Richardson and skipper Max Gawn, in recent weeks.
Lewis 50/50 on Gawn & Grundy tandem | 01:24
And SEN reporter Sam Edmund said Grundy liked what he saw from the Dees.
“He was so impressed by the vision Melbourne set, their professionalism and what they sold to him,” Edmund told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“It doesn’t mean that Melbourne are going for Brodie Grundy as a priority, I’m told they might want to go younger, they might want to go cheaper, but they have met with him and been very impressive getting in front of Brodie Grundy.”
Edmund pointed out the Dees also impressed Adam Cerra in a presentation, only for the midfielder to choose Carlton as Melbourne “didn’t have the levers to pull to get him in the door”.
While Goodwin last week didn’t confirm the club had met with Grundy, he said the Dees were keen to play two rucks next season amid Luke Jackson’s strong links to Fremantle.
Grundy, who hasn’t played an AFL game since Anzac Day due to a knee issue, had been nearing a return to the AFL before suffering a stress fracture in his ankle in a VFL match, ruling him out for the rest of the home and away season.
POWER PRIMED TO LAUNCH IN OFF-SEASON
Port Adelaide is well prepared to pounce on a star rival player at some stage over the next two years thanks to clever list decisions, reports the Herald Sun.
While the Power will miss finals this year after two straight preliminary final appearances in the previous two seasons, they’re in a good position to launch into the market either this year or next year.
the Herald Sun reported the Power have the capacity to be “bold and adventurous”, thanks to shrewd list management calls that have seen them generate more salary cap space than most other rival clubs.
Koch keeps Hinkley for 2023! | 02:49
According to the newspaper’s ‘AFL Rich 100’, which ranks the top 100 highest-paid players in the competition in 2022, only one Power player sits inside the top 50 – Brownlow Medalist Ollie Wines at $750,000 to $850,000 – with Scott Lycett (No. 75) and Charlie Dixon (No. 100) next in line.
It means they could make a big play for Bulldogs midfielder Josh Dunkley or contracted Magpie Brodie Grundy, should either of them wish to move to South Australia.
The Power are preparing to lose wingman Karl Amon, who’s set to exercise his free agency rights and join a rival Victorian club.
TIGERS ‘RIGHT IN THE MIX’ FOR GIANTS STAR
Collingwood could have a fight on its hands to land Tim Taranto, with Richmond “coming hard” for the off-contract Giant.
The Giants, again, are set to be active during the upcoming AFL exchange period, with several players, including Taranto, Jacob Hopper, Tanner Bruhn and Bobby Hill linked to rival clubs.
Taranto has been linked to four Victorian-based clubs, but the Tigers and Magpies appear best placed to fight for his services.
Despite the strong links to Collingwood, SEN reporter Sam Edmund said the Tigers were “right in the mix” for Taranto.
Rutten optimistic Heppell will stay | 00:48
“I know he’s been linked heavily with Collingwood, but Richmond (is) coming hard for Tim Taranto as well,” Edmund told Crunch Time.
“If you’re sitting here right now, you’re saying he’s either going to be at Punt Road or Collingwood next year.”
Taranto, who is out of contract but not a free agent until 2024, would be worth a first-round draft pick, according to Brownlow Medalist Gerard Healy.
The on-baller has played 113 games for the Giants since being drafted with Pick 2 in the 2016 draft. He won the club’s best and fairest in its Grand Final year of 2019.
He is the bodyguard who Princess Diana nicknamed “Rambo” and with whom she had several heart-to-hearts revealing her biggest fears and future plans.
And 25 years on from her death, Lee Sansum says he is adamant she would be alive today if he had been with her on the night she died alongside Dodi Fayed in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997.
In an exclusive interview with The SunSansum has told how security guards drew straws to accompany bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones in the car, and he lost.
He also reveals the fun bets he had with a young Prince and how he treasures a letter from Diana thanking him for making her final sunshine holiday in St Tropez “magical” — and her fears she may be assassinated.
“It could have been me in that car,” said Sansum, now 60.
“We drew straws to see who would be accompanying Trevor that weekend. I pulled a match and it was a long one.
“When I learned they were not wearing seatbelts in the crash I understood why they didn’t survive. That shouldn’t have happened.
“It was standard practice for the family to wear seatbelts. It was an order sent down from the boss, Dodi’s dad Mohamed Fayed. Dodi, in particular, hated wearing seatbelts and I always insisted on it.”
Through his work with Mohamed Al-Fayed — the owner of Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods department store and Fulham FC — Sansum also protected Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sylvester Stallone and footballer Pele.
Burnley-born Sansum, who has covered his incredible career in personal protection in a new book, The Bodyguard: Real Stories of Close Protection from Tom Cruise to Princess Dianawas assigned to look after Dodi and Diana, then 36, when they stayed at his boss’s 30-bedroom villa in St Tropez, in the South of France, during July 1997.
Every day Diana would wake up at 7am and chat to the bodyguard.
“She had been happy on that holiday,” he said.
“But I had seen her in tears too, when she learned of the murder of her friend, the fashion designer Gianni Versace. She confided in me her own fears that she might one day be assassinated.
“She asked if I thought his murder outside his home was a professional killing.
“I thought it was. Then she said something that always stayed with me — ‘Do you think they’ll do that to me?’ She was shaking and it was clear from her tone that she really thought that they might, whoever ‘they’ might be.
“I spent some time reassuring her that no one was going to try to kill her and she was safe with us, but she definitely thought there was a risk that one day she might be assassinated.”
Diana also told Sansum she wanted to live with Dodi in the States.
“I actually signed up to join Diana and Dodi in America,” he added.
“She was definitely going, and that was that. She told me she was going there.
“She didn’t want to, but that was the only place she felt people weren’t having a go at her. It was probably her way of keeping sane, to get some respite.”
Sansum took an instant shine to young princes William and Harry, who he says were down to earth and friendly, like their mother. William was 15 when Diana died and Harry 12.
Sansum believes Diana’s plan to move to the US influenced Harry’s move there with Meghan.
“This trauma happened when the building blocks for life were being formulated,” he said.
“His mother saw America as a place of sanctuary. He will be drawing on his experiences of her from then. ”
Sansum, a martial arts expert, tried to teach William and Harry how to kickbox, but they were too apprehensive.
“I rigged up a punch bag in the garage,” he said.
“One day I told the princes, ‘Come on, I’ll teach you a bit of kickboxing.’
“When I showed William and Harry how to do it though, they seemed a little bit in awe from watching me kick that bag so hard and weren’t too keen to try it themselves in front of me.”
But Harry did challenge him to jump off the top deck of Al-Fayed’s yacht for money.
When Sansum said he would do it for £200, Diana joined in the encouragement and told Sansum they had his money.
“It was a bloody big yacht and a fair drop from its highest point into the water,” he said.
“A bet’s a bet, after all, and this one was by royal command, from an actual princess.
“So I jumped off the boat, hit the water with a big splash and they were all delighted, especially Harry.”
Sansum — who has also served in the Military Police, worked undercover for the Forces in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles and in Somalia and Libya — does not believe Diana was murdered.
But he reveals the presence of intelligence services following her just weeks before the crash might have been a factor.
On a counter-surveillance drive near the Al-Fayed home in Surrey just before they all went to St Tropez, one of Sansum’s colleagues saw someone from the Special Reconnaissance Unit, working on a building site. He knew him as they had both been in the SAS.
“We were generally followed by MI5 but this was the first time we had seen a Special Forces guy,” he said.
“We thought, ‘They’ve upped their game.’
“A witness driving a car traveling in front of the Mercedes in Paris on the night of the crash told the inquest that he saw a high-powered motorbike overtake the car just seconds before the crash.
“Another witness traveling in the opposite direction saw a second motorbike swerve to avoid smoke and wreckage then carry on out of the tunnel without stopping. The riders of those bikes were never found — and that is no coincidence.
“I believe that security officers following Diana, possibly British or a combined British – French team, may have either inadvertently caused the crash or were in proximity to the car when it happened.
“If it was known that MI6 operatives were right by the Mercedes at the critical moment, a lot of people would have blamed them for it, and that would have been a huge scandal.”
Sansum will never know the truth. But he will always treasure the letter he received from the princess 25 years ago.
“I received a lovely letter from Diana that was signed by her and both of the young princes,” he said.
“She told me she wanted to thank me for taking such good care of them all in St Tropez. I was blown away by that. She assured me that she and her boys de ella had a ‘magical’ time there and that this would not have been possible without my help.
“I couldn’t believe that a woman as famous and in-demand as Diana had taken the time to write to me in that way.
“It showed the empathy she was rightly famous for.
“Diana was almost always able to put herself in someone else’s shoes, it is one of the reasons why she was so highly regarded.
“She signed off with her warmest possible thanks. I still have that letter and will always treasure it.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
Two Melbourne dads landed a deal with both Woolworths and Coles worth $1 million before they had even sold one of their products.
Dad-of-two Seong-Lee Ang, set out to solve a problem with his business partner, after an experience “threw” his family’s “world upside down”.
The 45-year-old’s children both have severe anaphylactic food allergies.
Both are allergic to nuts but his four-year-old in particular is impacted by a range of foods.
“My daughter is allergic to dairy, egg, whole nuts, sesame, fish, shellfish and citrus seeds and that’s just the list we have tested so far,” he told news.com.au.
“It’s been pretty awful and it’s been a real challenge having such severe allergies. Eating out is really difficult, we take our own food for our daughter as no restaurant can cater to her allergies from her.
“We have had multiple close calls, hospital visits and ambulances called and as she was heading towards school age it was most frightening thinking about her being at school with hundreds of other children eating lunch around her.”
So in the middle of Melbourne’s long string of lockdowns when visiting the supermarket was a treat, Mr Ang realized apart from Vegemite and jam, every product in the spread aisle of the major supermarkets contained nuts.
“I guess we were thinking what is an easy thing to pack into school lunch boxes and it’s a sandwich but the spreads are really limited. There are hundreds of spreads in the spreads aisles and most contain nuts,” he explained.
“There are ‘no nut’ policies across the country where children can’t take peanut butter or Nutella sandwiches to school. It became our mission to solve this big problem, so it’s not just for allergy kids but all the children who would love to take a peanut butter sandwich to school and can’t.”
This is where their business called Buddee was born, with an aim to create an “inclusive” spread for all children and adults.
But Mr Ang and his co-founder Rodney Chieng knew they were in for a challenge as allergy-free products are “notorious” for tasting terrible, gambling around $400,000 from their own savings to make it happen.
Both also wanted their product to end up in the mainstream aisle, rather than being relegated to the health food aisle.
Dad-of-three Mr Chieng drove the product development, which took 60 versions of their first chocolate spread to get it right, with the early types tasting “awful”, Mr Ang admitted.
“Most of the first ones were disasters, in truth because of my children’s allergies I really wanted to make something that my daughter could eat and she’s not just allergic to nuts … so it was very limiting in terms of the ingredients we could use as we really wanted it to be allergen friendly,” he added.
His daughter was one of the chief taste testers and by version 30 she really started to like them rather than scrunching up her face, he said, and now absolutely loves it.
“Pretty much every day my children want a Buddee sandwich or the spread on toast or to dip carrots in. They eat it daily so they are going to put me out of business,” he joked.
Chickpea is the main ingredient, which presents problems initially on the taste front as well as with its water content.
“We got around it and roasted the chickpeas and that gives the nutlike flavor of the nutty spreads,” he said.
“It still tastes very familiar to people who still like nut spreads and people who do blind taste tests cannot believe it doesn’t contain nuts.”
The business partners were “shocked and over the moon” when both Woolworths and Coles wanted to stock their spreads before they had “sold a single jar yet”, Mr Ang said.
The deals will see Buddee Chocolate and Smooth spreads available at Woolworths supermarkets nationwide from August 15.
Meanwhile, Buddee Chocolate and Crunchy spreads will be available at Coles supermarkets nationwide from September 2022 and will retail for $6.50.
“It’s a testament to the need for this product and there is nothing like Buddee on their shelves,” Mr Ang said.
“There are so many spreads on the shelves but all contain nuts, so there is a big gap in the market we are filling and the supermarkets needed it even though we haven’t sold a jar yet.
“We are trying to find a solution for Australian families and children at school. We want school playgrounds to be inclusive and no one to miss out but instead they can take Buddee and don’t harm the kids next to them.”
But he said adults can also enjoy the spreads too.
Compared to other conventional spreads, Buddee contains less sugar, less saturated fat
and is free from palm oil as well as being entirely free from the top 10 allergens
including nuts, wheat, soy, dairy and sesame, according to Mr Ang.
Having been in “scary” situations where EpiPens have had to be used on his child in a restaurant, Mr Ang said Buddee is “so personal” to him.
”It’s been pretty tough the last six years with both our children having allergies,” he added.
“I have been in business before but this is why this business means the world to me. It’s actually creating change in the community, that’s why it’s so meaningful to me.”
Mr Ang said the duo have huge plans for the brand with future allergy-free products beyond the spread aisle.
JJ Spaun birdied two of the last three holes to shoot a two-under par 68 for a one-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round of the US PGA Tour’s St. Jude Championship.
Spaun tapped in to birdie the par-5 16th and holed a 17-foot birdie putt at the 17th then stood alone at the top after Austrian Sepp Straka missed a nine-foot par putt at the 18th at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
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The 31-year-old American stood on 13-under 197 through 54 holes with Straka on 198 after shooting 68.
British Open champion Cameron Smith of Australia fired 67 to share third on 199 with Americans Will Zalatoris and Trey Mullinax. Americans Tyler Duncan and Troy Merritt were another stroke adrift.
However, Smith had to cop some stick from fans as he walked the course.
The tournament opens the FedEx Cup playoffs, three season-ending events with a winner’s prize of $18 million.
Only 125 players qualified on season points and only the top 70 advance to next week’s BMW Championship, where the 30 qualifiers for the Tour Championship in Atlanta are decided.
‘Ready to cop some heat’ Smith talks LIV | 00:49
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Spaun won his first PGA title after 147 tour starts in April at the Texas Open while Straka, who missed six consecutive cuts coming into this week, won his first PGA title in February at the Honda Classic.
Spaun began with nine pars before a bogey at 10, but sank an 11-foot birdie putt at the par-3 11th and overtook Straka with his closing surge.
After a birdie-bogey start, Straka sank a 15-foot birdie putt at the fifth hole and another from just inside 12 feet at the sixth to seize the outright lead, but he fell back with a bogey at seven.
Straka took the lead alone with a 16-foot birdie putt at the 13th and grabbed a two-stroke lead by sinking a six-foot birdie putt at 15, setting the stage for Spaun’s run.
Zalatoris, still chasing his first PGA Tour victory, was a runner-up this year at the PGA Championship and US Open and last year in his Masters debut.
“I played on the biggest stages in three majors and I felt comfortable in those positions,” he said.
“I haven’t gotten a win out of it yet. Eventually we will and hopefully tomorrow is it.”
LIV golfers still welcome in Australia | 01:46
World number 14 Zalatoris, who turns 26 on Tuesday, has a PGA-high eight top-10 finishes without a victory this season.
“Today was awesome,” Zalatoris said of his 65.
“Tee to green was great and I rolled in a couple nice putts, so I just need to keep that going.”
Zalatoris split with caddy Ryan Goble last week and new caddy Joel Stock has read his putts the past 36 holes.
“It has been great,” Zalatoris said.
“He has been awesome. Obviously it has paid off. He’s doing a good job.”
Mullinax, who shot 66, won his first PGA title at last month’s Barbasol Championship.
He began the week 70th in points, the last spot to advance, but is in position to leap into the top 30.
“Been playing really well,” he said. “Just going out and sticking to the game plan.”
Duncan birdied four of the first six holes to shoot 67.
It has been 77 starts without a top-10 finish for Duncan since his lone PGA victory at the 2019 RSM Classic.
Rickie Fowler found water twice on the way to a quintuple-bogey nine on the 18th hole. He shot 72 to stand on 208, likely dooming his bid to advance in the playoffs.
Google has been with a massive $60m fine after it was found the tech giant mislead Australian Android users about how it used their data in order to target them with advertising.
The fine comes as a result of Australia’s consumer watchdog taking the tech giant to court in 2019.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged that Android phone settings were misleading.
It accused Google of storing the location data of some users even if they had “Location History” turned off.
The Federal Court ordered the tech giant to pay the $60m penalty after it found it had breached Australian consumer laws by misleading some Android owners between January 2017 and December 2018.
The court found that another setting titled “Web & App Activity” also allowed location data to be shared with Google.
The ACCC says its best estimate, based on available data, is that the users of 1.3 million Google accounts in Australia may have viewed a screen found by the court to have breached Australian consumer laws.
Google took remedial steps and had addressed all of the contravening conduct by 20 December 2018, meaning that users were no longer shown the misleading screens, the ACCC said.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the court’s decision sent a strong message to digital platforms and other businesses about using people’s data.
“Personal location data is sensitive and important to some consumers,” she said in a statement.
“Some of the users who saw the representations may have made different choices about the collection, storage and use of their location data if the misleading representations had not been made by Google.”
Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the penalty was the first instance of public enforcement to come from the ACCC’s digital inquiry platforms.
A spokesman for Google confirmed the company had agreed to settle the matter with the ACCC.
“We’ve invested heavily in making location information simple to manage and easy to understand with industry-first tools like auto-delete controls, while significantly minimizing the amount of data stored,” he spokesman said.
“As we’ve demonstrated, we’re committed to making ongoing updates that give users control and transparency, while providing the most helpful products possible.”
Fremantle expect Rory Lobb to back up against GWS, despite being subbed out of the win over West Coast.
While the Roos are counting the injury toll from a bruising encounter with the Crows.
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FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir has defended the club’s decision to sub Rory Lob out of the win over West Coast late, despite then admitting he expects the star to play next weekend.
Lobb has been carrying a shoulder injury for the past few weeks and appeared to aggravate it in a marking contest in the third term.
But the big forward waved away medical staff and played on, despite clearly carrying his right shoulder.
“He’s sore,” Longmuir admitted post-match. “We don’t think it’s too significant. We’re proud of his efforts after he got injured and halved some contests and remained in the game and kept working his way through it.
“(We) expect him to play (against GWS).
“Players have played plenty of times after they’ve been subbed out.
“He was carrying his arm around so he’s got an injury. He’s been carrying it for three weeks so he got a stinger on it and couldn’t go on tonight but we think he’ll be alright.”
Longmuir said he would enjoy the win over West Coast before contemplating having both Lobb and fellow big forward Matt Taberner unavailable for the away clash with GWS.
“I’ll worry about that when I get home,” he laughed.
“It’s not ideal and I’d love Lobby to play next week. We haven’t really crossed that bridge yet.
“When you see a player out there carrying their arm, you want to protect them so that’s why we subbed him out.
“He’s a fast healer. He played the week after he hurt it the first time from memory. So fingers crossed he gets up. He doesn’t let on when he brings injuries into games and he pushes through it really well.
“He’s 205cm and we needed to contest forward of the ball.
“I’m really proud of his efforts to keep competing, sometimes with one arm.”
Saint in hot water over bump? | 00:41
The call to sub Lobb out of the contest came with just four minutes remaining when the match was all but won.
“The docs went out and checked him and probably decided that he couldn’t go on anymore,” Longmuir said.
“He battled as well as he could for as long as he could. We needed to get him off for his own welfare from him.”
Lobb’s potential absence could hurt Fremantle’s top four push with Taberner already sidelined. skipper Nat Fyfe is no guarantee to return from his hamstring injury in Round 23 with Longmuir adamant the club would take a cautious approach.
“We don’t need to (bring him straight back), but if he’s fit to play, he’ll put his hand up for selection,” Longmuir said.
“If he’s not declared fit, we’re not going to put him out there and risk him. You injure yourself at this time of year and have a repeat injury to that hammy, then your season’s almost done.”
Longmuir said Fyfe may even go back to the WAFL for a second time this year to build fitness heading into finals.
“If it’s not this week, then we’ve got the bye and a WAFL game in the bye so we’ll look at that,” he said.
ST KILDA‘s Jimmy Webster‘s season is all but over after he injured his hamstring in the loss to Brisbane.
With the Saints now only a mathematical chance of finals, Webster is set for scans in the coming days.
He was subbed out of the loss to Brisbane early and was iced up for the remainder of the clash.
Cunnington emotional after huge return! | 02:47
ADELAIDE forward Shane McAdam is in doubt for this weekend’s Showdown with Port Adelaide.
McAdam was subbed out of the win over North Melbourne with a hamstring complaint.
“Forward Shane McAdam injured his hamstring while leading for the ball in the final quarter and was subbed out of the game,” Crows high performance manager Darren Burgess said.
“He will be assessed in coming days ahead of next week’s Showdown.”
NORTH MELBOURNE are counting the cost of a bruising loss to the Crows, with three players injured and young Paul Curtis now racing to be fit for the final match of the season.
jed anderson suffered concussion and won’t play again this season under the AFL’s protocols.
skipper jack ziebell is also likely done for 2022 after suffering a “significant” shoulder injury.
“It didn’t look great for Ziebs in particular,” coach Leigh Adams said.
“It’s some sort of shoulder injury. I think we all know Jack Ziebell is going to put his body on the line every time.
“I’m not sure if its collarbone or a dislocation but for him to come straight off and get subbed off, it must have been pretty bad. He doesn’t come off unless something is wrong.
“Fingers crossed it’s not too bad but it looks like his season is over.”
Kangaroos miss chance against Crows | 01:34
Jaidyn Stephenson will have to prove his fitness to play again this season after coming off with a back injury.
“Stevo’s had a bit of back issues that can come good pretty quick.”
Adams defended the club’s decision to send Anderson back out into the contest, as he was later ruled out with concussion.
“I haven’t seen the vision yet – I’m comfortable our doctors will have made the right decision,” he said.
“I know he came off with the blood rule and I was told at three quarter time he’d gone into the concussion protocols.”
Adams said the club wouldn’t take any risk with young Curtis after he copped a knock to his shoulder.
“This time of year obviously with one game to go, we won’t take any risk with a young kid like that,” he said.
GWS could be without Lachlan Keeffe after he complained of groin soreness in the loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Caretaker coach Mark McVeigh said the club would take precautions with the veteran.
“We’ll assess Keeffey who complained of a bit of groin soreness. We’ll take precautions there,” he said.
Tanner Bruhn won’t play again this season after entering the AFL’s concussion protocols.
“Tanner Bruhn with the HIA so he’ll enter those protocols which is not ideal for him,” McVeigh said.
the WESTERN BULLDOGS admit skipper Marcus Bontempelli is not fully fit but continues to press on.
“I finished the game off alright didn’t he?” coach Luke Beveridge said.
“He’s struggling a little bit with a niggle or two. I had Marcus and Chrissy Bell in my office yesterday talking through, he’s got a bit of an adductor issue going on.
“Both Marcus and Chris were sure he’d get through the game.
“He’s not 100 per cent. I have pushed through a bit of discomfort today.”
Bulldogs keep finals in sight | 02:53
GEELONG Coach Chris Scott has hinted at resting more players for the final round clash against West Coast.
With top spot assured, the Cats do have one injury concern with Rhys Stanley subbed out of the win over the Gold Coast.
“They tell me he’s got a low grade adductor strain,” Scott said.
“Generally when they say low grade it’s a week or two. It will be unlikely he’ll play next week is the feedback I’ve got but they are not too worried beyond that.”
GOLD COAST coach Stuart Dew says he feels for Sam Day after the forward re-injured his knee.
“Suspected that he’s hurt his meniscus that he’s had repaired last year and it was the same mechanism the way he slid and jammed that joint so we’ve got fingers crossed but unfortunately I think Sam might have hurt his knee which is really unfortunate,” Dew said.
Izak Rankin also remains in doubt for Round 23 after injuring his shoulder.
“He hurt that shoulder a few weeks back… clearly awkward landing/hit and he’s stirred that up,” Dew said.
“We’ll just see how that settles.”
WEST COAST could be without both Nic Naitanui and jamine jones for the trip to Geelong.
Jones was subbed out of the loss to the Dockers with a back issue.
“His back just seized up. We weighed up before the game whether to pull him out … He’s had a big year and carried some injuries. He just couldn’t last,” coach Adam Simpson said.
Simpson also admitted Naitanui was playing through the pain.
“He’s playing because the club needs him,” Simpson said.
Isaac Heeney was 12 years old, nursing a broken hand and sitting in a mostly empty grandstand with his mother Rochelle.
A junior football carnival was playing out in front of them that he was supposed to be captaining an under-12s team in, before suffering his injury in one of the early games.
Then up walked a man, seemingly unaware of how many seating options he had, to slide in next to the Heeneys.
“We were like, ‘Go and sit somewhere else; you don’t have to sit in our laps’,” Heeney, 26, recalled, laughing about the memory, which he said made him “feel old”.
“Then he introduced himself: ‘I’m Chris Smith from the Sydney Swans Academy. I’ve been watching you for a little while.’”
Heeney’s life changed forever in that moment. The Swans had found a future superstar, one who will play his 150th AFL game at the SCG on Sunday against Collingwood.
Rochelle, a dairy farmer, started working half-days on Thursdays to drive Heeney and his brother, Beau, two-and-a-half hours each way from the outskirts of Newcastle to Sydney for a 90-minute Academy training session.
Their dad, Adam, a butcher, would sometimes drive them as well but also spent countless hours with his sons kicking the Sherrin on their hobby farm.
“I had the best childhood in the world. It was a really simple way of living but it was epic,” Heeney said.
“My parents were so supportive and loving and it was simple and cheap. We never had much money… we’d come home, eat sausages for dinner and always be outdoors.
“Mum and dad, being sporty people themselves, loved being outside and having fun with us, too.”
Their home doubled as a field of sporting dreams and was the scene of all sorts of other “sketchy” adventures, from tree parachuting to propelling into a dam at full speed on a bike.
Heeney only half-jokingly reflects on how Beau almost killed himself a couple of times.
“We built a ramp that we would go down on this hill and it was sort of like a quarter pipe but shooting off into the dam,” he said.
“You’d probably be a good four or five meters in the air with a pushbike that had a couple of milk cartons on it, so it didn’t sink to the bottom and just launches into the dam.
“Dad, Beau and I would also set these star pickets as goals and we’d just kick the footy to each other every afternoon and pretend to take hangers on each other – just like kids do.”
But not every kid is as gifted as Heeney.
He once kicked a ridiculous 68 goals in 12 games of junior soccer, and averaged 216 with the bat while playing up an age group but still in the top division.
A friendship developed in those soccer days with a boy who lived down the road, plus a family decision to delay him playing either of the rugby codes for fear of head knocks were critical in setting Heeney on his AFL path.
That friend was Will Quade, the grand-nephew of Rick Quade, the inaugural coach of the rebranded Sydney Swans’ team in 1982.
Will’s cousin also just so happened to be Charlie Dixon, who has played 187 games and counting for Port Adelaide and Gold Coast.
In a further twist of fate, big brother Beau ended up marrying Rick Quade’s niece, Amanda. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
Will wanted to start playing Australian rules football and asked Heeney if he wanted to join him, so they headed down to sign up for Wallsend Swans.
The problem was there weren’t enough players to field a team – participation numbers have skyrocketed in Newcastle in recent years – meaning they instead ended up at Cardiff Hawks, which now has bragging rights as Heeney’s junior club.
“I loved it from the get-go, and credit to Cardiff Hawks. It was a really fun, family sort of vibe and I think that’s why mum and dad loved it, too,” he said.
“Everyone knew each other and was really welcoming and they were amazing for me.
“At the same time, I was the only kid in my primary school who played it, then at high school there was only a handful of us out of like 1000 kids.”
Heeney’s star rose quickly but his Academy invitation came at just the right time, as he started playing rugby league at school.
But not rugby league or any of the gentle teasing about him playing “aerial ping pong” dissuaded him from chasing his AFL dream.
Heeney became not only the standout Sydney junior but arguably in the entire country for his 2014 draft year, when the likes of Paddy McCartin, Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw and Darcy Moore were also selected.
He has lived up to the hype and inked a bumper new six-year deal worth about $900,000 per annum on season eve this year that adds up to his growing importance at the Swans, which goes well beyond the field.
In Heeney, Sydney has a homegrown, Academy-bred star with an overflowing highlight reel to win over the masses.
The Swans now have a series of Academy graduates on their list, from Heeney to Callum Mills, Nick Blakey, Errol Gulden, Braeden Campbell, James Bell, Sam Wicks and more.
But does Heeney himself realize how meaningful he has become in the club’s bigger picture?
“I know there’s some significance there, absolutely. But I just look at myself as another player and whenever I can give back, whether that’s to the club or the fans, I definitely will,” he said.
“I know that I’m a decent role model to a lot of kids out there and I understand there’s a fair significance I’ve got around the club. I don’t know how to word it but it’s humbling.”
