G'day sports fans,

I hope everyone is keeping well. I now understand why my dog gets so excited to go for walks.

In today's edition of Sport Journal:

🏉 NRL’s crunch meeting

🥊 Floyd Mayweather picks best fighter of all time

🏏 Worst roommate ever!

Lockdown skills 💯

🤔 Quiz: sport movie quotes

Name the movies these famous quotes are from (answers are at the bottom of the newsletter):

Quote 1: "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned."

Quote 2: "Show me the money!"

Quote 3: "Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that gentlemen, then you're perfect."

🏉 NRL

What to expect from NRL’s crunch meeting to decide the game’s future

The financial stability of all 16 NRL clubs during the coronavirus will be a chief concern for the players’ union in one of the biggest meetings in the game’s history later today.

Both the NRL and Rugby League Players’ Association are confident a deal will be reached early this week on pay talks.

In a teleconference, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys will tell clubs and the players he is still hopeful the season can resume by July 1, mitigating as much damage to the game as possible.

But officials are still planning for the worst-case scenario as they plan player payments and club grants in case the competition doesn’t restart before the September 1 deadline.

It’s expected the players’ pay cut for the remainder of the year will sit around 75 per cent, after they have already been paid the first five months of their annual salary in full.

Their pay will continue to come out of club grants, making the viability of each side paramount.

NRL blasted for ‘mismanagement’ as Greenberg and co. splash ‘nearly 500k a day’

The NRL are facing serious questions over their savings for certain rainy day funds.

It has emerged that they have failed to cough up the cash for the last two years worth of retirement funds.

All the while, the NRL is spending an eye-watering amount daily for its operational costs.

“It’s another example of financial mismanagement at the NRL and how they mislead us as a public,” said Daily Telegraph journalist Paul Kent on Fox League Live.

In his Saturday column Kent wrote that: “Limousines and hire cars, bloated staff numbers on bloated wages, unnecessary costs like the millions to stage February’s Nines in Perth, where there are no plans for expansion, which so no real gain, gifts of diamond rings” were what the NRL were frivolously wasting cash on.

He continued on Fox League Live: “They failed to pay $5m in 2018, same again in 2019, and then this year. Add that up and it’s $15m.

“There’s also the stressed clubs fund where they’ve failed to pay which is $6m, all together that’s $21m which they were obligated to pay.

“Head office is spending $182m, that’s nearly half a million per day. Less people are playing the game, ratings are stagnant, crowds are stagnant what are they spending their money on?” (Fox)

Matthew Johns tells funny story about a fight with brother Andrew

🥊 Boxing

Floyd Mayweather picks his 5 best fighters of all time

Mayweather was asked to name the top five greatest boxers of all time and his list is nothing short of controversial. Look who makes top spot...

🗣️ "He's beat more world champions than any other fighter in a shorter time and less fights than any other fighter."

🗣️ "Ali? only one weight class and really lost to Ken Norton three times."

🗣️ "He came up from lightweight to world champion at 160lbs. Love that guy. A legend.

However, Mayweather wasted no time in revealing his top pick first and explained why he put himself at the very top of the pile.

"He's beat more world champions than any other fighter in a shorter time and less fights than any other fighter," he said.

"Landed punches at the highest percentage and took less punishment. He's been world champion 18 years in five different weight divisions."

Mayweather controversially placed Ali, who is often revered as the best boxer of all time, in the No 5 spot.

The ex-boxing superstar, who once claimed he was better than Ali, praised the 'Greatest' for his cultural impact for African Americans.

"Ali, only one weight class and really lost to Ken Norton three times," he said.

Mayweather completed his selection by naming Roberto Duran second, Pernell Whitaker third and Julio Cesar Chavez fourth.

🇦🇺 AFL

Ross Lyon is ‘a failed coach’ says Suns chairman after call to scrap Gold Coast from the AFL

Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane has described Ross Lyon as a “failed coach” while angrily defending his club from suggestions they could be folded to help save the AFL money.

The outspoken Suns official said the “only problem” the team has is “one of success” as he described criticism of the team as “borderline ridiculous”.

Lyon made headlines last week when he suggested scrapping the Suns and turning the league into a 17-team competition would help the AFL through the coronavirus pandemic.

“If we just drill into Gold Coast – are they, for what we’ve pumped in, are we getting return on investment there?” he asked on Nine’s Footy Classified.

“And are foundation clubs maybe missing out and under real pressure now?”

He later added: “With one less club you could have a 32-game season.

“And then you could put marquee games up and service South East Queensland and really establish it and then maybe bring it out of hibernation and go again.”

But Cochrane pointed to the growth of community footy in the region as proof the Suns were succeeding, and tied that to his claim Lyon was a “failed coach”.

Lyon made four Grand Finals (one replay in 2010) in 13 seasons across St Kilda and Fremantle, but failed to win any of them.

“It’s borderline ridiculous and incredibly frustrating. Every single person in the world has the current problem but the only real ongoing problem we have up here is one of success,” Cochrane said on SEN.

Ben Cousins’ exclusive tell-all interview has left fans scratching their heads

Sadly despite Ben Cousins' run of dominance on the field over the years, it’s his life after the game that has dominated the headlines and tarnished the legacy of the former AFL great.

After years of battling a rampant drug problem and constant run ins with the law, Cousins sat down for his first face-to-face interview for the first time in 10 years.

Despite being billed as a shocking look into the life and times of Cousins and his fall from grace, fans watching on where left disappointed by the lack of new information to come from the interview, which was headlined Ben Cousins: Coming Clean. Available to watch on the 7plus app (90mins).

Although fans were outraged, many felt heartbroken over watching their former idol who was desperate to get his life back on track with many believing he needs genuine help, not a sit-down interview.

🐴 Racing

The Championships - prizemoney of top 10 races slashed in half

The Championships – including eight prestigious Group I races – are set to proceed over the next two Saturdays but prizemoney for the top 10 races has been slashed by 50 percent as racing responds to the unprecedented challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

It means next Saturday’s Doncaster Mile at Randwick has been cut from $3m to $1.5m, the TJ Smith from $2.5m to $1.25m, the Australian Derby from $2m to $1m and the Inglis Sires’ Produce from $1m to $500,000.

On day two of the Championships, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes which Winx farewelled the world in last year has been slashed from $4m to $2m.

Other prizemoney cuts on that day include the Sydney Cup going from a $2m to $1m race and the Australian Oaks being cut from $1m to $500,000.

The vast majority of the prizemoney cuts are from the top-end races.

Racing NSW explained the need for prizemoney during The Championships to take such a big haircut.

“Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club have agreed that in response to the unprecedented challenges arising from the coronavirus, prizemoney for The Star Championships will need to be reduced,” a Racing NSW statement said.

“The main source of funding for prizemoney is wagering which will be significantly reduced by the current lockdowns of pubs, clubs and TAB retail agencies. (Racenet)

Tom Marquand strikes again in Australia with Group race double at Rosehill

Tom Marquand continued his golden spell in Australia by registering a Group race double at Rosehill on Saturday.

The rider broke new ground when winning his first Group One at the track last week and while he was out of luck in the feature Tancred Stakes, he still won two decent events.

Partnering the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained colt Holyfield in the Group Three Schweppervescence, Marquand took a prominent position on the inside rail and despite swinging a bit wide into the finishing straight, Holyfield held off Untamed by three-quarters of a length.

Annabel Neasham, who runs the Maher/Eustace stable at Warwick Farm, told www.racing.com: “If we’re still racing, we’ll press on to the Champagne.”

Of Marquand, she added: “We’ll never want him to go home. Hopefully he’s stuck here for a while.”

The rider completed his double aboard Vegadaze in the E-Group Security Star Kingdom Stakes.

📺 Commentator keeps 'match fit' commentating on daily life!

⚽️ Football

Cristiano Ronaldo And Lionel Messi - who assisted the record breakers.

Messi has scored 689 goals in his career, his top 3 providers are:

Suaréz ➡️ Messi: 54 assists

Iniesta ➡️ Messi: 44 assists

Alves ➡️ Messi: 43 assists

Ronaldo has scored 725 goals in his career, his top 3 providers are:

Benzema ➡️ Ronaldo: 47 assists

Bale ➡️ Ronaldo: 32 assists

Özil ➡️ Ronaldo: 31 assists

EPL Cult Heroes through the years

💰 Juventus' players and manager Maurizio Sarri have agreed to their pay being stopped for four months to save the club an estimated 90m euros (£80.7m) during the coronavirus pandemic.

🔄 Manchester United would have to pay £450m to Real Madrid if they are to sign their 21-year-old Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde. (Sunday Mirror)

💰 Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone - football's highest paid manager - will have to take at least a 30% pay cut in his £3.3m monthly wage. (Sunday Times - subscription required)

🏏 Cricket

80 smokes a day, beers at 3am and toasties an hour later

Skull reveals his worst roommate.

Roommates; some are big snorers, others perhaps are messy and leave their kit, empty bottles and wrappers scattered around the hotel room.

But back in the days when Kerry O’Keeffe was still playing top-level cricket, he had the misfortune of being paired up with one man who had a dizzying amount of bad habits.

These were the years when a good day at the crease was backed up by a slab of cold ones and a night of smokes.

And that’s what greeted Skull when he roomed with one character.

Speaking on Fox League Live, the former Australian Test star revealed just who his worst roommate in a decorated and well-travelled career, detailing his large number of shortcomings.

Without hesitation, O’Keeffe replied: “Doug Walters.”

“Even though he was the best bloke I played cricket with, he was the worst roommate.

“He was an 80 a day smoker at the time, I wasn’t, so I passively smoked 80 cigs a day.

“You would come back from a training session and think: ‘There’s a half bottle of coke on the coffee table’. I’d take a swig, and go ‘ah, it’s an ashtray’.

“You’re woken up at 3am with the popping of a beer can, ‘are you having one?’ No, I’d reply - it’s 3am! Toasted sandwiches at 4am and early breakfast - but he hadn’t gone to bed.

“He terrorised room service, he’d often ask for toasted sangas. They’d say ‘sir, we don’t have a toaster’, he’d go ‘no worries, I’ll come down and toast them myself’.

“He was a roommate from hell, because no matter how badly he did he was the same. You wouldn’t know if he’d got a hundred or a duck.” (Fox)

🏆 New #1 sport - Cornhole

🎾 Tennis

Coronavirus will probably lead to the cancellation of Wimbledon and the rest of the tennis season, John Millman says

Australian tennis ace John Millman may have dodged coronavirus, but he is still resigned to not playing again this year.

Key points:

• Tennis's main world tours — the ATP for men and the WTA for women — were suspended in mid-March due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic

• Initially they were suspended for six weeks, before the entire tennis season — also including the Challenger Tour and the ITF world tour — were halted until June 7

• May's French Open has been postponed until September, and organisers of Wimbledon will meet next week to decide its future

"We're going to have to be pretty unified in terms of our recovery process before the tour can resume," Millman said.

"You can't have the tournament going when only certain players can get there. I think that's where the problems lie.

He considers an August/September continuation as "the best-case-scenario". (ABC)

We'll be back on Wednesday!

Movie quote answers:

Quote 1: The Colour of Money

Quote 2: Jerry McGuire

Quote 3: Friday Night Lights