Australia has had a double-medal finish in the men’s decathlon for the first time in a century in an extraordinary end to the event on Saturday morning (AEST).
Daniel Golubovic and Cedric Dubler fell agonizingly short as they desperately tried to steal the gold medal from Grenada’s Victor Lindon in the final 1500m run.
Dubler, a national hero from his viral act of mateship during at the Tokyo Olympics, went into the final night session with a lead of 39 points with only the javelin and 1500m to go.
However, he was brought undone by a fifth place finish in the javelin and simply had too many points to try and catch up in the 1500m.
Golubovic put together a colossal effort in the final event, crossing the finish line first to take the silver medal with a final score of 8197 points.
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Daniel Golubovic congratulates an exhausted Lindon Victor at the finish line. Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP.Source: AFPCedric Dubler and Daniel Golubović.Source: AFP
Lindon was more than 100m behind Golubovic as the Aussie crossed the line.
With the Grenadian looking dead on his feet with 25m to run, it suddenly appeared that Golubovic was about to take the gold. He needed to win by more than 23 seconds.
However, Lindon fell over the line with two seconds to spare. Dubler, who took the bronze medal, Golubovic and Lindon were all left waiting to see the exact results show up on the big screen before they could learn who had won the gold medal.
It eventually showed up on the screen that Lindon had done enough to fall over the line with a final score of 8233. Dubler finished with 8030.
Golubovic was smiling through the heartbreak at the end of the race.
Lindon Victor and Kurt Felix of Team Grenada, Harry Kendall of Team England, Alec Diamond, Daniel Golubovic and Cedric Dubler of Team Australia and Karo Iga of Team Papua New Guinea celebrate at the end of their ten events. Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images
“Thank you, I had to dig for that,” Golubovic said afterwards.
“It is cold out here and there is nothing in the works. Two decathlons in 12 days – I don’t recommend it.
“It’s been an incredible experience, coming down and moving back to Australia and back to Brisbane during COVID, it’s been a wild few years and it’s been a long process to get here. It feels so good to be on this stage right now.
He said he is looking forward to getting some sleep after completing two decathlon events in the space of two weeks, after also competing at the world championships in Oregon last month.
“Tired. Very tired,” he said when asked how he felt in an interview with Channel 7.
“It was a tough race, I knew it was going to be, I had to leave everything out on the line and we did just that, that was every possible thing I could leave out on the track, and it landed where it did, but I am so incredibly proud to have performed the way I did and backed it up two times in a row and to have it come down to the 1500 was a lot of fun.”
LIVE — Australians will compete for gold medals in at least seven events on day eight of the Commonwealth Games as the nation aims to hold off hosts England in Birmingham.
Australia heads into Friday’s competition sitting on top of the medal tally with 51 golds — nine more than England — as well as 42 silver and 39 bronze.
And it could be plenty more by the close of the day with at least three medals on offer in athletics, two in diving, and one each in lawn bowls and artistic gymnastics.
Follow all the action in Birmingham in our live blog below!
FULL MEDAL TALLY LIVE >
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Australians are also in the hunt for wrestling medals in the women’s 57kg (Irene Symeonidis), men’s 65kg (Mustafa Rezaeifar), and men’s 86kg (Jayden Lawrence), starting with the quarterfinals stages from 7.30pm.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Cedric Dubler headed into the final day of the decathlon sitting in second.
Dubler then won the first decathlon event for the night, the 110m hurdles, with a time of 14.20 — good enough for another 949 points. That has moved him one point into the lead over Lindon Victor.
Also in athletics, Jess Hull will compete in the 1500m heats, while Brooke Buschkuehl will be in action in qualifying for long jump.
Celeste Mucci ran a strong 100m hurdles heat, matching her personal best time of 12.96, which saw her finish third.
Comeback star Michelle Jenneke was up next and comfortably finished second with a time of 12.63 to go through to the end on Sunday night. The time is the fastest she’s ever run the event, although it does not count as an official PB due to big tailwinds.
In the 1500m women’s heats, Abbey Caldwell and Linden Hall have progressed to the final after finishing inside the top four of their race with times of 4:13.59 and 4:14.08 respectively.
Away from the track, Australia’s Hockeyroos will have the chance to win a guaranteed medal when they take on India in the semi-final.
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You can track the live medal tally for every country here, with key Aussie wins and updates as they happen.
AUSSIES GOING FOR MEDALS ON DAY 8 (all times AEST)
Lawn Bowls
9pm — For mixed pairs B2/B3 finals
diving
8.18pm — men’s synchronized 3m springboard final
3.05am — women’s 1m springboard final (qualifying at 7.05pm)
4.23am — men’s synchronized 10m platform final
Gymnastics – rhythmic
10.30pm — Individual all-around final
Athletics
4.55am — men’s T53/54 1500m final
6.42am—women’s 3000m steeplechase final
7.15pm – 6.27am — men’s decathlon
Hockey
5am — women’s semi-final vs. India
OTHER KEY EVENTS (times AEST)
Athletics
Women’s long jump qualifying — Brooke Buschkuel — 8.40pm
Men’s decathlon — Cedric Dubler, Daniel Golubovic, Alex Diamond — 7.15pm
Round of 16 – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles – Kaitlyn Ea/Angela Yu (AUS) v Yujia Jin/Jia Ying Crystal Wong (SGP), Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen/Gronya Somerville (AUS) v Elena Johnson /Chloe Le Tissier (GGY)
TABLE TENNIS (from 6.30pm)
Mixed Doubles Round 3 and Quarterfinals; Men’s Class Semi Finals; Women’s Class Semi Finals; Women’s Singles Round 2; Men’s Doubles Round 3 and Quarterfinals; Women’s Doubles Round 2 – Chunyi Feng/ Yangzi Liu (AUS) v Shanecia Delpesche/Jessica MC Carter (SVG), Minhyung Jee/Jian Fang Lay (AUS) v TBA; Men’s Singles – Dillon Chambers (AUS) v Zhe Yu Clarence Chew (SGP), Finn Luu (AUS) v Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND), Nicholas Lum (AUS) v Javen Choong (MAS)
The Australian women’s cricket team will face New Zealand in the Commonwealth Games semi-finals this weekend, but most Aussie supporters won’t be awake for the must-win contest in Birmingham.
The semi-final fixtures were unveiled on Friday morning AEST, with hosts England scheduled to take on powerhouse nation India on Saturday at 11am local time.
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Meanwhile, world champions Australia will battle their trans-Tasman rivals in the evening timeslot, meaning fans back home hoping to cheer on Meg Lanning’s side will need to set an alarm for 3am AEST on Sunday morning.
Kiwi viewers have been treated to a slightly less painful 5am start time.
Swapping the fixtures would have given three of the competing nations a prime broadcast timeslot for their respective audiences, but accommodating India’s massive fanbase has seemingly been prioritized.
Australia was undefeated in the group stage, defeating India, Barbados and Pakistan to cruise through the knockouts.
New Zealand, meanwhile, suffered a horror collapse in their final group stage match against England on Thursday, managing just 9/71 from their 20 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat first at Edgbaston.
Maddy Green top-scored for the Kiwis with 19 as veteran seamer Katherine Brunt rattled the New Zealanders with a classy spell of 2/4 from three overs in the Powerplay.
“We were well below par and it wasn’t through lack of effort or lack of planning or anything like that, I think you just get days like that,” New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said.
“It’s never nice to be a part of but we’ve got to flush it down the dunny pretty quickly and move on to something that’s actually really exciting for us, playing in a semi-final against Australia at a Commonwealth Games.”
England chased the 72-run target with more than eight overs to spare and seven wickets in hand.
Regardless, Australia remain firm favorites to return home with the coveted gold medal around their necks, having not lost a 20-over match since March 2021.
“I think a lot of the pressure is going to be on Australia,” Devine said.
“They’ve certainly come into this competition as favorites and hopeful of taking that gold medal whereas a lot of people didn’t think we’d maybe make the semi-finals.
“We can really take that on board and just play with a bit of freedom and take it to the Aussies. We obviously know them really well, so I think our plans are going to be pretty spot on and likewise they know us really well too. It’s always just a great battle against the Australians.”
Aussie T20 specialist Chris Lynn admits he is feeling “nervous” ahead of his foray into a new domestic cricket tournament.
This weekend the explosive batter is taking part in the Brisbane Premier League (BPL) — a local cricket event with a few innovative twists.
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The BPL sees eight teams compete across two pools, with the tournament culminating in the semi-finals and final, which will be played on Sunday afternoon.
“Hopefully there’s a bit of a festival happening and we’re able to see some quality cricket,” Lynn told news.com.au.
Dubbed ‘The Century’, the games will see 20 balls bowled from each end five times with the aim of speeding up the game without having to break for overs across the 100-ball innings.
“For the seniors this weekend, the rules are based around The Hundred from England but it’s called The Century,” Lynn said.
“So we’ve got a bit of a twist, we try to spice things up.”
All the action is available to stream via Kayo Freebies and the BPL has created a concept called the ‘Kayo Call’, where Lynn and former Queensland teammate Nathan Reardon will be the two VIP batters for the 6pm games on Friday and Saturday night.
“It’s all on Kayo Freebies,” Lynn said.
“With that, myself and Nathan Reardon will be commentating tonight’s game at 6pm and tomorrow night’s game at 6pm. Whoever wins the toss gets to choose either myself or Reardo, that’s a little bit of a novelty.”
How the ‘Kayo Call’ works
— Both players (Lynn and Reardon) are available to bat.
— The winner of the toss can either choose the player they want to bat for them or whether they bat or bowl first.
— If the winner of the toss chooses a player, the loser of the toss gets the other play and decides whether they want to bat or bowl first.
— If the winner of the toss chooses to bat or bowl, the loser of the toss gets to choose which player they want.
— The player not on the field will be in the commentary box.
Lynn, who is a part-owner of the Northern Kings, said the Kayo Call could even see him playing against his own local side.
“I could actually be playing against the Kings… so it’s going to be quite funny,” he said.
Lynn’s future in the Big Bash is up in the air after he was cut by the Brisbane Heat, but he is hoping to continue his strong from the T20 Blast in the UK into this weekend’s action.
“I’m looking forward to getting out in the middle,” he said.
“I haven’t played local cricket for a while now so I’m keen to see how the juniors are travelling.”
“There’s going to be some buzz around Norths cricket club and we’re going to see some local talent on display. I’m probably a bit nervous because you’re expected to score runs.
“It’s all about scoring runs, I’m going to try and entertain. For those who can’t get down to Norths, it’s on Kayo so it’s a great endorsement from them to allow the Brisbane Premier League on that.”
The 32-year-old said the aim of the BPL is to showcase junior local talent to top level cricket.
“We’re trying to get some youngsters some exposure in men’s cricket,” Lynn said.
“We’ve just seen Adelaide starting their league as well. Ideally we’d love to have teams in every state. The world’s your oyster after that. The winners can play against each other, there’s a number of options that we’ve got.
“The guys have put a really good foundation in Brisbane. Having this festival century tournament is really going to make its mark in Brisbane Premier Cricket.”
The Brisbane Premier League (BPL) is available to stream live and free via Kayo Freebies. No credit card details are required to sign up.
Jamaica has defeated Australia for the first time in Commonwealth Games netball history, springing a shock 57-55 upset to shake up the race for gold.
Both nations went into the hotly anticipated clash undefeated and faced their first proper test to decide the winner of Group A.
There was nothing in it in the first half as the Diamonds and the Sunshine Girls went goal for goal, and Australia took a 30-29 lead into halftime.
Australia dominated the third quarter and took a six-point lead into three quarter time, largely thanks to their control of the midcourt and Gretel Bueta and Steph Wood firing on all cylinders in the shooting circle.
But just as the Aussies looked home and hosed, Jamaica somehow found another gear in the final term and chewed up the deficit in just a handful of minutes to hit the lead.
Bueta was silenced in the last quarter — she finished with 36 goals from 39 attempts, while Wood had 19 goals at 86 per cent shooting.
“How quickly this game has been turned on its head,” legendary Diamonds shooter Cath Cox said in commentary on Channel 7.
“It looked like Australia had taken control and it was all over.”
Jhaniele Fowler was superb at goal shooter for Jamaica in a physical duel with her West Coast Fever teammate Courtney Bruce.
Adelaide Thunderbirds duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson were outstanding in defense and secured ball at will for Jamaica with countless deflections.
“Extraordinary scenes, the Diamonds defeated for the first time this tournament,” Sue Gaudion said.
Cox said Jamaica’s performance “screamed ‘we can medal at these Games’,” adding Australia appeared to “shut up shop” in the last quarter.
“Australia couldn’t win the ball back — it was some brilliant defensive work from Jamaica. They really just lifted another level in the fourth quarter,” she said.
The two-point victory was Jamaica’s first over Australia in Commonwealth Games history and will seriously shake up the race for the medals.
It’s far from disaster for Australia, but they will now likely come up against England in the semi-finals on a more difficult path to the gold medal match.
Australia’s last Commonwealth Games netball gold medal came in Glasgow in 2014. The Diamonds claimed silver on the Gold Coast in 2018 after losing a thrilling final to England.
England’s Commonwealth Games hockey match against Canada was marred by a wild fight — and one player was sent off after “choking” a rival during a fit of rage.
The hosts were leading the match in Birmingham 4-1 when the fight broke out, The Sun reports.
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An England player appeared to tackle a Canadian rival with his hockey stick before receiving a yellow card.
But a melee swiftly ensued between England’s Chris Griffiths and Canada’s Balraj Panesar in the aftermath.
Griffiths appeared to pull on Panesar’s stick, sending his opponent into a blind rage. Panesar lashed out by grabbing Griffiths’ shirt as the two men’s butted heads.
However, Panesar took things up a notch when he then took hold of Griffiths’ neck, appearing to choke the England ace momentarily.
Griffiths responded as such, grabbing Panesar’s shirt while shoving him away.
Players from both sides then stepped in to defuse the situation.
Griffiths picked up a yellow card for his troubles but Panesar did not get off as lightly. He was shown a straight red card for his actions on the pitch.
England took advantage of the extra man as they went 5-1 up almost instantly.
They then ended the game on a high, winning 11-2. The result means England will play Australia in the semi-finals.
This story first appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
Jamaica has defeated Australia for the first time in Commonwealth Games netball history, springing a shock 57-55 upset to shake up the race for gold.
Both nations went into the hotly anticipated clash undefeated and faced their first proper test to decide the winner of Group A.
There was nothing in it in the first half as the Diamonds and the Sunshine Girls went goal for goal, and Australia took a 30-29 lead into halftime.
Australia dominated the third quarter and took a six-point lead into three quarter time, largely thanks to their control of the midcourt and Gretel Bueta and Steph Wood firing on all cylinders in the shooting circle.
But just as the Aussies looked home and hosed, Jamaica somehow found another gear in the final term and chewed up the deficit in just a handful of minutes to hit the lead.
Bueta was silenced in the last quarter — she finished with 36 goals from 39 attempts, while Wood had 19 goals at 86 per cent shooting.
“How quickly this game has been turned on its head,” legendary Diamonds shooter Cath Cox said in commentary on Channel 7.
“It looked like Australia had taken control and it was all over.”
Jhaniele Fowler was superb at goal shooter for Jamaica in a physical duel with her West Coast Fever teammate Courtney Bruce.
Adelaide Thunderbirds duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson were outstanding in defense and secured ball at will for Jamaica with countless deflections.
“Extraordinary scenes, the Diamonds defeated for the first time this tournament,” Sue Gaudion said.
Cox said Jamaica’s performance “screamed ‘we can medal at these Games’,” adding Australia appeared to “shut up shop” in the last quarter.
“Australia couldn’t win the ball back — it was some brilliant defensive work from Jamaica. They really just lifted another level in the fourth quarter,” she said.
The two-point victory was Jamaica’s first over Australia in Commonwealth Games history and will seriously shake up the race for the medals.
It’s far from disaster for Australia, but they will now likely come up against England in the semi-finals on a more difficult path to the gold medal match.
Australia’s last Commonwealth Games netball gold medal came in Glasgow in 2014. The Diamonds claimed silver on the Gold Coast in 2018 after losing a thrilling final to England.
Australia has suffered a historic three-goal loss to Jamaica at the Commonwealth Games, rocking their gold medal campaign in Birmingham.
The Diamonds had been expected to sail through their Pool A matches and meet the second ranked team in Pool B in the semi finals.
But they coughed up a six-goal lead heading into the final term to suffer their first ever loss to the Sunshine Girls.
A brilliant 47 goals from international superstar Jhaniele Fowler and some remarkable defensive efforts from Shamera Sterling ensured Jamaica nailed a 57-55 win.
Fox Netball’s Catherine Cox said the Diamonds “just shut up shop” in the last quarter as Jamaica ran home with the win.
“Australia couldn’t win the ball back – it was some brilliant defensive work from Jamaica. They really just lifted another level in the fourth quarter,” she said.
Questions will be asked of coach Stacey Marinkovich’s selections, with just Sunday Aryang entering for four minutes in the second term and Sarah Klau coming on to a rejigged defensive line with four minutes remaining in the match.
Gretel Bueta finished the pick of the Diamonds attack, despite being silenced in the final quarter by Sterling, with 36 goals from 39 attempts.
Steph Wood’s night ended with 19 goals at 86%.
QUARTER BY QUARTER MATCH REPORT
Australia opted to start Gretel Bueta at goal shooter, with Steph Wood and Liz Watson out in front of her. Kate Moloney got the nod at center with Ash Brazill, Jo Weston and Courtney Bruce rounding out the defensive trio.
For Jamaica, Jhaniele Fowler started at GS, with Beckford and Williams at GA and WA respectively. Nicole Dixon-Rochester was center with Super Netball trio Jodi-Ann Ward, Latanya Wilson and Shamera Sterling the starting defenders.
The world’s best shooter started the match with a bang, with five quick goals to open up the first break of the match for Jamaica.
Courtney Bruce kept her West Coast Fever teammate in Fowler as high as she could, but Shanice Beckford was brilliant around the edges to keep feeding from close range.
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FULL MEDAL TALLY >
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Bruce and Jo Weston got early tips, but it was Jamaica who were able to convert while down the other end the connection to Gretel Bueta just fell away.
“The Diamonds are stunned here,” commentator Sue Gaudion said.
Australia scored just three goals in the opening seven minutes, before Steph Wood went from range and leveled up scores.
A Jodi-Ann Ward intercept gave Jamaica the lead once again as the long ball caught Weston’s eyes down.
“They exposed the Diamonds defense again,” Gaudion said.
A quick double play by Bueta ensured the Aussies took the lead with less than two minutes remaining in the first term.
Coach Connie Francis was left less than impressed when the Sunshine Girls threw away a brilliant Sterling intercept.
“But that is the issue – the conversion of those brilliant moments,” commentator Cath Cox said.
By the first break, it was Australia leading by one goal.
The Aussies went unchanged for the second term – the first time this tournament coach Stacey Marinkovich has opted for no changes after a break.
A big Sterling rebound gave Jamaica the first opportunity, but they couldn’t convert as Courtney Bruce’s brilliant hands over disrupted play.
“There’s plenty of feeling out there,” Cox said.
“Courtney Bruce giving the death stare to Beckford.”
The Aussies chanced their luck feeding Bueta with Sterling in hot pursuit but the move continued to pay off.
When Shanice Beckford found the top of the circle, the Sunshine Girls opted for a rare straight ball feed to Fowler.
“On the circle edge, feeding to Fowler – unbeatable,” Cox praised.
A rare mistake by Bueta saw the replay called, but once again Jamaica couldn’t convert as Khadijah Williams was penalized for footwork.
“It’s the simple things letting Jamaica down isn’t it,” Cox said.
Sunday Aryang was introduced at goal defence, joining her Fever teammates Bruce and Fowler in the goal circle.
And she almost had the immediate impact, getting a tip on a high ball to Fowler, but ultimately couldn’t stop the conversion.
Beckford had a brilliant intercept in front of Ash Brazill and suddenly the margin was back to one.
“Connie Francis willing them on,” Gaudion praised.
Wood backed her teammate Bueta when she went with the feed from the transverse, and the Firebird didn’t let her down with beautiful hands.
“The courage to let that go over the best goal keeper in the game… look at that take,” Cox praised.
By half time, it was Australia leading 30-29.
Weston returned to the court as some bad hands by Wood allowed the Sunshine Girls to draw level early in the third.
Jamaica managed to pull down another deflection but once again threw it away in the midcourt.
“That long outlet ball, if they just shortened it up and do one safety ball, I reckon they’d get themselves on the attack,” Cox said.
A rare shooter contact call on Fowler handed Australia the chance to pull away. Sterling’s cheeky pickup when Bueta put the ball down to set the penalty didn’t go unnoticed by the umpire as suddenly the lead was back out to four.
The physicality stepped up in the third, with Brazill getting under the skin of Adean Thomas and sent sprawling into the goal circle off the ball.
Once again, a Ward pick up on the circle edge ended up sailing over Fowler’s head as another turnover was wasted.
A second straight rejection from Sterling was called for obstruction as the crowd started to find their voice.
A misdirected midcourt ball ensured another turnover as the Diamonds extended the lead to six – the biggest of the match.
A strong take by Bueta over Sterling in the dying seconds pushed Australia out to a 46-40 lead at the final change.
Marinkovich went unchanged once again for the final term as Jamaican wing defender Jodi-Ann Ward came through with the deflection to help her side close within three.
Williams’ return at WA lifted the Sunshine Girls’ attack in the final term as they looked to find their rhythm to Fowler once more.
And when Wood couldn’t regather the short ball, and got done for replay, Jhaniele Fowler made the Aussies pay seconds later to close within one goal.
Liz Watson overcooked the lob to Bueta, and remarkably the Sunshine Girls took the lead with eight minutes to play.
“We haven’t seen that this game – that is the pressure. Mistakes like that have been few and far between for the Diamonds,” Cox said.
Despite Jamaican assistant coach Rob Wright pleading with his defenders to shut down Wood’s influence, it was Bueta they silenced as Wood had to step up.
And the Lightning star was up to the challenge with three successive mid-range shots.
Another Diamonds turnover, this time from Weston to her Vixens’ teammate Watson, gave Jamaica a two-goal buffer as injury time was called.
Weston headed to the bench, Bruce pushed out to GD and Sarah Klau was introduced for her first minutes of the night.
When Shamera Sterling came up with the big rejection and regather, Jamaica pushed out the lead with just a minute to play.
And in remarkable scenes, the Sunshine Girls held on in the thrilling final seconds with Shanice Beckford landing the final goal of the match.
In the end, it was Jamaica who claimed the win 57-55.
NRL great Cameron Smith has called on the Newcastle Knights to “be better” as further details emerged related to prop David Klemmer’s incident over the weekend.
Klemmer allegedly refused to leave the field and verbally abused trainer Hayden Knowles during Newcastle’s 14-point loss to the Bulldogs last Sunday.
The star forward was also dropped for this weekend’s crunch clash with the Wests Tigers, amid reports he could have his contract torn up by the Knights.
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The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read understands that the former Blues representative has apologized to head coach Adam O’Brien, as he acknowledged that he could’ve handled things differently.
The Telegraph reported on Thursday further details of Klemmer’s spray, claiming he called Knowles a “c***” and told him to “shut the f*** up”.
The report also revealed an exchange of messages between a Knights player and a senior member of staff about Klemmer, in which the member signs off with “FEC”.
“Confidential understands is an acronym for “F*** every c***. It suggests that the language was part of everyday life at the Knights and largely driven by some members of staff,” the report adds.
Weighing in on the news on Thursday morning, former Australia captain Smith couldn’t believe that a formal complaint had been submitted against Klemmer for an incident which he suggested happens regularly.
Klemmer sanctioned for abusing trainer | 02:55
“Well it’s strange really. If words were spoken between a player and a trainer, that’s happened a thousand times before,” Smith said on The Captain’s Run on SEN on Thursday.
“I’ve seen it first hand, I think you have as well. It’s not a new thing. I’m really confused as to why this is such a huge problem.
“The way I’ve seen it dealt with and sorted out in the past is that if there’s an issue… it’s dealt with in-person after the match.
“It’s just unnecessary. Like seriously, how bad have the words been spoken between David Klemmer and this trainer, to have a formal complaint made. It’s just ridiculous. Deal with it man to man.
“Do we go running to people now to double on each other? Like seriously, footy clubs, you’ve got to be better than that.”
Smith, who holds the record for the most NRL games played with 430, couldn’t understand why the Knights would make the complaint considering their form.
The Telegraph have reported that Newcastle players will be involved in the investigation, as they provide witness statements of what they heard.
Newcastle are currently 14th on the ladder, but they would drop back to second-last with a loss against the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
“The football is one thing, they’re not going great, they’re not going great at all,” he added.
“Even their performances at home, they’ve let their members and their fans down at home, who are extremely good supporters.
O’Brien’s time at Knights running out? | 02:43
“We’re starting to come to the end of the 2022 season, they’ve had a bludger of a year, they’re trying to get their season done as best they can with the remaining games.
“Now their starting prop, one of their enforcers, he’s been stood down. They’ve got several players now being pulled in now to be part of this investigation, and give their account of events.”
Smith played a lot of rugby league against and with Klemmer, with the pair helping the Kangaroos to a tense 6-0 win in the World Cup final against England in 2017.
The former Melbourne Storm hooker described Klemmer as “very respectful”, and felt that he would’ve worked through the situation alongside the club if given a chance.
“I’ve had a little bit to do with David Klemmer, like I’ve played many, many times against him, and look he is one of the most competitive and passionate blokes that I’ve played against in my career. He loves footy, he loves playing for the teams that he represents.
“But once the games over, he’s a very, very respectful man. He’ll deal with those situations the way he needs to deal with them respectfully. I don’t know why they’ve gone down this path.”
The Parramatta Eels reported attempted to sign Klemmer on a loan deal for the rest of the 2022 season, but the move was blocked by the Knights.
Klemmer is currently on a deal worth up to $900,000 at Newcastle until the end of next season, but a number of teams could be interested in acquiring his services if he becomes available.
The Australian put together another superb all-round performance in Wednesday’s Commonwealth Games match against Pakistan in Birmingham, extending her golden run in the T20 format.
McGrath top-scored with an unbeaten 78 (51) before claiming three wickets to help the Aussies secure a convincing 44-run victory at Edgbaston.
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The 26-year-old smacked 10 boundaries and a six over fine leg in the penultimate over, combining with opener Beth Mooney for an unbeaten 141-run stand as Australia registered a team total of 2/160.
It ranks as the largest third-wicket partnership for Australia in women’s T20Is.
McGrath later collected career-best figures of 3/13 from three overs with the ball, finding herself on a hat-trick in the 17th over after removing Bismah Maroof and Tuba Hassan in consecutive deliveries.
The South Australian’s career stats are nothing short of absurd – since making her T20I debut in October last year, McGrath has scored 339 runs at 169.50.
Her strike rate of 156.22 is arguably even more impressive.
McGrath has only been dismissed for less than 70 eleven in 12 T20 internationals; during last week’s thrilling victory over India.
“When I got out the first time, I did joke that I was going to retire and keep that average for the rest of my career,” McGrath told reporters after the win.
“I’m quite enjoying the T20 format, I just get to go out there, play with a bit of freedom, play my shots and I know that if it doesn’t come off, I’ve got that many explosive batters coming in behind me
“(My form) is a big surprise and I’m still pinching myself. But I just love playing in the Australian shirt and I love every moment I get to do it.
“So at the moment, it’s nice that I’m contributing to some team success and I’m just riding the wave and enjoying my cricket because it’s been a lot of fun.”
McGrath’s bowling has been equally as damaging in the T20 format, taking 10 wickets at 11.00 with a strike rate of 10.2.
She joins Pakistan’s Mohammed Hafeez on an illustrious list of cricketers to score 70+ runs and take 3+ wickets in a T20I more than eleven.
McGrath has essentially made herself undroppable, pushing superstar all-rounder Ellyse Perry out of the national T20 line-up.
“She just seems really clear on her role in our team, and also has got some great clarity on her own process within her own game,” Mooney said.
“She just comes out and takes the pressure off the other batter out there, which was me today, which I was really grateful for.
“She’s just really clear on her own game plan and she comes out with that confidence when she first walks out there, too, so that helps as well.”
Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy and skipper Meg Lanning were cheaply dismissed in the Powerplay, each returning to the sheds for 4.
Healy’s form with the bat in the game’s shortest format may be cause for concern – since the start of 2021, she has averaged 8.77 with the bat in T20 internationals.
Aussie seamers Megan Schutt and Darcie Brown each snared early breakthroughs in the Powerplay before McGrath combined with spinners Jess Jonassen and Alana King to roll through Pakistan’s middle order.
Lanning’s side, who were undefeated in the group stage and remain red-hot favorites to win the coveted gold medal, will next face either England or New Zealand in the semi-finals on Saturday.
“Pressure is a bit of a privilege in my eyes,” Mooney said.
“There’s certainly no amount of pressure that’s more than what we put on ourselves to perform day in and day out.
“The challenge that awaits us is really exciting. Semi-finals are sometimes harder than finals. You have to be on your game from ball one.
“You want a spot in that gold medal match. We know on our best day we can beat anyone.”
