Before Flyin’ Ryan, there was Flyin’ Ryan’s dad and remarkably West Coast star Liam Ryan’s father Darren is still soaring in the Great Northern region.
And even at the age of 48 Ryan Sr, a former Claremont player and twice winner of the Great Northern Football League’s best-and-fairest award, is still adding to a career highlight reel of hangers.
Last week, while playing for Three Springs in the North Midlands Football League, the man known to most as “Snotty” took a classic screamer in a gripping final term.
Not only did it help Three Springs celebrate their first win of the season, he did so on the day of their centenary celebrations and over league-leading Mingenew.
“As you can imagine, it was a pretty exciting occasion to get to 100 years, even moreso after a year of not having a side, so the crowd was larger than usual with locals, past players and life members lining the ground,” photographer Kylie Dennis said.
“The atmosphere around the ground was electric, with everyone hoping the Bombers could hang on and get the win as the icing on the cake.
“Snotty then took an absolute hanger in the fourth quarter, using opponent Brett ‘Beetle’ Broad as a step-ladder as he catapulted into the stratosphere.
“The roar of the crowd was something else and it got people on their feet as the Bombers charged toward the final siren. They pulled off an absolute upset.”
Reports suggested Ryan Sr, fourth all-time on the GNFL goal-kickers list with 618, had some words of consolation for the younger Broad after the big grab, telling him, “Don’t worry young fella, you’re not the first that’s happened to”.
Great Northern football identity Greg “Jock” O’Malley – a former teammate and opponent of Ryan Sr – said it was impossible to pick the best mark of his career. I have liked his longevity to that of East Fremantle legend Brian Peake.
“You could pick any one of 30 … he’s a freak,” O’Malley said. “He’s the Brian Peake of the North Midlands.”
Newcastle Knights superstar Kalyn Ponga and his teammate are kicked out of the same pub toilet cubicle by a security guard – as club launches investigation
Footage shows Ponga and Kurt Mann being kicked out of a pub toilet cubicle
It’s unclear why the pair were in the same cubicle together
Ponga’s father said he was just sick after a few drinks and his mate helped him
By Kristy Williams For Daily Mail Australia
Published: | Updated:
Footage has emerged of NRL superstar Kalyn Ponga and his Newcastle teammate Kurt Mann being kicked out of the same pub toilet cubicle by security guards.
It’s unclear why the 24-year-old, who signed a whopping five-year $5million contract with the club in April, was in the cubicle with Mann.
The Knights are now aware of the footage, and confirmed to News Corp they had received answers after ‘seeking an explanation’.
In the video, a security guard can be heard saying: ‘Oh! That’s a surprise’ before Mann and Ponga leave the toilet.
Kalyn Ponga (left) and Kurt Mann (right) have been identified in a recently-released video that shows the pair being kicked out of the same toilet cubicle at a pub
Ponga’s father Andre said his son needed assistance from Mann when he fell ill while drinking.
‘He made an exciting house purchase Saturday and celebrated with a few mates drinking. Sick in the toilet and his mate went in to help him, ‘Andre Ponga told the Daily Telegraph.
The claim was backed up by the duo during the club’s investigation, with sources telling News Corp that Mann accompanied Ponga because his mate was sick while the pair were out enjoying drinks on Saturday to celebrate the purchase.
Kalyn Ponga was reportedly celebrating because he bought a new house
The pair told the club the cubicle door was open at all times, which is somewhat confusing giving the security guard can be clearly seen opening the door at the start of the video, before expressing his shock at finding Ponga.
Both men are fully clothed when they exit the cubicle.
Ponga and Mann are very close mates, and often feature on each other’s social media feeds.
The duo are both currently sidelined with injury, and drinking while injured is, at most NRL clubs, is a huge no-no given alcohol impairs healing.
Knights star Kalyn Ponga is currently sidelined after suffering yet another concussion recently
Mann is nursing a quad injury, while Ponga has been sidelined since July 22 after suffering his third concussion in six weeks – which is of great concern for the club, who have opted to take a conservative approach.
Ponga said on Sunday that he would not be back for the rest of the season, after suffering from some debilitating side effects – though he admitted it wasn’t his choice to sit out.
‘My season’s done. It’s a bit weird. I feel OK now. At the start I felt a bit weird, headaches and whatnot, but I feel all right now,’ he told Triple M Newcastle.
Ponga (left, pictured with Knights teammate Jack Johns) has reportedly told the club he was in the cubicle because he was sick
Early this year, Tigers winger David Nofoaluma was stood down by the club for drinking while injured. Like Ponga, the 28-year-old was also dealing with concussion.
Corey Norman, Michael Jennings and Joel Thompson are other high-profile examples of players suspended for drinking while injured.
There is no word yet whether either Mann or Ponga will face any disciplinary action for drinking while injured.
Nick Kyrgios has slammed the “disgusting” behavior of some tennis fans, after video circulated on social media of Daniil Medvedev being heckled after his second round loss to the Australian in Montreal.
Key points:
Video showed Daniil Medvedev being called a “loser” by fans as he walked towards the locker room
On social media, Nick Kyrgios said fans needed to “show some respect” to the number one men’s player
Medvedev said he had felt compelled to stop and talk to the fans because, “when someone mocks me, I’ll respond”
In a video re-tweeted by Kyrgios, Medvedev is shown being called a “loser” as he walks towards the locker room with security.
Medvedev then stops, turning and speaking with the fan, as someone shouts “you respect us and we respect you.”
Others can be heard imploring the fan to apologise.
On Twitter, Kyrgios labeled the fan’s behavior as “disgusting”.
“This is the best we have in the sport, fans need to show some respect.”
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The interaction came after Kyrgios had defeated the Russian world number one at the ATP’s Montreal Masters, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-2.
At a press conference for the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Medvedev said he had felt compelled to approach the spectator.
“When someone mocks me, I’ll respond,” he said.
“It would be bad to let people shout bad things at me and just keep walking. I will ask what his problem is.”
Medvedev said he had also talked to the father of the fan who had called him a “loser”.
“The father of the guy said something to me also — I say: ‘Educate your kid’,” Medvedev said.
“This is one of the first times it has happened to me. It doesn’t really happen a lot.”
Medvedev implied that abuse from fans was much more common online than in real life.
“On social media [insults] are a bit out of control,” he added.
Kyrgios eventually lost in the quarter-finals of the Montreal Masters to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
Hurkacz, the number eight seed, won 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-1.
The Australian had previously won 15 of his last 16 matches, and finished runner-up at Wimbledon.
Last month, Justin Longmuir was asked an interesting question about his spearhead Matt Taberner and provided an interesting answer.
On whether Taberner could become a liability at some point given his ongoing injury issues, Longmuir responded: “Maybe at some point, but we’re definitely not there yet.”
Six weeks on, the management of not just one, but three injury-affected forwards is looming as the defining issue of Fremantle’s finals campaign.
If they’re available, Taberner, leading goal kicker Rory Lobb and captain Nat Fyfe all appear automatic selections in an individual sense.
But it will be fascinating to see whether the cumulative risk is something the Dockers might baulk at.
If Fremantle take Taberner, Lobb and Fyfe into their first final, it would mean having three players in their forward line who have each broken down during their previous two games.
Throw in Sam Switkowski off a long-term back injury, and that’s four forwards with compromised preparations.
Since first hurting his shoulder against Sydney in round 18, Lobb has played a starring role against the Western Bulldogs, with four goals under the Marvel Stadium roof in round 21, to go with two goalless games in the wet.
Regardless of whether he is physically comfortable with rucking in the finals, Lobb has been Fremantle’s most viable forward target this season.
He’s kicked a career-high 34 goals in 19 games to be the leading goal kicker for a team that will enter September as the lowest-scoring finalist.
In other words, he’s pretty indispensable.
Approaching 31 and with more than 20 operations behind him, Fyfe is no longer the dual Brownlow Medal-winning midfield wrecking ball he once was.
His return from a double shoulder reconstruction followed by serious back surgery was always likely to be a rocky road, and when he had just one kick, to go with 14 handballs, in the loss to Sydney in round 18 it was a pothole.
A week earlier, Fyfe kicked three goals to go with 21 touches in the win over St Kilda. He also took four marks inside 50 and had 10 score involvements that night in a hybrid forward-midfield role.
It was the kind of performance that showed even the 2022 version of Fyfe is capable of having a fair say in the club’s final fortunes.
Mick Malthouse infamously left John Worsfold out of a final in 1998, but the captain being told he’s not wanted is not a scenario that will be repeating here.
Which leaves Taberner.
When the key forward booted seven goals against Essendon in round five, it was the biggest bag kicked by a Docker since Matthew Pavlich a decade ago.
As Longmuir recently noted, Freo aren’t exactly overflowing with players who are capable of kicking bags.
Since then, Taberner has kicked 12 majors in 10 games and been subbed out with injury three times.
Should the Dockers take care of business against 16th-placed Greater Western Sydney in the final round, they will enter their first final off three straight wins but with Taberner having played just 67 minutes of those three games.
Complicating the equation is the fact Taberner impressed with eight marks and two goals in those 67 minutes before getting injured in round 21 against the Bulldogs, a team Fremantle could end up facing in an elimination final.
And muddying the waters further still is that a Taberner recall for the first final could require a brutal selection call on somebody else.
If you want to play Taberner, Lobb, Fyfe and Griffin Logue forward, with regular smalls Michael Walters, Michael Frederick, Lachie Schultz and Sam Switkowski, then eight into the normal seven places allotted won’t go.
The Dockers might feel more comfortable about bringing Taberner in for their first final if he got through a WAFL game on the pre-finals bye weekend.
But if pushing for that contributed to any sort of setback, his final series would be over before it began.
The old adage about not taking injured players into finals is pretty hollow. Important players bravely play through injury all year to get their side into the finals in the first place.
Brisbane famously won the 2003 flag after using 18 vials of painkillers on players.
And the medical sub rule might provide the Dockers with an added layer of comfort about rolling the dice with their forwards.
There’s plenty of water to go under the bridge and a fresh injury to somebody against the Giants might mean all of the pieces fall into place.
Regardless, Fremantle’s selection meeting leading into their first final is shaping as their biggest of the year.
Six-year-old Ava Renwood is an aspiring athlete with big dreams of a career in sport.
Key points:
Special Olympics Queensland says many athletes with autism struggle to be accepted into sporting groups
Brisbane mum Ashleigh Brook says Australia risks potential future athletes “falling through the cracks”
Multi-class events are enabling children with disability to compete in more high level sporting events
But her mum Ashleigh Brook fears her options are limited by the lack of inclusivity and understanding of athletes with autism.
The Brisbane mum said her daughter “lives and dies” for her weekly gymnastics, cheerleading and dance classes.
“Ava wakes up in the morning [at] like 7am, and it is ‘what gym classes do I have today?'” Ms Brook said.
After approaching local sport clubs to take her daughter to the next level in sport, Ms Brook was advised to send her to disability-only groups.
“It is great that they have a division for these athletes, but again, [it’s] not inclusive,” she said.
“[It’s] very like putting them in their own bubble.”
With Ava eager to compete with her peers, Ms Brook is unsure she can find an inclusive club next season.
“It is kind of one of those situations where I am questioning is there going to be somewhere,” Ms Brook said.
Sporting events for students of all abilities
Fourteen-year-old Charlotte Kanowski is an accomplished triathlon, marathon and aquathon athlete.
She was also the first and only student to compete in Queensland School Sports triathlon’s multi-class autism without an intellectual disability category.
“I was proud of myself when I got the medal and finished the race,” Charlotte said.
Multi-class events allow students with disabilities to participate in an inclusive environment.
The events are currently offered in triathlon, cross country, swimming and track and field events.
The Department of Education said this year for the first time, students with autism can also compete in multi-class events in the Queensland School Sport State Swimming Championships and State Triathlon.
Charlotte’s mum Jessica Kanowski said creating inclusive sport environments is about implementing “reasonable adjustments”.
“I think having that multi-class does provide an opportunity for them to have a go, but in a comfortable setting,” she said.
“Ultimately, you would want it to be fully inclusive and all the kids going together and having a go.
“We need to be inclusive and allow access to all of our children so that they can reach their dreams.”
The Brisbane mum said she had been fortunate in finding inclusive sports for her daughter, but it had not come without its challenges.
“It can be tricky to find an instructor who is educated and knows what reasonable adjustments to put in place,” she said.
Ms Kanowski said it was important for coaches to understand all children on the spectrum have different “sensory profiles.”
“It is a spectrum for that reason, they are all different,” she said.
“When [Charlotte] does have a moment or may have a meltdown, that it is normal for her.
“That’s her emotions bubbling over and that is how she expresses them, and it is part of being autistic.”
Seeing her daughter shine in competitions, fills Ms Kanowski with pride.
“Makes me feel like she is out there giving it a go, and I’m really proud of her,” she said.
Sporting clubs ‘fearful of the unknown’
The Special Olympics’ Queensland coordinator Kim Lawley said many sports clubs were “fearful of the unknown” around athletes with autism.
“Once you get them out on a track or a field or a court, they are an athlete, and they want to participate and train,” she said.
“It’s just breaking down those barriers and those fears of the unknown.”
She said many athletes with disabilities struggle to be accepted into sporting groups, including her own brother.
“There was no opportunity for my brother to play sport, so we made that happen for him [at the Special Olympics],” Ms Lawley said.
She said the Special Olympics has helped create inclusive sporting opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities and autism, with her brother going on to play basketball and golf nationally.
“It is about education of coaches, it is inclusion, and it’s just reminding coaches anywhere in Australia, in the world that they are athletes,” she said.
National athlete leadership coordinator for Special Olympics Australia, Susie Bennett-Yeo, said she hoped one day athletes with intellectual disabilities and autism could be accepted and welcomed by any sports team.
“I would love to just see some of the athletes I know, just to be able to go along to their local basketball competition and say, ‘I’d like to play basketball’ and they go, ‘that’s great’,” she said .
‘The next national stars’ falling through the cracks
Australian Sports Commission spokesperson said it believed everyone should be able to participate in sport.
“It is important that sporting bodies, from local clubs through to national sporting organisations, reflect the diversity in the communities they are a part of,” a spokesperson said.
Ms Brook is still hoping there will be more sports opportunities for athletes like her daughter.
“These children have a future, and we shouldn’t put them in a box and sports really opens the door for that,” she said.
Ms Brook said athletes with autism, provided with the right support, could be “the next national stars.”
“I think the industry forgets that what makes them different can also be an incredible strength,” she said.
“If they are not going to support it, then how many potential elite athletes are going to fall through the cracks.”
A dozen Fremantle and West Coast players have been fined more than $20,000 combined following a brutal western derby clash on Saturday.
Eagles forward Liam Ryan copped the biggest punishment, a $3000 fine for striking Dockers speedster Brandon Walker in the first quarter of the Optus Stadium clash.
The incident was deemed intentional, low impact and body contact by the AFL’s Match Review Officer Michael Christian.
Ryan was also fined $1500 for his role in the first term melee that momentarily stopped play.
Fremantle star Andrew Brayshaw, who was heavily tagged by West Coast’s Jackson Nelson, was among six Dockers fined $1500 but remains eligible for the Brownlow Medal. Nelson was also fined.
West Coast midfielder Jack Redden and Fremantle star Caleb Serong, who had his shirt torn open in the scuffle, were also fined $1,500.
Eagles defenders Liam Duggan and Tom Barrass all copped a $1,500 fine for their part in the melee, while Jamaine Jones was fined $2,500 as a second offense.
Rory Lobb, Heath Chapman, Brennan Cox and Walker rounded out the Dockers hit with $1500 sanctions.
Ryan can accept a $2,000 and $1,000 fine, respectively, with an early plea, while Jones can accept a $1,500 sanction. The remaining 10 players fined can all accept $1000 fines with an early plea.
Meanwhile, Western Bulldogs premiership player Zaine Cordy was referred directly to the court for his bump on Greater Western Sydney young gun Tanner Bruhn.
The incident, which appeared to be a bump to the body and shoulder of the young GWS player but left him concussed, was ungraded meaning it will be up to the court to determine whether Cordy faces any punishment.
Danny Hodgson is considering what legal action he can take for compensation after he was left with catastrophic injuries when he was coward punched by a teenager who was on bail for other crimes.
Mr Hodgson made the revelation in an emotional interview with 7News’ Flashpoint, during which for the first time since the attack, he returned to the Perth Train Station pedestrian bridge where his life changed for ever on September 5 last year.
“If anything, I’m just really angry at the justice system,” he said.
“The justice system is to convict criminals, to protect citizens, and to keep order across the country.
“But again it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say that a criminal that has 23 offenses shouldn’t stay on the streets.”
Before the attack, Mr Hodgson was a healthy, talented soccer player with ECU Joondalup. He was on his way home from end-of-year celebrations when he was punched to the back of the head.
The teenager was jailed for three years and eight months over his attack on Mr Hodgson and other strangers while on bail. He was facing 23 charges relating to 13 separate incidents in the seven months prior to the attack.
Asked if legal action for compensation was being considered, Ms Hodgson’s partner, Jess Pollock, said “definitely”.
“Someone needs to be held responsible for this and why should we go through this journey and suffer in other ways as well — not being able to pay our bills when we were both working,” she said.
“I don’t even know if what he did was legal to let him out after breaching bail on 23 charges, I don’t even know.
“But if it is legal, and he has followed the law, then the law seriously needs to change.”
Mr Hodgson spent 82 days in intensive care at Royal Perth Hospital before he underwent weeks of rehabilitation at Fiona Stanley Hospital. He was rushed back to hospital last month after suffering a 10-minute seizure at home.
Heartbreakingly, Mr Hodgson’s independence, as well as his dream of having children, has been ripped away.
“We were hoping to start a family pretty soon but now I can’t start a family because you can’t have Jess as having full responsibility for a kid,” he said.
“As a parent you’ve got to have two parents to look after you, to change your nappy, to feed the kid — it’s impossible to have a kid as one parent.
“It’s not impossible but it’s hard to have a good kid and do the right thing, and that’s been taken away from us.”
He added: “I honestly may as well be dead in my head, mate. There’s no point of being alive. I’m worthless, I’m hopeless, I’ve got no benefit of being on this earth anymore.”
Asked if he had a message for Attorney-General John Quigley, Mr Hodgson said: “He can be a hero and save people’s lives”.
“Please change the law so this doesn’t happen again,” I asked.
“You’ve got the power to change the law and you can save people’s lives.”
Mr Quigley did not respond to Flashpoint’s questions asking why the offender was allowed out on bail and what action he had taken to ensure that what happened to Mr Hodgson would not happen again in the future.
But he said he would meet with the family in coming weeks to discuss their concerns.
Under WA’s Criminal Injuries Compensation legislation, a victim of crime can be entitled to a one-off, maximum payment of $75,000.
The dust barely settles as it drifts across thousands of spectators circled around traditional dancers from Groote Eylandt kicking up a storm this weekend in the remote NT community of Barunga.
Historically, the buŋgul, a meeting place of dance, song and ritual, at Barunga Festival is largely admired from the sidelines — but this year was different.
“Barunga is one of those different places, it brings so many people from different communities to try to share together in one place, that’s what Barunga is all about,” Groote Eylandt dancer Leonard Amagula says.
“It is reaching out to other communities, reaching out to the young ones, to grow up and see we are doing wonderful things.”
It starts as a trickle, and then legions of people from the crowd swirl into the centre, and press together behind the Groote Eylandt Anindilyakwa experts, billowing sand across the tiny community about 400 kilometers south-east of Darwin.
It’s one of those special moments that makes the three-day festival what it is; a place where both historic agreements are made and the promise of treaties echoes loudly.
And a place where remote Indigenous culture is strengthened simply by sharing in it.
A ‘rough but happy’ beginning
The festival has a long and important history that started over three decades ago in 1985.
Mr Amagula has been a regular attendee since his teens.
Back then, he says, it was “kinda rough but happy” and much larger with far more people traveling in from other Aboriginal communities.
This year, after the festival was postponed due to COVID, creative director Michael Hohnen says that balance was almost struck again.
“Because it was not a long weekend, [there] was probably a few less people and the date change, a lot of people can’t plan for that date change, but I actually like this energy a lot,” he said.
“We didn’t push it at all in anywhere but remote communities … that’s what Barunga [Festival] is supposed to be, the community invites visitors in.”
A succession of local NT bands took to the main stage across the three days, as MCs called musicians up for their slot and announced the winners of sport trophies in between sets – the by-product of a festival thin on staff running on ‘Barunga time ‘.
On Saturday night, singer and political activist Walmatjarri elder Kankawa Nagarra – who toured with Hugh Jackman in Broadway to Oz – opened the main stage concert delivering a string of songs that delved into a life of hardship as she moved from mission to mission.
Then Salt Lake and Eylandt Band from Groote fired up the crowd.
A link to political past
Dissimilar to past years, where the rallying cries for action from leaders have been loud and fearless, it was quieter on the political front, leaving the festival’s roots in sport, music and culture to shine.
But at a festival steeped in political history, the past couldn’t be ignored.
It was at this festival, 34 years ago, that Aboriginal elders and leaders presented then Prime Minister Bob Hawke with the Barunga Statement – a call for treaty.
“We haven’t seen a treaty yet,” Northern Territory Treaty Minister Selena Uibo tells the crowd gathered for the opening ceremony in the heat of the afternoon.
“This is something my team and I are working hard to have progressed … to listen to all of those voices that have been very loudly singing for the last three decades.”
It’s been almost five years since then chief minister Michael Gunner and all four Northern Territory land councils signed a Memorandum of Understanding — the Barunga Agreement — paving the way for consultations to begin with Aboriginal people about a treaty.
And just last month the Territory’s first treaty report was tabled in parliament.
Ms Uibo reiterated her commitment to provide a formal response by the end of the year and encouraged people to work together to close the gap, which she labeled, “so devastating in terms of disadvantage.”
“What can you do in your role, what can you do in your bubble, what can you do in your everyday lives that will truly promote and create reconciliation?” she asked the crowd.
Cameron Ciraldo has signed a five-year deal to take over as Canterbury head coach next season.
Key points:
Cameron Ciraldo will leave his role at the Panthers at the end of the season
He has been the Bulldogs’ preferred choice as a long-term replacement for Trent Barrett
Last year, Ciraldo helped the Panthers win the NRL premiership
The in-demand Penrith assistant has helped mastermind the defending premiers’ climb to dominance under Ivan Cleary.
However, Ciraldo has decided to take the step up into the head coach role at the Bulldogs after previously knocking back the Wests Tigers’ job.
Interim Bulldogs coach Mick Potter was keen to stay on after taking over from sacked coach Trent Barrett earlier this season.
However, Canterbury general manager of football Phil Gould wanted Ciraldo — who has been in various coaching roles at the Panthers since 2014 — to fill the position.
Ciraldo’s arrival at Belmore will likely keep star playmaker Matt Burton at the club.
Burton worked with Ciraldo at the Panthers before linking up with the Bulldogs this season.
“As the club continues to build for long-term, sustained success, we are pleased Cameron shares the vision of ensuring our football programs are best-in-class,” a Bulldogs club statement read.
The Panthers confirmed Ciraldo would depart the club at the end of the season.
“On behalf of all at Panthers, we would like to congratulate Cameron for his appointment as an NRL head coach,” Panthers chief executive Matt Cameron said in a statement.
“Although we’re saddened to see Cameron depart the club at the end of the season, we’re thrilled to see him progress to the next chapter of his NRL coaching career.
“A highly-respected member of the coaching staff, Cameron has played his part in making our club a source of community pride, and was influential in providing an environment for players to thrive.”
Ciraldo played for Penrith, Newcastle and Cronulla during his 94-match NRL career.
He finished up with the Panthers in 2013 and joined the club’s coaching staff the following season as an assistant coach in the under-20s program.
Ciraldo later served as the Panthers’ under-20s head coach, before becoming an assistant at the NRL level.
He was defense coach when the Panthers won last year’s premiership, while he was caretaker head coach in 2018 after the club parted ways with Anthony Griffin.
Cameron Smith has a huge chance to win the opening PGA Tour FedEx Cup play-offs tournament and claim the world number one ranking, set to enter the final round two shots from the lead.
As speculation continues to swirl about whether he’ll jump to the rebel LIV Golf circuit, Australian world number two Smith birdied two of the last three holes to shoot a 3-under 67 at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis on Saturday.
Already the winner of the Tournament of Champions, Players Championship and British Open this year, 28-year-old Smith trails the only American leader, JJ Spaun (68), and second-placed Austrian Sepp Straka (68).
Smith is in a three-way tie for third with Americans Will Zalatoris (65) and Trey Mullinax (66).
He is keenly aware that a victory would take him to the world number one ranking for the first time after the incumbent, Scottie Scheffler, missed the cut on Friday.
“That’s been one of my goals probably since the start of the year is to try to get to that top spot,” Smith said. “try [to] chase it down.”
Fellow Australian Adam Scott fell to tied 25th, six shots from the lead, after a round of 70, while countryman Cam Davis (67) is tied 36th at 5-under.
Spaun had a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th and holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the next hole to claim the 54-hole lead at 13-under 197.
Straka was right there with him until he failed to save par from the bunker on the 18th.
Both are first-time winners on the PGA Tour this year, and a victory in a FedEx Cup play-offs even carries even more weight: $3.78 million to the winner and a guaranteed spot at East Lake for the FedEx Cup finale.
However, there are a host of players in contention, with 16 within four shots of the lead, including stars Sam Burns and Tony Finau.
But no one stands out like Smith, for so many reasons.
Not only is it his first start since being introduced at St Andrews as the “champion golfer of the year”, the UK’s Daily Telegraph also reported on Tuesday that he had signed with LIV and would join the defectors outside Boston after the PGA Tour play- offs were over.
Smith has steadfastly refused to talk about the move, only to say he’s only thinking of the FedEx Cup.
“I’m a man of my word and, whenever you guys need to know anything, it’ll be said by me,” Smith said on Tuesday.
That was shortly before a California federal judge denied a request by three LIV golfers to play in the FedEx Cup play-offs.
Distractions don’t seem to be an issue, and there is no shortage of them.
“There’s definitely been a few more but, for me, I’m just trying to hit the best shot I can,” Smith said. “That’s what I’m here to do, is to hit good golf shots and make birdies.”