🗞 Expected to Play

G’day Sports Fans,

🗣️ “Son.. ya’ll gotta do better than this…” - New York Giants' Lawrence Taylor, arguably the greatest NFL defender ever, kneeling above a sacked QB.

📧 P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

🏏 T20 captain Mitch Marsh may have to shout instructions to his teammates in the opening T20 against the West Indies in Hobart after testing positive to Covid on the eve of today’s clash.

Teammate Matthew Wade took his place at a media call on Thursday and confirmed the Australians were “expecting him to play” after he skipped training on match eve preparing to play a visiting side bolstered with reinforcements having being humiliated 3-0 in three ODIs.

Wade will keep for Australia today in his first international in his hometown of Hobart since 2014 (7am AEDT), as he jostles with the in-form Josh Inglis to be the preferred gloveman ahead of June's T20 World Cup.

🏉 Sydney Roosters’ Joey Manu is reportedly set to leave the club at the end of this year’s NRL season and switch codes to rugby union.

While a deal hasn’t been done yet, the 27-year-old is said to be weighing up offers from teams in Japan and France and is strongly considering the move.

According to News Corp and the SMH, it’s increasingly likely Manu will make the jump from league to union when his contract with the Roosters runs out at the end of this season.

🏟️ The Queensland minister responsible for the 2032 Games has denied the event is "on the nose" in Brisbane after calls by an Olympic committee heavyweight to dump the $2.7B Gabba redevelopment.

A panel - led by former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk - is reviewing the Games master plan, including a proposal to demolish and rebuild the Gabba. 

In an interview with NewsCorp, International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president John Coates said he told the review team "we should abandon the Gabba".

🏀 The run home is close, Jack Heverin and Liam Santamaria preview the run home for all 10 NBL clubs in NBL Now.

🌊 World Aquatic Championships: 🥇 Australia has won gold in a thrilling photo finish to the open water relay at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar on Thursday.

The Aussie quartet of Moesha Johnson, Chelsea Gubecka, Nick Sloman and Kyle Lee came out victorious in the 4x1500m open water relay, just pipping Italy to the post at the end.

🥈 Sunshine Coast athlete Chelsea Gubecka led a tight pack as she surged into the final 150 metres of the women's 5km swim, before losing the lead and collecting silver.

🥈 Australian divers also picked up silver as Melbourne's Annabelle Smith and Perth's Maddison Keeney finished second in the women's 3m synchronised event.

🏉 The return of Harvey Norman All Stars to Townsville will feature home-grown superstar Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, alongside a host of Premiership and representative stars.

The match, at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Friday 16 February, will include Josh Addo-Carr, Latrell Mitchell and Nicho Hynes in the Indigenous Men’s side, up against Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Jahrome Hughes and Joseph Tapine in the Māori men’s side.

The Indigenous Women’s All Stars will feature Tamika Upton, Taliah Fuimaono and Tallisha Harden, while the Māori women’s team will include Kennedy Cherrington, Corban Baxter and Raecene McGregor. (NRL)

🏎️ A lot of F1 fans aren’t overly happy with the amount and size of the sponsors stickers on the newly launched cars for the upcoming season.

The Sauber C44 (Guanyu Zhou/Valtteri Bottas) has a striking new look for the 2024 season, the first in its new era post-Alfa Romeo. Having taken on the name of Aussie founded title sponsor Stake, you can see the impact of this new brand partnership runs deep. Out goes the red and black, in comes a very alarming green.

🏉 South Sydney centre Campbell Graham is set to miss most of the NRL season after having sternum surgery.

Graham has been troubled by the injury for months and played most of last season with the help of painkilling injections and protective padding.

The 24-year-old has finally taken the plunge to go under the knife, with Souths releasing a statement on Thursday saying he would be out for "up to six months", but would return for the back end of their campaign.

🥇 Medals for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris will feature metal taken from the Eiffel Tower.

Organisers unveiled the medals which have hexagon-shaped tokens forged out of scrap iron from the monument embedded in them.

"It's the opportunity for the athletes to bring back a piece of Paris with them," said Thierry Reboul, creative director of Paris 2024, on Thursday.

The central pieces of the gold, silver and bronze medals have been taken from iron girders and other parts of the Eiffel Tower replaced during refurbishments.

⚽️ Sebastien Haller scored the winner as 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast beat DR Congo to set up a final meeting with Nigeria.

⚽️ Manchester United are better placed than Arsenal to strike a deal for Brentford's 27-year-old England striker Ivan Toney, who the Bees value at £80m, while Chelsea are expected to focus on a deal for Napoli's Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen, 25, instead.

🏀 The NBA trade deadline is less than 24 hours away with all eyes on a number of high-profile teams to see whether they make a move.

NBA senior insider Adrian Wojnarowski said on "SportCenter" that the Golden State Warriors have discussed trading for Utah Jazz big man Kelly Olynyk.

While, Philadelphia is getting frantic in the final hours before the deadline as it tries to add bodies to save their losing skid since Joel Embiid went down hurt.

👊🏻 UFC president Dana White has denied a date has been set for Conor McGregor's return to the UFC after the Irishman announced he would fight on 29 June.

McGregor, 35, has not fought since losing to Dustin Poirier in July 2021, in part due to the broken leg he suffered in that loss.

Asked about McGregor's comeback on the The Pat McAfee Show, external, White said it would happen "eventually".

"Hopefully this year. There is no date. I'm hoping for [autumn]," White said.

TODAY 

08:00 - PGA TOUR - Phoenix Open, Round 1 [Fox Sports]

11:30 - NBA - New York Knicks v Dallas Mavericks [ESPN]

12:00 - NHL - New York Islanders v Tampa Bay Lightning [ESPN 2]

14:00 - NBA - Los Angeles Lakers v Denver Nuggets [ESPN]

17:30 - NBL - New Zealand Breakers v Illawarra Hawks [ESPN]

19:00 - T20 Series - Australia v West Indies [Fox Cricket]

19:30 - NBL - Brisbane Bullets v Adelaide 36ers [ESPN]

SATURDAY

08:00 - PGA TOUR - Phoenix Open, Round 2 [Fox Sports]

11:00 - NBA - Philadelphia 76ers v Atlanta Hawks [ESPN]

12:30 - NHL - Chicago Blackhawks v New York Rangers [ESPN 2]

14:30 - NBA - Los Angeles Lakers v New Orleans Pelicans [ESPN]

14:40 - Women's ODI Series - Australia v South Africa [7mate, Fox Cricket]

15:30 - A-League Men - Wellington Phoenix v Western United FC [Paramount+]

17:30 - NBL - South East Melbourne Phoenix v Tasmania JackJumpers [ESPN]

17:30 - A-League Men - Melbourne Victory v Macarthur FC Bulls [Paramount+]

18:00 - A-League Men - Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City [Paramount+]

19:45 - A-League Men - Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC [10 Bold or Paramount+]

20:00 - NBL - Perth Wildcats v Cairns Taipans [ESPN]

20:40 - Super Rugby Pacific Trial - Queensland Reds v NSW Waratahs [Stan Sport]

23:30 - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton [Optus Sport 1]

SUNDAY

01:15 - Six Nations - Scotland v France [Stan Sport]

01:30 - SA20 League - SA20 Final [Fox Cricket]

02:00 - Asian Cup Final - Jordan v TBC [Channel 10 or Paramount+]

02:00 - Premier League - Fulham v Bournemouth [Optus Sport 4]

02:00 - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brentford [Optus Sport 5]

02:00 - Premier League - Tottenham v Brighton & Hove Albion [Optus Sport 3]

02:00 - Premier League - Luton Town v Sheffield United [Optus Sport 6]

02:00 - Premier League - Liverpool v Burnley [Optus Sport 2]

03:45 - Six Nations - England v Wales [Stan Sport]

04:00 - Men's NCAA - Syracuse Orange v Clemson Tigers [ESPN]

04:00 - Men's NCAA - LSU Tigers v Alabama Crimson Tide [ESPN 2]

04:30 - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Newcastle United [Optus Sport 1]

04:30 - Spanish La Liga - Real Madrid v Girona [Optus Sport 2]

05:00 - PGA TOUR - Phoenix Open, Round 3 [Fox Sports]

11:00 - NBA - Orlando Magic v Chicago Bulls [ESPN]

14:00 - NBL - Melbourne United v New Zealand Breakers [10 Peach, ESPN]

14:00 - Men's NCAA - Colorado Buffaloes v Arizona Wildcats [ESPN 2]

16:00 - NBL - Sydney Kings v Illawarra Hawks [10 Peach, ESPN]

17:00 - A-League Men - Western Sydney Wanderers v Newcastle Jets [10 Bold or Paramount+]

19:00 - T20 Series - Australia v West Indies [Fox Cricket]