The 2022 AFL draft will again be held across two nights but take place later in November this year to allow the AFLW to have the spotlight for the season seven grand finale.
The AFL sent a memo to clubs on Monday confirming the sign, trade period and draft dates for 2022.
The AFLW grand final will take place on the weekend of November 25-27 before the national draft will be held.
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Round 1 of the draft has been set for Monday November 28, with the rest of the selections to be held on Tuesday November 29. The pre-season and rookie drafts will then be held online the next day, starting at 3pm (AEST) on Wednesday November 30.
The AFL exchange period will commence on Friday September 30 — six days after the AFL Grand Final — when the free agency window opens. The trade period will then kick off on Monday October 3, with players and picks up for grabs.
Greene on next coach & Dusty pursuit | 02:18
The free agency period will last one week, with no offers to be lodged past 5pm on Friday October 7. However clubs with offers pending have until Monday October 10 to match bids.
As per previous seasons, the trade period deadline will be on a Wednesday night (October 12, 7.30pm).
After a relatively quiet 2021 trade period, clubs are preparing for more movement this season.
Free agents Dan McStay (Brisbane) and Karl Amon (Port Adelaide) are set to move clubs, Melbourne Rising Star winner Luke Jackson is considering requesting a trade to Fremantle, the Giants face the prospect of losing several players — including Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto — while ample intrigue surrounds Collingwood duo Jordan De Goey (free agent) and Brodie Grundy (contracted).
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Clubs will be able to sign delisted free agents across various windows in early November, while draft picks can be swapped after the trade period until Tuesday November 15. Picks can then be traded again during the two draft nights.
Sandringham Dragons midfielder Will Ashcroft is the early Pick 1 favourite. The ball magnet is linked to Brisbane under the father-son rule, meaning if the club with Pick 1 in the draft selected Ashcroft the Lions would have bidding rights — although he still has to nominate the Lions as his preferred destination.
Oakleigh Chargers duo George Wardlaw and Elijah Tsatas, Geelong Falcons co-captain Jhye Clark and dynamic Dragons forward Harry Sheezel are also highly rated by recruiters.
Ashcroft undecided on father son call | 00:48
KEY DATES FOR THE 2022 AFL SIGN AND TRADE PERIOD (all times AEST/AEDT) …
Friday 30 September at 9.00am
AFL Restricted Free Agency and Unrestricted Free Agency Period commences
Monday 03 October at 9.00am
Continental Tires AFL Trade Period commences – Players & Selections
Friday 07 October at 5.00pm
Close of AFL Restricted Free Agency Offer and Unrestricted Free Agency Period.
Monday 10 October
NAB AFL Draft Nominations open (9am)
AFL Restricted Free Agency Matching Offer 3 Day Period Ends (5pm)
Wednesday 12 October at 7.30pm
Continental Tires AFL Trade Period closes – players and selections
Thursday 03 November at 9.00am
AFL Delisted Player Free Agency Period (1) commences
Wednesday 09 November at 5.00pm
AFL Delisted Player Free Agency Period (1) closes
Friday 11 November at 9.00am
AFL Delisted Player Free Agency Period (2) commences
Tuesday 15 November by 5.00pm
AFL Delisted Player Free Agency Period (2) closes
Continental Tires AFL Trade Period closes – selections only
Monday 21 November by 3.00pm
NAB AFL Draft Nominations close
Monday 28 November at 7.10pm
2022 NAB AFL Draft Round One (Venue TBC)
Father/Son, Academy & NGA and Players Bidding opens.
Tuesday 29 November
Continental Tires AFL Trade Period – selections only (5.45pm to 6.30pm)
2022 NAB AFL National Draft Round two until completion (7pm)
Rookie Upgrade Period opens (10pm)
AFL Delisted Player Free Agency Period (3) commences (10pm)
Rookie Upgrade Period closes (11pm)
AFL Delisted Player Free Agency Period (3) closes (11pm)
A lawyer for two brothers accused of being hired “muscle” in the alleged kidnapping of Stuart MacGill has told a court that the cricketing great was a regular cocaine user and “actively” involved in a drug deal central to the case.
Richard and Frederick Schaaf are awaiting trial over the alleged abduction of Mr MacGill from outside his home on Sydney’s lower north shore last year.
The pair on Monday appeared before the Supreme Court in an effort to be danced while they fight the charges.
Their barrister attacked Mr MacGill’s credibility, arguing that he went willingly with a group of men to an abandoned house in southwestern Sydney and said there was no physical evidence that he had been brutally assaulted.
The pair have pleaded not guilty to charges of take/detain in company with attempt to obtain advantage, with the matter expected to go to trial mid next year.
They were arrested along with four other men, including Mr MacGill’s de facto brother-in-law Marino Sotiropoulos, after the former Test spinner alleged that he was taken to a Bringelly property.
He has claimed that he was threatened with a gun, assaulted and demands were made for money over a drug deal gone wrong.
The court was told on Monday that Mr MacGill allegedly introduced Mr Sotiropoulos – the brother of his partner Maria O’Meagher – to a cocaine dealer.
Mr Sotiropoulos has since been charged with a supply of a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and will stand trial alongside the Schaaf brothers.
Mr MacGill alleges that a group of men forced him into a car outside his home and confronted him after the drug deal ended in a “rip off”.
The two men watched from Bathurst Correctional Center on Monday as their barrister Avni Djemal argued they should be released on bail ahead of a trial next year.
Mr Djemal said there was evidence that Mr MacGill had willingly participated in a meeting at the Bringelly house and agreed to look at photos in a bid to identify the drug dealer.
Mr Djemal said Mr MacGill was released at Belmore and allowed to get into a cab.
“The evidence implies Mr MacGill to a high level. I’m surprised he’s not charged with the actual drug transaction that he says, in his evidence, ‘I had nothing more to do with it, I just introduced the brother-in-law, Mr Sotiropoulos, to a person who I knew used to sell drugs’,” Mr Djemal said.
“The gentleman, now a registered source, he says that this gentleman, MacGill, was an avid user of cocaine and said to be on it all the time or drunk or desperate for money.”
Mr Djemal further told the court that Mr MacGill had an “active” role in negotiating the weight of the drugs involved in the deal to the point that the dealer had offered him a gift because he “put this deal together”.
He further said there was no evidence to support Mr MacGill’s assertions that he had been punched to the front and back of his head, knocked to the ground and suffered a concussion.
Mr Djemal said the only evidence of any injuries was Ms O’Meagher saying she felt a lump on Mr MacGill’s head.
“He doesn’t have one physical injury after those events,” Mr Djemal said.
“If the hits to the front of your face have produced no lumps and you say the onslaught was to the front, the side, knocked you to the ground, how could that be?
“How could his word be that there was a kidnapping? What if he went, saw photos and got brought back?”
Mr Djemal argued that Frederick Schaaf should be released so he could undergo dental treatment because he was at risk of losing his teeth.
The hearing before Justice Richard Button continues.
Melbourne captain Max Gawn is confident his premiership teammate Luke Jackson will knock back a huge offer to join Fremantle, declaring the young ruckman was the “happiest person out there” after the Demons took down the Dockers last Friday night.
Jackson, who is from Perth, has put off contract talks until the end of the season amid rampant speculation he’s headed back to Western Australia, and the Dockers, on a monster deal.
Local fans taunted the Melbourne players last Friday night by hanging a Fremantle jersey with “Jackson” written on it over the race. The jersey was snatched and then thrown away by Jackson’s teammate Jake Melksham.
On Monday, Gawn conceded his opinion was going against the grain of what most were saying about Jackson, but he thought the 20-year-old would remain at the Demons.
“Luke’s a talent and he’s got every right, as every player does, to look at any offer that’s coming his way,” Gawn told reporters on Monday.
“I’m pretty confident he’s going to be a Melbourne player still and I know that’s very far from what the consensus is out in the media.
“He was the happiest person I’ve ever seen (last Friday night) beating Fremantle, who is the team that he’s supposed to be going to.
“He seemed the happiest person out there.”
Jackson was the center of attention from the moment he touched down in Perth last week, but Gawn joked the youngster was the “best character” to handle it.
“I actually think he doesn’t know he’s out of contract,” Gawn said.
“That little bit helps him. He does n’t read anything, he does n’t look at anything, he just continues on his merry way and I think his performances by him are showing that.
“If you go out there and watch him, he doesn’t look like he’s over-thinking. He’s just out there playing football.”
Last week, Melbourne re-signed midfield star Angus Brayshaw to a six-year deal having also secured best and fairest Clayton Oliver on an on long-term contract.
Jackson, however, remains the No.1 priority and Gawn said he was hopeful of continuing to build on the partnership they had formed, on and off the field, since the youngster arrived at the Demons in the 2019 draft.
“I love playing with him, I love being his leader, I love being his friend, I love coaching him and I love seeing little bits that I’ve told him during the week come out on game day,” Gawn said.
“I’m really excited, especially for the next seven weeks, to play with Luke and then hopefully for the next few years.”
A homeowner who bought into an off-the-plan development in Brisbane, which has now been shelved, has described the development company’s decision as an “absolute joke” claiming that it would leave his family financially “screwed”.
Chris* signed up to buy an $800,000 townhouse last year in the $180 million development called Greville, in the northern suburb of Wooloowin, and was scheduled to move into the new home with his partner and daughter in 2023.
The project was set to deliver around 250 homes, a recreation zone and pool, as well as a community park, and had originally been marketed as an urban village just 5km north of Brisbane’s CBD.
Now, the family has been left angry and upset after Perth-based developer Cedar Woods announced it was delaying the project, blaming rising costs, labor shortages, significant rainfall events in Queensland and extended construction timelines.
Buyers have been given the option to have their deposits refunded and will be offered the first choice when the project is remarketed, according to the developer, which it said hoped would be in the second half of next year.
But Chris claims they are “stuck in no man’s land” because the developer doesn’t have a clause in which they can cancel the contract, a claim Cedar Woods would not comment on.
In a letter to buyers, Cedar Woods proposed that both the developers and buyers agree to “a mutual termination of the contract” as the project would be “indefinitely delayed”.
But so far the family says it has refused to accept the return of their deposit, nor had any responses to other inquiries.
“There’s never been any consultation whatsoever. There was a post on Facebook in April about how they would start (construction), but then the post was deleted and we got phone calls saying everything was cancelled,” Chris told news.com.au.
“Financially, we have been really screwed by Cedar Woods’ decision because now the property prices are still up and we personally don’t think they are going to fail as much as speculators say. Add this to the pressures due to the cost of living going up and interest rates going up, greatly limit our choices.
“We have been looking at similar places and we are not going to get anything for under $1 million for the area.
“We tried to put an offer on a development of four townhouses and the real estate agent basically laughed at us as they are after the mid-$1 million mark for a place with the same square meterage and floor plan similar to what we had bought. ”
Cedar Woods did not respond to a news.com.au’s question on whether the townhouses and apartments would be sold at a higher price once the project was relaunched.
A post on its official Greville Facebook page back in April that said works were under way has now been deleted, but homeowners were left blindsided when the project was shelved just a month later.
“Construction is off to a great start in 2022,” the now deleted post read.
“Despite the weather in southeast Queensland, we are happy to share that civil works on the site are partially complete and construction will begin shortly. It is an exciting time for Greville and we are excited to show you what is to come.”
Chris, who works as a project manager, added that communication had been poor and the couple were “most peeved” that there was “no real consultation” by the company about the decision to shelve the project.
“This decision has majorly impacted people’s lives and they just don’t seem to care,” he said.
Cedar Woods managing director Nathan Blackburne said the firm’s decision was extremely difficult, but it was the right decision in an environment where builders were facing additional risks.
“We know purchasers are disappointed and (we) have apologized to them. We greatly appreciate the understanding of our purchasers who in the main are aware of the current conditions,” he said.
Extended construction time frames and increased costs had meant that the particular stages could not proceed as completion wasn’t possible by specified completion time frames, I added.
“Cedar Woods has continued to engage with the affected purchasers and provide opportunities for further discussion while prioritizing the return of their deposit,” he said.
“The company hopes to re-engage with them when conditions in the sector are expected to improve over financial year 2023.”
But for Chris and his partner, who are in their mid-30s, their “huge” excitement about owning the townhouse has turned into a nightmare.
“We are tossing up if we have to move further out of town away from family, friends, work and childcare, which would make life more inconvenient, but that’s one of the only options we have,” he said.
“Cedar Woods made a decision to protect shareholders and their bottom line as they are a business and I get that, but the impact that it will have on our family and other families out there is not insignificant.”
Meanwhile, work is still continuing on the project site, which has left buyers furious with many lashing out at the developer on Facebook.
“Cedar Woods is continuing to finalize all of the civil construction, remediation work of the historical laundry and the delivery of the community park in preparation for the project to come back to market,” Mr Blackburne said of the continued works.
Australia’s construction crisis
It’s not the first project to be suffered this month in Australia’s embattled construction industry.
Perth developer Sirona Urban killed off a $165 million luxury tower, where more than 50 per cent of apartments had been bought off the plan, blaming skyrocketing construction costs and shortages.
Owner Matthew McNeilly said construction costs had risen by 30 per cent in the past 10 months.
Then there was a Melbourne developer that abandoned plans to build a $500 million apartment tower on the Gold Coast, blaming the crisis in the building industry and surging construction costs for making the project unprofitable.
The development by Central Equity was set to kick off this year featuring 486 apartments in a 56-storey tower, known as Pacific One, and was due to be built on a beachfront block in Surfers Paradise.
Apartments had been sold with a starting price from $650,000 each.
Overall, the construction industry has been plagued with a spate of collapses caused by a perfect storm of supply chain disruptions, skilled labor shortages, skyrocketing costs of materials and logistics, and extreme weather events.
Earlier this year, two major Australian construction companies, Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild, went into liquidation.
Then there have been smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Horsham – a franchisee of a national construction firm – which collapsed earlier this month affecting 11 homeowners with $1.2 million in outstanding debt.
It is the second Hotondo Homes franchisee to go under this year, with its Hobart branch collapsing in January owing $1.3 million to creditors, according to a report from liquidator Revive Financial.
Snowdon Developments was ordered into liquidation by the Supreme Court with 52 staff members, 550 homes and more than 250 creditors owed just under $18 million, although it was partially bought out less than 24 hours after going bust.
Others joined the list too including Inside Out Construction, Solido Builders, Waterford Homes, Affordable Modular Homes and Statement Builders.
I’m going to make an argument that might make you scoff: To be born a prince or princess in
the British royal family would be a rotten fate.
Oh yes, I know about the castles, the family’s $645 million wealth and the just under $3 billion trusts which only some members hav access to, not to mention the indescribably vast collection of jewels including questionable Romanov pieces, rubies the size of quail’s eggs and that their Gan Gan owns the world’s largest private collection.
To live life, from your first squalling breath, as an HRH means nearly unthinkable privilege, far too much venison and always getting to board a RyanAir flight first.
But, it would still be a rubbish life.
Exhibit A) the video released by William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Instagram and Twitter accounts on Sunday night ahead of England’s Lioness soccer team playing in the Euro 2022 final. There the duke sat in some bucolic garden somewhere in England of the sort that Beatrix Potter would have given her best bonnet to sketch. On his knee he sat Princess Charlotte, age seven-years-old, with what looked like a plastered-on, slightly forced smile.
You can see her eyes dart off to the side, possibly to her mother the duchess who, as we know, is a dab hand with a camera. William wishes the team luck before Charlotte gets to deliver her line from Ella at the end, saying “Good luck, I hope you win, bye,” and offering a cheery wave.
It’s short, sweet and should be nothing more than a source of a few million more likes.
Except that, watching the video, something occurred to me. Here we have the future king delivering his lines with genuine warmth and enthusiasm and a small child staring down the barrel of a totally new sort of royal childhood, one where she and brothers Prince George and Prince Louis won’t just be obliged to occasionally appear. in public but will be required to help churn out the social content needed to keep the monarchy afloat.
Sure, all royal kidlets, including a cherubic Queen in the 1920s, have been rolled out to charm and delight the masses, tiny curiosities, waving gamely, that the press could slap on their front pages with glee abandon.
However, what sets the youngest Cambridges totally apart is that they are now also required to help their parents keep the pipeline of photos and videos for social media purposes coming.
Not only are George, Charlotte and Louis already expected to take part in key ceremonial family moments but on top of that, their childhoods are going to be intruded upon in an unprecedented way in the royal annals all in the name of likes, retweets and views .
You can already, clearly, see this pattern emerging if you contrast William and Charlotte at seven.
The year the prince was that age, he took part in the carriage procession for Trooping the Color and the later Buckingham Palace balcony waving session, appeared at the Beating Retreat military parade, and was photographed attending two weddings (his uncle, now the Earl Spencer , and that of the Duke of Hussey’s daughter) and alongside his brother Prince Harry on the younger boy’s first day at school.
Contrast that with the 12-months to date for Charlotte. In August last year she appeared in a Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Instagram post about a conservation effort called the Big Butterfly Count; there was the family’s Christmas card image, snapped during a private holiday to Jordan, that was shared widely; she attended the memorial service for her de ella Great Grandfather Prince Philip in March and the royal easter service in April, before the usual birthday shots of her were released in May.
Come June, Charlotte and her siblings took part in their first Trooping the Colour, did the balcony waving thing, undertook her first official engagement with her parents and George in Cardiff where she participated in an official walkabout, before taking center stage with her family during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, along with filming a video baking cakes with Kate, George and Louis.
Also in June, the Cambridge Three appeared in a sweet family shot, taken in Jordan, that was posted to mark UK Father’s Day.
Sure, the young Cambridges may never know the hell of being chased by the paparazzi, but often in the coming months and years we are very likely only going to more regularly see their small faces popping up on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook feeds. (A gambling woman would put money on William and Kate making a foray onto TikTok soon too.)
For the duke and duchess, being on most of the major platforms means they have agreed to a post-industrialist Faustian bargain. They can plug their brand of royalty – an accessible, warm and relatable one – directly to Britons via the most powerful marketing platforms ever created. The cost? They have to energetically and regularly generate the sort of personal and intimate photos and videos that are expected in these environments, that is, they are going to have to serve up their children at times.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, about 160 years ago, had the canny idea of remaking the monarchy’s image by marketing their own family unit (and all nine children). This they did by releasing photos of what had hitherto been entirely personal moments such as christenings and the family on holiday. (In the 1860s, tens of thousands of copies of souvenir photos called carte-de-visites of the family were sold in the UK.)
This is a very similar strategy to the one that William and Kate are pursuing now, with their Happy Normal Family routine one of the building blocks of Cambridge Inc.
Cast your mind back to April last year when the duo released a totally unexpected departure of a video of the family gambolling on a beach, playing in a pristine garden and roasting marshmallows, to mark the duke and duchess’ tenth wedding anniversary.
The whole thing looked and felt like a commercial for a luxury station wagon, complete with atmospheric guitar music.
That was not an accident because fundamentally, William and Kate’s job comes down to the same thing a German car brand does: selling. In their case, selling the UK on a hereditary monarchy again and again to ensure it survives well into the 21st and 22nd centuries.
And, while every generation of royal parents have made their children accessible to the world via whatever the new technology of the day is, before now there was at least some sort of line between their private and public selves.
What sets George, Charlotte and Louis apart is that that distinction, that line, has quietly blurred in the last couple of years. We have seen content shot during family holidays, while ensconced on their private estates and after school in the Kensington Palace garden, shared on social media by their parents.
Obviously William and Kate are deeply protective of their children but they also have a responsibility to the monarchy too and that means embracing whatever new marketing weapons they can add to their arsenal.
Social media is a beast that must be fed and in recent years William and Kate have seriously upped their game on this front, hiring David Wakins, who formerly ran the Sussex Royal social media accounts, and launching a YouTube channel with a charming sizzle reel of sorts.
We are now served up, via the various Cambridge accounts, made-for-social content to promote their good works or news, such as when Kate was named as the Patron of the Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union in February, with Kensington Palace putting out a sweet 30 second video starring the duchess amongst others.
These days it is hours, at the very most, after they attend any sort of engagement or event that videos and/or multiple images taken by the Cambridge team are posted, chirpily informing the world of what they have been up to and increasingly offering behind -the-scenes access.
Take their recent, somewhat disastrous tour of the Caribbean where they paid for their own photographer Matt Porteous to record their trip and where the couple’s digital team put out daily videos and photo montages.
A video of them scuba diving, shot by Porteous, to view marine conservation work was an interesting first – an official engagement conducted while the credentialed press pack were nowhere in sight and which was exclusively shared with the world via social media.
Clearly, William and Kate are devoting time, energy and budgetary resources to building up their social media presence as they inch ever closer to the throne but that is a path that involves their kids, whether any of them like it or not. (I’d wager it’s the latter.)
To be seven-years-old and on school holidays, and yet to be expected to take a break from your childhood to record a video in service of an ancient, stultifying institution? I’m not sure there are enough emeralds in the world to make up for that.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
The NRL Match Review Committee has come under fire for some glaring inconsistencies regarding foul play in a confounding weekend of rugby league in Round 20.
Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona escaped sanction for an elbow to the face of Warriors hooker Wayde Egan, while teammate Josh King went unpunished for a potential eye-gouge.
Meanwhile, Titans hooker Aaron Booth escaped sanction for a cannonball tackle on Raiders forward Joe Tapine, while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves got away with a fine for a similar action to Asofa-Solomona’s, on Manly rookie Zac Fulton.
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And Broncos lock Patrick Carrigan was neither sin-binned or sent off for a hip drop tackle that saw him referred directly to the Judiciary and has him facing a lengthy ban.
Foxsports.com.au breaks down the five incidents to point out the stunning inconsistency from the MRC.
NELSON ASOFA-SOLOMONA
Asofa-Solomona was placed on report for an elbow/forearm on Warriors hooker Wayde Egan, but was not charged by the match review committee.
The incident in the fourth minute of the Storm’s win over the Warriors saw the Asofa-Solomona come down hard on top of Egan’s jaw with his forearm and elbow.
The Warriors rake had to leave the field and there were fears such an action had the potential to result in a broken jaw.
Andrew Johns smoked at the MRC for failing to take action against Asofa-Solomona for an incident that he believed could have resulted in an on-field send-off.
“It’s laughable,” Johns said.
“I back the players all the time, but for me that’s a four-week suspension.
“Nothing for that, or even fine? That’s close to a send-off. I can’t believe it.”
Ryan Girdler accused the MRC of not taking the rules seriously in a stinging rebuke of the Asofa-Solomona decision.
“It was very avoidable as opposed to running the football rather than when you are the defender,” Girdler said on Triple M.
“We spoke about Dale Finucane and the onus needs to be on the defender and there needs to be a duty of care to the player with the ball, especially now we see so many people in tackles and technique and holding and so forth.
“That needs to be taken seriously by the players.
“But if you want to take it seriously then the match review committee need to take it seriously as well.
“Letting Nelson get off with that sends a sign out there to the players, that sort of behavior is OK and it’s not.”
It begs the question, would the Storm star, who has formed, have been suspended or even sent off had he broken Egan’s jaw?
Any player that now finds himself in a similar tackle will be bringing up this Asofa-Solomona incident as their main defense in the future and a dangerous precedent has now been set.
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Nelson Asofa-Soloma escaped sanction for an elbow on Wayde Egan.Source: Supplied
JOSH KING
Storm lock Josh King escaped sanction for a potential eye-gouge on Warriors forward Jazz Tevaga, despite being placed on report and penalized.
In fairness to King the action may have been accidental, but it came just a week after Bulldogs enforcer Corey Waddell copped a five week suspension for coming into contact with the eyes of Titans skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
In Waddell’s case there was no genuine proof of a gouging action, but he copped a monster ban for coming into contact with the eyes of an opponent.
Gorden Tallis and Greg Alexander believed that King would be in trouble, given the harsh reaction to the Waddell incident, even if it was incidental contact.
“I think it is minimal contact, but you can’t make contact with the eyes,” Tallis said.
“I don’t like it. Don’t go near the eyes.”
“Corey Waddell got five weeks for not even gouging someone,” Alexander added.
“In slow motion it doesn’t look good. His hand went over the top of the face and got somewhere in the eye vicinity so he could be in trouble.
King could have been given the opportunity to protest his innocence at the judiciary and may well have proven it, but the decision not to charge him a week after giving Waddell five weeks on the sidelines smacks of inconsistency.
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King eye gouge raises questions! | 00:41
AARON BOOTH
Titans hooker Aaron Booth went unpunished by the MRC for a potential cannonball tackle on Raiders forward Joe Tapine.
The incident in the 32nd minute of the Titans 36-24 loss to the Raiders saw two Gold Coast players tackling Tapine before Booth came in late down around his legs from behind in a cannonball style tackle.
Tapine took issue with the tackle and the pair got into a scuffle, which resulted in the Raiders star being sent to the sin bin.
On his way to the sin bin Tapine questioned the tackle to the referee but Ben Cummins said the tackle was cleared.
The cannonball tackle is up there with the hip drop as one of the most dangerous tackles on a rugby league field for its ability to cause serious injury.
“Joe Tapine must have felt what he thought was a cannonball as Aaron Booth comes in right at the knees,” Matt Russell said.
Aaron Booth tackles Joe Tapine.Source: FOX SPORTS
“You have got to be above the knees. Quads or higher.”
While Booth may have initially hit Tapine on the hamstrings, the speed and force at which he came into the tackle from behind as the third man in, had the potential to cause Tapine a serious injury, which is why he was so angry.
Gorden Tallis told Triple M that he didn’t think Patrick Carrigan’s tackle “was as bad as some that I’ve seen this year” and brought up the Booth incident.
“So Aaron Booth, I have spears into the back (of Joe Tapine). Which one is worse in your eyes?,” he asked.
“I can’t believe he didn’t get reported,” Ben Dobbin said.
“It wasn’t even a penalty,” James Hooper added.
“Probably the one from the Titans game, it seemed to have more intent in the tackle,” James Graham added.
If the MRC are serious about stamping it out of the game, Booth should have at least been charged and given the opportunity to defend himself at the judiciary.
Failing to charge these incidents gives the players no deterrent to stop employing the cannonball tackle if they think they can get away with it on a technicality.
Tapine binned for punching Titan | 00:23
PATRICK CARRIGAN
Broncos lock Patrick Carrigan is facing a lengthy suspension for his hip-drop tackle on Jackson Hastings after being referred directly to the judiciary.
Carrigan deserves to be suspended for the ugly tackle that broke Hastings’ leg and ruled him out for the season.
However, if the incident was deemed serious enough to refer Carrigan straight to the judiciary, why was he not sin-binned or sent off?
Nathan Cleary coped with a five week suspension after being sent off for an ugly lifting tackle on Dylan Brown.
If Carrigan is looking at a similar ban, the Tigers should have got the on-field advantage of having the Broncos reduced to 12 men for 10 minutes at least.
James Hooper believes Carrigan will miss the remainder of the regular season with a five week ban.
Patrick Carrigan’s hip-drop tackle.Source: Supplied
“In all likelihood the fact he’s been referred… I think Pat Carrigan is rubbed out for the rest of the season and he’s back for September,” Hooper said.
If Carrigan cops a five game ban, it is confounding how he wasn’t sent off for the tackle or at the very least sin-binned.
On the other hand Gorden Tallis questioned why Carrigan is potentially meeting the same fate as Waddell who is out for five weeks due to an eye-gouge.
“If you tell me that tackle is as bad as an eye gouge… if someone has their fingers around your eyes I’d bite their fingers off,” Tallis said.
It raised the question of Hastings’ injury playing a part in the punishment, which comes back to Asofa-Solomona potentially facing a ban had he broken Egan’s jaw.
Carrigan’s hip drop injuries Hastings | 01:01
JARED WAEREA-HAGREAVES
The Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves escaped with a fine for an early guilty plea after being charged by the match review committee for a similar incident to Asofa-Solomona’s.
The Roosters star was penalized and placed on report for an elbow to the face of Manly rookie Zac Fulton while he was on the ground.
Waerea-Hargreaves’ punishment brings up two questions. Why was he not banned because a small fine is not a deterrent for these actions?
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves escaped with a fine.Source: Getty Images
And given Asofa-Solomona’s incident is widely considered to be much worse than the Roosters star’s actions, why wasn’t the Storm forward charged by the MRC?
Referee Grant Atkins labeled Waerea-Hargreaves actions unacceptable.
“Jared can’t do what he did, that is unacceptable, that is why it is against you,” Atkins said.
But how can an unacceptable action on a rugby league field receive only a small $3000 fine.
Coupled with the Asofa-Soloma incident, a small fine for Waerea-Hargreaves and no punishment at all for the Storm forward offers no deterrent whatsoever for players who employ these grubby tactics.
Cristiano Ronaldo played 45 minutes as he made his first Manchester United appearance in 12 weeks during a 1-1 pre-season draw with Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford and later proclaimed: “Happy to be back”.
The 37-year-old Portugal forward, who missed the club’s pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia for personal reasons, reportedly wants to leave the club he rejoined last year.
Former Real Madrid and Juventus star Ronaldo finished as United’s top scorer last season with 24 goals.
Ronaldo returns to Manchester at last | 00:36
But the campaign as a whole was a huge disappointment for the club, with a sixth-place finish in the Premier League meaning they missed out on qualification for the Champions League.
Ronaldo was left out of United’s squad for Saturday’s friendly with Atletico Madrid in Oslo.
But, commenting on a post on a fan page about him missing the game in Norway, Ronaldo wrote Friday: “Domingo o rei joga” which translates as “Sunday the king plays”.
Ronaldo applauded fans on both sides of the ground as he led the team out for their pre-match warm-up on Sunday.
The veteran forward had one clear chance during his 45-minute appearance but drove over the bar after running on to Donny van de Beek’s lay-off.
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Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United during the Pre-Season Friendly match. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
After the match, Ronaldo posted a photograph of himself playing in the game on his Twitter feed beneath a caption of “Happy to be back”.
“I cannot tell at this moment [how fit Ronaldo is],” Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag said pre-game.
“He is not on the level of the rest of the squad because he has missed a lot of weeks.
“But he needs games and he needs training, a lot.”
New signings Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez both featured for an hour in a game set up by Ten Hag for the players who did not have major roles in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat by Atletico.
Amad Diallo, who was on loan at Rangers last season, gave United the lead early in the second half when the 20-year-old Ivory Coast winger fired in the rebound after a shot from Alex Telles had been saved.
United’s lead, however, lasted just nine minutes before Alvaro Garcia equalized in similar fashion after Tom Heaton had saved Isaac Palazon Camacho’s initial effort.
United start their Premier League campaign at home to Brighton on August 7.
After putting his former club to the sword, Canberra half Jamal Fogarty said he had “no regrets” about leaving the last-placed Titans and has pleaded with the Gold Coast to have patience with rookie No.7 Toby Sexton.
Fogarty, who played 41 games for the Gold Coast, was superb for the Raiders in the 36-24 win over the Titans. He set up a crucial try when the game was in the balance and combined superbly with halves partner Jack Wighton to keep Canberra’s finals hopes alive.
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Sexton and the Titans spine was unable to ice key moments, causing coach Justin Holbrook to say that “Kieran (Foran) can’t get here quick enough”, in reference to the Manly star’s impending arrival in 2023.
The Titans parted ways with Fogarty at the end of last year and allowed him to sign with the Raiders after backing 21-year-old Sexton to be their main man in the seven jersey.
That decision has been a flop, but Fogarty said he had no bitterness towards the Gold Coast.
“There are no regrets,” the 28-year-old said.
“I’ll be totally honest. When I signed at the (Titans) they told me day one Toby was going to be their halfback moving forward. It was just going to be a matter of when.
“Once they said Tobes was ready to take over it was ‘sweet, where is the best option for me to keep playing?’
Jamal Fogarty says the Titans should show some faith in Toby Sexton. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“I am not bitter towards the club or any of the players. I am just grateful that Sticky (Ricky Stuart) and the Canberra boys have given me the opportunity to keep playing NRL because it took me so long to get here. I had to look after myself first.
“Moving forward I hope all the Gold Coast supporters give Tobes a bit of time and give him a bit of love and credit. He’s had two years where it has been Covid.
“He has come straight out of school, hasn’t played any footy, and obviously it was going to be tough for him to play a full season of halfback. He is going to be a 10 or 12-year player for the club and play 200 games for them.”
The Raiders are in ninth position on the ladder on 22 points and just outside the eight on for and against.
Fogarty, who has won five of eight games for the Raiders after overcoming injury, is building his combination with Wighton.
“People on the outside don’t realize we’ve played just five games together,” Fogarty said.
“Two of those weeks he was in Origin camp. He came back for captain’s run after I’d trained all week with Matt Frawley… so we were learning on the run in captain’s run. Another time he had Covid and it was very similar.
“The last weeks we’ve been able to have a full week of preparation and we are finding a groove. I think we are heading in the right direction at the right time of the season whether they are good wins or ugly wins.”
The selfless Fogarty said the win over the Titans was not about him, but it still felt weird.
“It is obviously different in the away sheds, to start off with. It is the first time I have come to the stadium on a bus as well,” he said.
“I spoke to the boys every week that it is just about us. When we focus on ourselves we play our best style of footy.”
Australian homeowners are being slugged with an extra $70,000 over the life of their loan by staying loyal to the big four banks and failing to refinance, new research has found.
It also revealed that the big four banks are raking in $4.5 billion each year as a result of the “loyalty tax” as the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) super-sized rate hikes are passed on to existing customers.
The RBA has raised interest rates from a record low of 0.1 per cent to 1.35 per cent since May.
The big banks are offering lower interest rates to attract new customers, the research from mortgage broker Lendi showed, while current homeowners are smashed by interest rate rises yet could make huge savings by switching home loan providers.
Lendi’s data showed that at the big banks existing customers are slugged an extra 0.91 per cent on interest rates compared to the offers for new customers.
This means at a big bank, customers are paying an interest rate that is 0.91 per cent higher – forking out an extra $70,000 over the life of a $500,000 loan.
Overall, the whole banking sector is charging current customers interest rates that are 0.86 per cent higher compared to new clients.
On Friday, ANZ Bank announced it would reduce standard variable interest rates for new customers refinancing to the big bank by between 0.1 and 0.5 per cent, yet it passed on the 0.5 per cent hike from July to existing customers.
Lendi chief executive David Hyman said when customers special fixed rates finish, most would not revert to the best available rate.
Instead, he advised customers to call their banks to ask for the same deals as new customers.
Record levels of refinancing
But a record 332,000 Aussies refinanced their properties in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in for the 2021/22 financial year, up 29 per cent on the previous 12 month period, according to the latest analysis released by digital settlement provider Pexa Insights.
Victoria recorded the highest volume of refinancing at 131,000 up by 23.7 per cent year-on-year followed by NSW with 127,600 an increase of 25.8 per cent year-on-year.
QLD experienced the highest growth in refinancing with 73,000 up 49.8 per cent for the last financial year.
All three eastern states recorded in excess of 150,000 new residential loans each, with QLD leading the way again with 160,000 home loans completed in the last financial year.
More than 472,300 new home loans were taken out across the eastern states with Victoria posting the highest growth in both new residential loans with 157,660 loans up 10.4 per cent year-on-year.
Mike Gill, Pexa Insights’ head of research, Mike Gill, said initially Australians were taking advantage of record low interest rates to refinance.
“There is now a clear correlation between the high numbers we saw during the financial year 21/22 and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s determination to lift interest rates twice before the close of the financial year,” he said.
“The record levels of new loans coincide with the strong buying and selling activity witnessed throughout the first half of the financial year 2022, in particular in Queensland which has experienced a state-based property boom across home buying and selling.
The race to attract new customers has become “highly competitive” between major and non-major banks for new loans across all three eastern states, he added.
“However, non-major banks recorded higher win/loss numbers for refinances in the same regions,” he said.
“Strong competition within the lending market can only lead to positive outcomes for consumers.”
Hollywood star Margot Robbie has told how she will be “eternally grateful” to soap Neighbors after it launched her acting career.
Margot, 32, who began her TV career as Ramsay Street’s Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011, appeared in the show’s finale, which aired last Thursday.
While the A-lister filmed her scenes for the final show in Los Angeles, she made a sweet gesture to her fellow castmates, sending 37 bottles of champagne to the Melbourne set, as revealed by Neighbors actress Christie Whelan on social media last week, The Sun reports.
Robbie said that the final episode marks “the end of an era”.
Now Hollywood’s highest-paid actress, she said: “I owe so much to neighbors.
“There are so many of us that owe [the show] for giving us a big break.
“It wasn’t just about giving me a break either – it gave me a real chance to work on my craft. It was the perfect training for Hollywood and I will always be eternally grateful.”
thursday’s neighbors finale saw Robbie return alongside a host of other fan favourites, including Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Holly Valance and Natalie Imbruglia.
Anne Charleston, who played Ramsay Street legend Madge Bishop, also returned – with her late character appearing as a ghost.
Remembering her time on the soap, Robbie said it was only when she moved to London that she realized how widespread neighbors‘popularity was.
“It really is an end of an era for fans. When I lived in London, I understood at its peak how big it was. People would come up to me and tell me how they watched it every day after school.”
From fruit farm to Hollywood Hills
The actress, who grew up on a fruit farm on the Gold Coast, moved to LA after leaving neighbors in 2011 and landed a role in US TV show Pan Am.
But it was her part opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street that caught the eye of movie bosses in 2013.
Soon after, she moved to South London where she shared a four-bedroom pad in Clapham with six other friends that they dubbed “The Manor”.
Her housemates were friends she had met filming wartime flick French Suite – including the assistant director and her now-husband Tom Ackerley.
Robbie went on to star in 2015’s focus opposite Will Smith and played The Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn in 2016 hitSuicide Squad.
In 2016, she and Ackerley also married, and the following year they swapped their Clapham flat for a $3.6 million villa in Hollywood.
But she said leaving London had not been an easy move for the couple.
She said: “It was such a hard decision to leave, but I just couldn’t keep living out of a suitcase.”
Back in LA, the actress went on to star as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya – which she also produced – and alongside Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron in Bombshell.
Both roles won her Oscar nominations.
She also starred as rising movie star Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywoodappearing with former co-star DiCaprio as well as Brad Pitt.
Next year will see her hit the big screen in neon pink and sky-high heels after she was cast as Barbie in a romantic comedy about the iconic doll.
Directed by Greta Gerwig, the film also stars Ryan Gosling as Barbie‘s love interest Ken.
Robbie said: “When I read the script, I genuinely thought, ‘This is one of the best scripts I have ever read.’ I needed to be part of this story.
“I remember speaking with Ryan before we started shooting and we were just so excited to be part of this incredible script.
“Whatever people expect the Barbie movie to be like, they need to totally rethink it because Greta has done something special here.
“And Barbie is such a role model. She was a surgeon back in the early ’70s when a tiny percentage of females were applying for medical school.”
It is expected that in the hands of director Greta – whose last films were Lady Bird and Little Women – Barbie will get a thoroughly modern makeover.
‘Things have changed a lot’
It comes after Hollywood’s own makeover in recent years following the #MeToo scandals.
That movement was the focus of 2019 movie Bombshell, which was based on the sexual harassment of women working at Fox News.
Robbie, who starred as Kayla Pospisil, told at the time that it was only while working on the film that she realized what sexual harassment was.
She told Net-A-Porter: “I’m in my late twenties, I’m educated, I’m worldly, I’ve travelled, I have my own business – and I didn’t know. That’s insane.
“I didn’t know that you could say, ‘I have been sexually harassed,’ without someone physically touching you.
“That you could say, ‘That’s not OK.’ I had no idea.”
The actress also said that she has experienced harassment, but “not in Hollywood”, adding: “I struggle to find many women who haven’t experienced sexual harassment on some level.
“So yes, lots of times. And to varying degrees of severity throughout my life.”
Speaking last week, Robbie said: “I think things have changed in Hollywood over the past few years.
“There have been some difficult conversations and very brave people.
“We live in hope that all this courage that has been shown means nothing like this ever happens again.”
This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission
