Mabior Chol continues to make the most of the chance given to him by a Gold Coast Suns side whose slim AFL finals hopes could rest on the boot of the former Richmond forward.
With three rounds of the regular season remaining, the Suns remain a mathematical chance of playing finals football for the first time in the club’s history.
It’s a tall order and the Suns will need other results to go their way, but with Chol in stellar form, it’s not yet impossible.
Having joined the Suns this year from the Tigers, where the regular top-flight football was craved wasn’t forthcoming, Chol has rewarded Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew for believing in him.
The 25-year-old, 200cm giant has kicked 43 goals this season, including a career-best single-game haul of five in the Suns’ three-point weekend win over the West Coast Eagles.
“I’ve been seeking an opportunity for a very long time to show what I can do at the highest level,” Chol said ahead of the Suns’ trip to Tasmania for Saturday’s clash against Hawthorn in Launceston.
“I knew coming up here I wasn’t just going to walk straight in. I knew I was going to have to work hard and earn my position.
“There’s been a lot of hard work since the start of the pre-season and it’s just been an exciting season … I knew what I was capable of doing.”
As did Dew, who said Chol was a “real leader” who gave the Suns “great energy”.
“He’s a real thinker of the game,” the Gold Coast mentor said.
“He sees the game really well, he can understand what’s happening, patterns of play, so when he comes to the bench, he’s really aware of how the game’s going.
“The more he gets confidence to voice that to the greater group he’s going to improve his leadership. “We’re excited by not only what he’s done, but what’s to eat.”
Chol said the Suns weren’t looking ahead to the finals but instead on the immediate task of beating the Hawks for a second time this season after disposing of them by 67 points in Darwin in May.
“We’re just focusing on each game, each week – we’re not trying to look too far ahead. It’s been exciting,” he said.
The Suns are hopeful another former Tiger, Brandon Ellis, overcomes a shoulder problem to play this weekend after he was a late withdrawal from the team that beat the Eagles.
Dew said of Ellis: “We anticipate he’ll be on the plane to Tassie.”
A funding dispute between one of Australia’s largest private hospital operators and a major insurer could result in millions of people being out of pocket if they need treatment.
Key points:
A contract between Ramsay Health and Bupa has been terminated
The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman has offered to mediate
More than 3.5 million Australians have private health insurance with Bupa
A contract between insurance giant Bupa and Ramsay Health Care, which operates 72 hospitals and day surgeries across Australia, expired on Tuesday after months of negotiations failed to secure an agreement.
The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman has offered to mediate between the parties.
It has left Bupa customers, including Sue Burrin from the NSW far north coast, angry and confused.
“It has really thrown me,” she said.
“You would think in this day and age you could come up with an agreement and it obviously hasn’t happened.”
The Banora Point resident recently had surgery for breast cancer and was receiving follow up radiation treatment across the Queensland border at Ramsay Health Care’s John Flynn Hospital on the Gold Coast.
“If I need a follow up with my doctor or at John Flynn, I’m in a quandary as I can’t use that hospital,” Ms Burrin said.
“I have to go public at Tweed Hospital and that’s booked up to the never ever.”
There will be a transition period before Bupa patients are charged more at John Flynn Private Hospital.(ABC Gold Coast: Steve Keen)
Ms Burrin said she was working out whether or not she could transfer to another health insurance fund.
She said it was an added complication to being part-way through treatment of a major disease.
“I have to go through the process of saying to them ‘I have actually got breast cancer’,” she said.
She was concerned about paying more money and having to go through another waiting period.
“It’s not a good situation to be in,” she said.
Hospital boss says costs rising
John Flynn Private Hospital chief executive Adam Stevenson said there would be a two month transition period before Bupa patients were charged more.
He said Bupa members would begin charged out of pocket at Ramsay hospitals if no agreement was reached before the end of 60 days.”There will be no impact for 60 days on patients, but after that if there is no agreement, after that patients will begin to be charged out of pocket if they are Bupa members and needing care at our hospitals.”
Pindara Private Hospital chief executive Mark Page, whose facility is also owned by Ramsay, said the costs of masks, protective equipment and nurses’ wages were increasing.
“Costs have gone up significantly for hospitals over the last two-and-a-half years and now everyone is feeling and seeing the inflation impacts on all of us,” he said.
Mark Page says the cost of providing health care has risen significantly.(ABC Gold Coast: Steve Keen)
Mr Page said Ramsay Health Care had about 130,000 people admitted across its six hospitals from Southport to Ballina in the year to June 30.
He said 40,000 of them went to emergency departments at Pindara and John Flynn hospitals.
He said he hoped to see a resolution with Bupa quickly.
“All this is doing by not being able to reach an agreement … it just creates worry and distress for patients,” he said.
Patients ‘worried about their future’
Gold Coast obstetrician Andrew Cary said more people were seeking private health care during the pandemic.
“It has been very busy,” Dr Cary said.
“A lot of the routine and elective work that hasn’t been able to be done in the public hospitals has come across into the private health sector.
“A number of my patients are worried and are looking forward… a year ahead or nine months ahead, so they’re… worried about the future.”
Bupa Health Insurance managing director Chris Carroll said in a statement he hoped an agreement would be reached soon.
“We want to move beyond this impasse,” the statement reads.
“We want our members to know that our first priority in our negotiations with Ramsay has been to keep health care costs affordable especially when cost of living pressures continue to impact families.”
The Paris Olympics beckon for Australian weightlifting star Eileen Cikamatana, who has made Commonwealth Games history with a record-breaking performance.
Key points:
Cikamatana won the 90kg class while representing Fiji on the Gold Coast
Her second lift of 137kg in Birmingham won the gold, and she capped her win with a third lift of 145kg
Cikamatana is recovering from a 26cm tear in her thigh
Cikamatana won Australia’s first weightlifting gold at the Birmingham Games with lifts in the 87kg category that put her on a different level to the competition.
More significantly, she is now the first woman to win Commonwealth Games gold for two countries, having won the 90kg class on the Gold Coast for Fiji.
“I don’t know how to describe it… I can’t fit it into words,” Cikamatana said of her achievement.
“I think it’s floating somewhere. I will need to grab it then I will let you know.”
Cikamatana won Australia’s first weightlifting gold at the Birmingham Games.(Getty Images: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)
Soon after the Gold Coast Games, Cikamatana switched to Australia after a dispute with Fiji’s weightlifting governing body over where she should train.
She was unable to compete at the Tokyo Olympics because she was still ineligible, but Cikamatana showcased her vast talent in Birmingham.
Cikamatana set the Games record in the category with her snatch lift of 110kg.
She then took the overall lead with her first clean and jerk attempt of 129kg.
Cikamatana’s second lift of 137kg won the gold medal, and also set the clean and jerk and overall Games records.
She capped her outstanding win with a third lift of 145kg, giving the Australian a total of 255kg.
Eileen Cikamatana lifted a total of 255kg.(Getty Images: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)
Canadian Kristel Ngarlem won silver with 236kg and Nigerian Mary Osojo took bronze with her total of 225kg.
The achievements have come as Cikamatana recovers from a 26cm tear in her thigh last year — an injury so painful she cannot squat.
“They’re personal bests after the injury, I could say,” she said of the Games lifts.
“I’ve lifted 156 jerk and 121 snatch, yeah… here comes Paris, 2024. Here we go.”
Cikamatana was in tears at the medal ceremony and she paid tribute to coach Paul Coffa and his wife Lilly.
“I was emotional because I [am] really appreciative of getting to represent the green and gold and standing on the podium, listening to the anthem,” she said.
“Representing the green and gold is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s a dream come true.
“They (the Coffas) made all these impossible dreams come true.”
Cikamatana was asked if her achievements were worth all the grief from the split with Fiji.
“One million times, [the switch] it’s worth it,” she said.
“It’s something I never dreamed of getting.”
On Monday, fellow Australians Kyle Bruce and Sarah Cochrane won weightlifting silver.
And earlier on Tuesday, compatriot Ebony Gorincu finished sixth in the 76kg class and Ridge Barredo overcame a hip injury to finish fifth in the men’s 96kg category.
The AFL community has reacted with disgust after former Adelaide footballer Eddie Betts published a confronting recollection of his experience at a pre-season camp with the Crows in early 2018.
The leadership camp, following the Crows’ 2017 AFL Grand Final loss to Richmond, thrust the club into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
A number of players and officials left the club in the wake of the camp, and now Betts has detailed behind-the-scenes information in his upcoming autobiography The Boy from Boomerang Crescent.
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The four-day camp on the Gold Coast left Betts feeling “like a piece of me was brainwashed”, with excerpts being reported by Nine Newspapers.
Betts alleged that confidential information he shared in counseling sessions had been misused, writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.
Following the ordeal, the three-time All-Australian Betts said he approached the Crows and voiced his concerns with the camp, only to be dropped from the leadership group three weeks later.
Betts said the camp had a major impact on his form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. He left the Crows and returned to Carlton at the end of 2019 before retiring at the end of 2021.
Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto, who represented the club for 15 seasons, responded to the damning allegations on Wednesday morning.
“He’s been one of the greats of the club,” Ricciuto told Adelaide’s Triple M Breakfast with Roo, Ditts and Loz.
“Player welfare is always number one no matter what’s going on, you always want everyone to be happy, so it’s very sad.
“I think the club has been on record at times to say that they acknowledge that it wasn’t handled perfectly. It had all good intentions but didn’t go perfectly.
“We all love Eddie and hopefully Eddie is getting over that… certainly the club moved on from that and are looking towards the future and have made a lot of ground since back then. It has come up in Eddie’s book and that is fair enough.”
Betts’ revelations have angered the footy community. Former Swans star Ryan Fitzgerald, who is a huge Crows fan, tweeted: “Really uncomfortable to read. Particularly the insensitivities around Eddie’s past of him. He is such an integral part of the AFC and their history, so rejected that he left feeling like that.”
Ex-Melbourne captain Garry Lyon also reacted. “When you read those words from Eddie, there is no debate about how it impacted on him,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“He talks about the Indigenous players, the cultural differences or sensitivities that weren’t adhered to. That’s Eddie … and that’s unequivocal, right? You can’t argue with any of that.
“Everyone’s own experiences have been caught up in this and from an Indigenous point of view, a lot of it since Eddie said that cultural sensitivities weren’t adhered to – and that is very, very real.
“In the end, it was untenable. We talk about the atmosphere and environment … take apart who you agree with and you don’t agree with, the fact of the matter is it split the club down the middle. When you get the (Rory) Sloanes and the (Taylor) Walkers, who have their recollection, and then you’ve got Eddie and others I would imagine… no wonder it destroyed that joint.
“You’ve got a section of the football club – and I’m not just putting this at the feet of Walker and Sloane, there may be others in the same boat – saying, ‘I got so much out of this, it was good’. And then on the other hand, right at the other end of the scale, you’ve got, ‘No, it ripped me apart, it ripped my relationship apart’.
“No wonder then from a footy club point of view and trying to stay together and on the same page, it ended up where it was.
“If you are told, whether you’re black or white or otherwise, ‘These camp people want to speak to you and they say to step aside from everyone else privately and we want you to have a conversation where you are open and vulnerable’ … And I go, ‘OK. In terms of building me as a better player and a leader, I’ll share and I’ll give you these really sensitive things that, to me, are important’. Then to have that thrown back in my face, that’s not cultural for me.
“How it affects me and someone else might be different based on culture, but that’s a betrayal for me.”
speaking on SEN SA Breakfastformer Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes questioned Adelaide’s leadership, calling out Crows star Rory Sloane for his public remarks after the camp when he said it made him a better husband and a better father.
“The question is, all of the people who have defended the camp and have said nothing went on, including the Crows fans, including Mark Ricciuto, including the club, what do they do now? Details have come out, Eddie Betts was abused about his mother, ”Cornes said.
“The saddest thing for me, the two most popular players at Adelaide are Tony Modra and Eddie Betts. No one made the Adelaide Oval stand up when they went near the football in Crows history like Eddie Betts. No one has been more popular.
“That’s the echelon that Eddie Betts is held in. To read how he was treated by his own football club, of which he is an icon, that was the saddest part for me.
“We do now have a blow-by-blow account which is pretty harrowing that your most popular player in club history was treated like an animal on this camp.
“I think it’s embarrassing for Rory Sloane and Taylor Walker to now hear that that was a rehearsed line and that they were all told and indoctrinated into saying it had made them a better father and husband and child. And to see Eddie Betts relay that that was actually rehearsed, it does not paint Rory and his leadership of him in great light.
“There’s a lot of egg on the face of Crows supporters, the footy club and a few players that were there.”
The Crows were cleared of any work health and safety breaches after an independent investigation into the training camp by SafeWork SA.
A Suns star is still off-contract—and the Crows are preparing to pounce.
Plus the intriguing contract situation surrounding a young Magpies forward.
Get the latest player movement news and updates in AFL Trade Whispers!
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CROWS KEEPING TABS ON SUNS STAR
Adelaide is making a major play for homegrown forward Izak Rankine in what would be one of the biggest coups of this year’s trade period.
Gold Coast officials have long been confident of retaining Rankine after already re-signing fellow South Australian Jack Lukosius, as well as Ben King, Ben Ainsworth, Elijah Hollands and Mac Andrew.
The Suns are also expected to soon ink Lachie Weller on a four-year contract.
Rankine, who was drafted from SANFL club West Adelaide with the No. 3 pick in the talent-laden 2018 class, is out of contract at season’s end but is not a free agent.
The Crows would likely need to part with their first-round draft selection, which is currently No. 4 after their weekend win over Carlton, if they convince Rankine to leave, but that may be only the start of what was required.
However, the 22-year-old’s contract status, and the possible threat of Adelaide grabbing him in the pre-season draft, could complicate any potential negotiations.
Izak Rankin of the Suns. Picture: Russell FreemanSource: Getty Images
The Blues did exactly that with ex-Gold Coast footballer Jack Martin three years ago after discussions between the clubs broke down, heavily front-ending his deal to ward off other suitors.
Essendon already made a lucrative pitch to Rankine’s management this year to try to lure him to Victoria, with the young star’s career-best season catching rivals’ attention.
His agent, Garry Winter, of W Sports and Media, was previously on Adelaide’s board, and it could be worth up to $800,000 per season for Rankine to become a Crow on a long-term deal.
Rankine’s three-goal performance against West Coast on Sunday was his seventh match with multiple majors in 2022, along with averaging 14 disposals and six score involvements.
He would be a significant upgrade on rebuilding Adelaide’s small forward corps and could form a deadly duo with last year’s first-round draftee Josh Rachele.
Rachele’s 17 goals rank fourth at the Crows – behind tall targets Taylor Walker (42) and Darcy Fogarty (22), as well as spring-heeled forward Shane McAdam (18) – while Ned McHenry and James Rowe have each kicked only 10.
They sit in the bottom four on the ladder and for scoring, so Rankine would provide an excellent boost ahead of a season where Matthew Nicks’ team hopes to take a leap.
Suns keep finals hope alive | 01:25
Adelaide’s list management team met with Melbourne goals neak Kade Chandler, another South Australian, during last year’s trade period before he decided to stay at the Demons.
The Crows were linked with Western Bulldogs midfielder Josh Dunkley for many months but it’s now believed Port Adelaide would be the South Australian club he would join if he left the Kennel.
Dunkley’s girlfriend, Tippah Dwan, plays netball for the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Asked last week about the delay in Rankine re-signing, Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew said they were “still confident” he would be at the club in 2023.
“There’s always a process. Things happen at different rates and different speeds,” Dew said.
“A number of contracts we’ve done have actually taken longer, so as long as the conversations are happening, that’s where the confidence comes from.
“It’s when it goes quiet (that you get concerned), and it’s certainly not like that – the dialogue’s still there.”
—NCA Newswire
HENRY, PIES ‘NOT OVERLY CLOSE’ TO FRESH CONTRACT
Collingwood and young forward Ollie Henry are “not overly close” on signing a new deal, but both parties remain confident a contract will be signed soon, reports SEN’s Sam Edmund.
Henry has had a promising yet rollercoaster 2022 season with the Magpies so far, booting 21.15 from 14 games. He started as the sub against Freo in Round 10 but came on to kick 4.1, while he was the unused medical sub against the Adelaide Crows in Round 18 and has spent the past two weekends in the VFL, booting 4.2 and 3.1 respectively.
The 20-year-old is uncontracted beyond this season. In May I told AFL Media he wasn’t in a rush to sign a new contract but declared he was “loving his time at Collingwood”.
Goodwin and Fagan discuss trade rumors | 03:43
Edmund reported on SEN Breakfast on Tuesday that talks between Henry’s management and the Magpies were ongoing, adding they’d met “in the last week or two”.
“Not overly close at this stage at Collingwood, but I think this one gets worked out. Both parties expect that to be the case,” Edmund told SEN Breakfast.
“The Pies want him to stay and Henry wants to stay, but with (Dan) McStay coming in there’s some things to work out around what his future looks like on game day.”
“I think they’ll get there, no real reason to think otherwise at this stage. It just needs to be worked through with the pieces coming back the other way like Dan McStay and the like.”
Team Australia dominated the Commonwealth Games medal tally in Birmingham in the opening four days, sitting comfortably in front – thanks largely to more dominance in the pool.
Australia claimed a stunning eight gold medals on day one, including five of a possible seven in the pool! On day two, Australia added five more golds.
The gold rush continued with nine on day three, highlighted by Emma McKeon making history with a record-breaking 11th Commonwealth Games gold medal when she took out the Women’s 50m freestyle final.
Australia has dominated again on day four with another NINE gold medals, coming in judo, lawn bowls, cycling and gymnastics — along with the usual big haul in the pool.
Australia has opened day five with a 72nd medal of the Games, this time a bronze in the men’s vault in artistic gymnastics.
DAY 5 LIVE: Athletics begins as Browning opens 100m campaign; McKeon and Simpson eye final swim day
DAY 4 WRAP: Aussies win NINE golds in wild Games medal blitz; Chalmers win ‘hard to enjoy’
Read on for more details and the full medal tally.
Australia sit on top of the medal tally with 31 gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze (71 total!), ahead of England and New Zealand.
The Aussies topped the tally with 198 medals — including 80 gold — in the Gold Coast four years ago.
You can track the live medal tally for every country here, with key Aussie wins and updates as they happen.
Click here for a full list of EVERY Aussie medal winner!
Commonwealth Games kick off in style | 00:34
SCHEDULE: Sport-by-sport guide to every day
AUSSIES: Our top hopes to watch
INTERNATIONALS: The big names set to light up the Games
COMMONWEALTH GAMES MEDALS TALLY (AS OF 5:30AM WEDNESDAY)
RANK/COUNTRY/GOLD/SILVER/BRONZE/TOTAL
1. Australia — 37, 28, 30, 95
2.England—28, 30, 17, 75
3.New Zealand—13, 7, 5, 25
4. Canada — 10, 14, 19, 43
5. South Africa—6, 5, 5, 16
6. India — 5, 4, 3, 12
7.Scotland—3, 8, 15, 26
8. Wales—3, 2, 8, 13
9. Malaysia — 2, 2, 3, 7
10. Nigeria — 2, 1, 4, 7
See the full live medal tally here.
DAY-BY-DAY MEDAL LIST
DAY FIVE
James Bacuetti claimed Australia’s first men’s gymnastics medal of these Games, winning bronze in the men’s vault. 20-year-old English sensation Jake Jarman won gold – his FOURTH of the Games – ahead of Fellow Englishman Giarnni Regini-Moran.
Aofie Coughlan took home the gold medal in the women’s 70kg judo final while Eileen Cikamatana set a new Games Record en route to a gold medal in the women’s 87kg weightlifting final.
in the swimming, Mollie O’Callaghan produced a stunning upset to win the gold in the womens’ 100m freestyle as Elizabeth Deckers won the women’s 200m butterfly.
nina kennedy secured the gold in the women’s pole vault.
DAY 5 LIVE: Athletics begins as Browning opens 100m campaign; McKeon and Simpson eye more gold
DAY FOUR
Australia ended day four with 31 gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze (71 total!), ahead of England and New Zealand.
Georgia Goodwin narrowly won gold in the women’s vault over Canada’s Laurie Denommee, while at the track, matthew glaetzer won gold in the men’s 1,000m time trial. Ellen Ryan won gold in the women’s lawn bowls singles and Tinka Easton caused an upset by claiming gold in judo.
in the pool, Kyle Chalmer won the 100m freestyle, Kaylee McKeown won the 200m backstroke and matthew levy claimed gold in the men’s 50m freestyle S7. Emma McKeon then narrowly clinched gold in the 50m breaststroke to extend her Games record to 12 golds, while the Aussies ended the night with victory in the men’s 4x200m freestyle.
Aussie weightlifter robbed of Gold?! | 00:26
Elsewhere, 49-year-old legend Jian Fang Lay has led the Aussie team to bronze in the women’s table tennis team event.
It began with victory in doubles alongside Yangzi Liu, who won her own singles game before Jian Fang Lay sealed the 3-0 over Wales with a singles victory of her own.
Kyle Bruce claimed silver in the men’s 81kg weightlifting after a heartbreaking jury decision overruled his final, gold-winning lift.
The Aussie men’s triples claimed silver in the lawn bowls, fighting back from 12-1 down in the final to level the score at 12-12 against England before falling 14-12.
DAY 4 WRAP: Aussies win NINE golds in wild Games medal blitz; Chalmers win ‘hard to enjoy’
GOLDEN HEARTBREAK: ‘Devastated’ Aussie in tears after gold ‘stolen away’
CHALMERS GOES ALL IN: Legends not surprised by last-minute withdrawal
BIG BLOW: Diamonds’ dream run soured as star sidelined with calf injury
Jian Fang Lay led the Aussies to bronze in table tennis!Source: Getty Images
DAY THREE
Australians Sam Harding and Jonathan Gorlach kicked off the day with superb silver and bronze medals in the men’s PTVI triathlon final.
Emma McKeon and Kaylee McKeown then added two more gold in the pool taking out the Women’s 50m freestyle and the 100m backstroke respectively.
McKeon led home meg harris in silver with Shayna Jack (24.36) finishing third.
In the men’s 50m breaststroke, Zac Stubblety-Cook (59.52) took home bronze.
The Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team then completed a dominant campaign in the pool by breaking the world record.
Georgia Godwin won the all-round rhythmic gymnastics women’s final.
Australia’s Women’s 7s rugby side then put the pain of Tokyo behind them to claim gold in the final against Fiji.
In track cycling, matthew richardson won the men’s final sprint.
Kristina Clonan took home gold in the 500m time trial.
Georgia Baker won the women’s 25km points race, while Jessica Gallagher picked up her second gold medal of the Games in the Women’s tandem 1000m time trial with pilot Caitlyn Ward.
Day 3 WRAP: ‘Extraordinary’ Aussies break world record, McKeon makes history
‘It is shocking’: Thorpe stunned as England World record holder toppled in ‘unbelievable’ boilover
SHOCK CRASH: Cyclist catapults into crowd in horror scenes after Comm Games crash
‘Lost my s***’: Boxall goes bonkers AGAIN as Aussie coach celebrates WR win
‘Took all my courage and energy to swim’: Chalmers stuns in raw, emotional interview
DAY TWO
madison de rosario took out the women’s T53/54 marathon in style, dominating the field to win with a Commonwealth Games record time of 1:56:00.
Jess Stenson won the women’s marathon with an incredible run, going better than her two bronze medals in Glasgow and the Gold Coast.
It was another ripping day in the pool, with katja dedekind winning a gold meal in the women’s 50m freestyle S13 while both the men’s and women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay finished first.
There were silver medals for maeve plouffe in the women’s 3000m individual pursuit, Brendon Smith in the men’s 400m IM, Emma McKeon in the women’s 100m butterfly and the artistic gymnastics team.
DAY 2 NEWS
WRAP: McKeon makes history amid swim gold rush; rugby stars win thriller
‘A load of s***’: Chalmers explodes at media for ‘ruining it all’ over love triangle claims
‘Dream big’: ‘Extraordinary’ journey behind ‘one of the great’ Aussie athletics triumphs
‘I was just guessing’: New Aussie cult hero’s shock reveal after ‘epic’ career-best run
DAY ONE
matt hauser had the honor of being the first Australian to win a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, taking home the silver medal in the Men’s Triathlon Sprint Distance Final.
Ariarne Titmus won gold in the women’s 200m freestyle, 18-year-old Aussie Mollie O’Callaghan claimed silver in an unbelievable late charge, ahead of Madison Wilson.
Elijah Winnington won gold in the men’s 400m freestyle, ahead of fellow Aussies Sam Short and Mack Horton. Zac Stubblety-Cook won gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke while Kiah Melverton took silver in the women’s 400m Individual Medley.
In the final race of night one, Australia won gold in the mixed 4x100m relay.
AFL great Eddie Betts has revealed just how damaging the Adelaide Crows training camp held in 2018 was.
The infamous leadership camp, following the Crows’ 2017 AFL Grand Final loss at the hands of Richmond, thrust the club into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
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A number of players and officials walked away from the club in the wake of the camp and now Betts has detailed even more behind the scenes information in his upcoming autobiography ‘The Boy from Boomerang Crescent’.
The four-day camp held on the Gold Coast left Betts feeling “like a piece of me was brainwashed” with excerpts being reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Betts revealed confidential information he had shared in counseling sessions had been misused while writing that the camp misappropriated sensitive Aboriginal cultural rituals.
“The camp ended up appropriating a First Nations peoples’ ritual of a ‘talking stick’ and attempting to apply it to all of us, even the non-Indigenous players and coaches,” he wrote.
“In my view, the talking stick was used incorrectly, and I was not aware that any Elder had given permission for it to be used either.
“There was all sorts of weird shit that was disrespectful to many cultures, but particularly and extremely disrespectful to my culture.”
Betts confirmed the Richmond theme song was played repeatedly during a training session and he was put in a body harness and told to fight his way towards a knife as camp instructors hurled verbal abuse his way.
“Things were yelled at me that I had disclosed to the camp’s ‘counsellors’ about my upbringing. All the people present heard these things,” he wrote.
“I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared.
“Another camp-dude jumped on my back and started to berate me about my mother, something so deeply personal that I was absolutely shattered to hear it come out of his mouth.”
Following the now infamous camp, Betts approached the club and voiced his concerns with the camp and said he wouldn’t take part in any future mind-training exercises. Three weeks later he was dropped from the leadership group.
“After a meeting with all the Blackfullas at the club, I decided to address the playing group and talk about how I found the camp, mainly addressing the cultural safety implications for us brothers,” Betts revealed.
“I sought permission to remove all the Aboriginal boys from any further interactions with the ‘leadership specialists’ and their mind-training exercises.
“I told the club I wouldn’t be involved in any more mind-training exercises at all.”
The camp had a major impact on Betts’ on-field form and left the star forward questioning his place in the game. Betts left the Crows and returned to Carlton at the end of 2019 before retiring at the end of 2021.
The Crows were cleared of any work health and safety breaches after an independent investigation into the training camp by SafeWork SA.
Australia have wrapped up the Commonwealth Rugby Sevens gold medal in a 22-12 win over Fiji in a dominant display.
It’s redemption for the Aussies after a heartbreaking loss at the previous Commonwealth Games in Australia.
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Australia lost an epic final in 2018 on the Gold Coast, down 17-12 in extra-time to New Zealand.
But after edging past the Kiwis in a dramatic semi-final and losing a pool game to Fiji, Australia made no mistake in the final.
Faith Nathan scored a first half double as well as a try to Madison Ashby opened up a massive 17-0 lead at halftime.
The Aussies then scored immediately after the half through Maddison Levi, making it a 22-0 lead.
Although the Fijians finally got a pass to stick and scored a try as well as a consolation two minutes after full-time, it was nowhere near enough as the Aussies claimed the gold medal.
It had been the one medal Australia had been missing, having won in Rio in 2016, and coming into the tournament as the reigning Rugby Sevens women’s world champions after winning four of the six tournaments in the 2021-22 World Series.
Aussie star Charlotte Caslick said it was nearly a perfect performance from gold medalists.
“I think in those physical contests, we dominated nearly every single one of those and that’s what we had to do,” Caslick said after the match.
“I wouldn’t say it was perfect (performance) but it was close to.
“We’ve had an amazing World Series and been dominant year so to be rewarded in front of an awesome crowd is pretty special.”
And it was more redemption after Australia was bundled out of the Tokyo Olympics in a 19-0 quarterfinal thrashing by Fiji.
While the women’s side will bring home the extra baggage of the gold medals, the men couldn’t follow suit.
After a semi-final loss to South Africa earlier in the day, the Aussies fell 26-12 to New Zealand in the bronze medal match to miss the podium.
It was a tough break for Australia who are second on the World Series ladder behind South Africa with one tournament left in Los Angeles in late August.
South Africa broke to the men’s title in a 31-7 obliteration of Fiji.
Brandon Smith has missed out on more than just game time after receiving a three-week suspension, with the Storm star revealing he was banned from training with his teammates.
Smith had been handed the suspension after he called Adam Gee a “cheating bastard” during the Storm’s shock loss to the Sharks last month.
The 26-year-old was immediately sent for 10 minutes in the bin, and later pled guilty to the charge of contrary conduct.
But the punishment from the NRL wasn’t the end of it for the New Zealand Test rake, who has had to train away from the main squad since.
The unusual banishment has been seen Smith train with the fitness coach for the entirety of the ban.
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Smith’s ref slur caught on mic | 00:36
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“No, that’s not the norm, that’s quite special,” Smith said on Tuesday.
“I think it was just a sort of just getting punished for not putting the team first.
“It’s been pretty hard and a bit of a grind.
“Waking up early and training by yourself, it gets pretty boring.
“But just being able to hang out with the boys now makes me a lot more grateful for being in a team sport.”
Smith believes that the club were trying to send him a message by banning him from training for those three weeks.
After being isolated from the squad for so long, the Kiwi international reflected on what the time away from the main squad had taught him.
“Just making you feel guilty for your actions by taking away what you love most,” he said.
“And for me with footy that’s playing with my mates and my friends and enjoying it.
“They kind of took that away from me and it sucks.
“I got to hang out with the fitness coach and he’s not that much fun either.”
Smith is available to return for Melbourne in their crucial Friday night clash with the Gold Coast Titans at AAMI Park.
Melbourne beat the Warriors in Auckland last Friday, and ended a four-match winless streak to boast.
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The Storm are sitting inside the top four after the win, but are equal on points with both the Broncos and sixth-placed Eels.
“It’s been a weird old year for all of us, we’ve got heaps of injuries.
“It’s no surprise it’s going to be a little bit of a hard one this year.
“We’ve lost Welchy (Christian Welch), Reimis (Smith), George (Jennings) and Paps (Ryan Papenhuyzen) for the season and that’s four of our best 13.
“We’ve got numerous other injuries coming through and they are excuses, but I’m willing to make those excuses now as we’ve had like 16 pretty bad injuries this year and we’ve only got like a 26-man squad.
“We’re still fourth, which is the crazy thing that we’ve been able to keep ourselves in the fight.”
Domestic and family violence perpetrators in Queensland are increasingly threatening to set their current and former partners alight, a new study has found, with cases spiking after the horrific 2020 murders of Hannah Clarke and her children.
The report, co-authored by UQ TC Beirne School of Law senior lecturer Joseph Lelliott and associate lecturer Rebecca Wallis, details testimonies from seven non-government domestic and family violence service providers in the state’s southeast.
Direct and implicit threats of dousing are a form of coercive control that has not been formally studied before.
But they are on the rise: one participant told the survey of 17 workers last year that abusers sent the stories of Clarke – whose three children were burned alive in their car in February 2020 by her estranged husband – and Kelly Wilkinson – who was set alight in her Gold Coast backyard last April – to their partners as a means of telling them, “That’s what I’ll do to you”.
“Anecdotally, there have been cases where perpetrators have directly referenced the cases of Hannah Clarke or Kelly Wilkinson when they make threats, saying, ‘You’re going to end up just like her’, or saying something along the lines of, ‘That’s what you’ll get’ if news about them comes on,” Dr Lelliott told news.com.au.
“It appears that media reports about these cases, and ones like them, may lead to ‘copycat’-like behaviour, but may also be used as a tool of abuse themselves.
“Some interview respondents noted that perpetrators may also, for example, leave print outs of news stories concerning Hannah Clarke and the children around the house, or send them to ex-partners.”
The majority of participants in the study reported that cases of dousing threats within their services had become more prevalent over the past two or so years. And while no empirical measures exist yet, reasons may include an increased awareness among workers, and an increased fear among victims that such threats could be part of a pattern of escalating violence leading to murder.
“People are far more aware of it and that’s why there are so many more women, I think, talking about it,” one worker noted.
“Because now they’re really fearful and they’ve seen the consequences of that kind of threat being carried out.”
Another stated that they “see a really high prevalence of these kinds of threats, absolutely”.
“Different kinds of levels, different kinds of threats, but we do,” they added.
“So what we see most commonly are threats to burn the house down, threats to burn family and friend’s houses down, that sort of thing.”
“I actually have supported a woman whose respondent actually doused himself in petrol and threatened to burn himself at their family home where their children slept. Basically, yeah, well, it scared the hell out of her anyway,” one worker said.
“So, he did not actually burn himself because she managed to call triple-zero straight away. [But] the impact on her was really profound, because the smell of the petrol lingered for months.
“The location where he didused himself was actually close to the gas tank. So, he could have just killed everyone.”
What makes these threats – both implied and explicit – particularly “insidious”, Dr Lelliott and Dr Wallis noted in their findings, is that these “behaviours could be perceived as innocuous without an understanding of the broader context of the relationship”, but “almost always” occur in the context of an escalating pattern of “serious” domestic and family violence.
“I’m finding that it’s one of many elements. It’s not ever a stand-alone,” one worker said.
“Like they don’t just threaten to burn the house down or burn somebody – most of the time it’s because there is a domestic violence order (DVO), the client has left the relationship so there’s an escalation in the violence, and therefore it does escalate to the threats of burning either the house down, themselves or the client and the children.
“But usually there’s a lot that’s happened before it actually escalates to that point.”
Another, echoing the sentiment, noted the threats are “almost always just after separation”.
“So it’s about that not accepting that the relationship is over, and going into revenge and retaliation mode,” they added.
Their severity is also amplified by the accessibility of accelerants like petrol which, unlike the purchase of a firearm, are seen as “normal” household items.
Dr Lelliott told news.com.au that the prevalence of the study’s findings indicate “that there does need to be greater awareness of dousing threats – and indeed the use of fire generally – as a form of domestic and family violence and as a pattern of coercive control”.
“Some of our findings indicate that the severity of these threats is not always recognised, particularly by police,” he said.
“This work is, of course, preliminary at this point. We will release further papers in the future.”
