🗞 Four Game Bans

🎾 icymi: Australia's Alexei Popyrin, the No. 62-ranked player in the world, defeated fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-2, 6-4 at the National Bank Open on Monday night to win the biggest singles title of his career.

⚽️ Matildas players, including injured captain Sam Kerr, will be consulted by Football Australia (FA) in the crucial search for the team's next coach.

Two weeks after Tony Gustavsson's departure, FA has started the recruitment process for the coach to lead Australia through the next cycle, including the home 2026 Asian Cup, the 2027 Women's World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

"We need the players involved. That's important," FA chief executive James Johnson told AAP.

⛹🏻‍♀️ Dual premiership winning coach Tania Obst has put pen to paper on a new deal keeping her at the Adelaide Thunderbirds until at least the end of 2027.

Obst, who led the club to back-to-back crowns this season and last, signed the new three-year deal on Tuesday.

“I am so honoured to be a part of the Adelaide Thunderbirds and what we’ve achieved over the past few years,” Obst said.

🏉 Wallabies assistant coach Geoff Parling has demanded Australia improve its discipline against South Africa on Saturday night to avoid the risk of another pasting from the world champions.

Still licking their wounds after a 33-7 loss to the Springboks in Brisbane, the Wallabies are chasing redemption at Perth’s Optus Stadium this weekend.

Parling said such problems sometimes occurred in a team “still getting to know each other”.

“Let’s be real about the team, (but) we’ve got some great players here, great lads, (and) we’ll keep plugging away at training.”

🏏 Brisbane Heat’s squad for the 2024-25 BBL season has been boosted by the pace of Australian under-19 fast bowler Callum Vidler.

Vidler, who has hit bowling speeds in the 140km/h zone, was a local replacement player for the Heat last season but did not play a game for the title-winning outfit.

However, he has now been elevated to a permanent deal, becoming Brisbane’s 13th contracted player for the new campaign.

NRL NEWS
Big Biting Ban

🧛‍♂️ Dragons five-eighth Kyle Flanagan will miss the rest of the regular season after he was found guilty of biting Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton and banned for four matches at a marathon hearing at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.

NRL counsel suggested a 4-6 match ban while the defence said anything more than two games would be excessive, saying the incident wasn’t as serious as Jack Wighton’s three-match biting ban last year.

But the judiciary panel of Greg McCallum and Henry Perenara said that case was irrelevant and that they wanted to send a “clear message” to players of just how serious biting was.

📄 TEAMS: Round 24 of the NRL season kicks off with possibly the game of the year, as the reigning premier Panthers host the ladder-leading Melbourne Storm in a clash that is likely to decide the minor premiership. (NRL.com)

• Panthers: Blues fullback Dylan Edwards (knee) and Kiwi prop James Fisher-Harris (groin) are both listed among the reserves.

• Warriors: Halfback Shaun Johnson returns.

• Eels: Kelma Tuilagi is back from a thumb injury on the interchange bench.

• Cowboys: Veteran halfback Chad Townsend has been dropped to the reserves list.

AFL NEWS
Wicks Gets Four Games

👨🏻‍⚖️ Sydney forward Sam Wicks will miss the next four matches after the VFL Tribunal upheld his suspension on Tuesday night.

Wicks was sanctioned for a tackle on Collingwood's Ash Johnson, which resulted in Johnson suffering a concussion. The decision means Wicks will be sidelined until at least the third week of the AFL finals, further depleting the Swans' forward line.

Sydney is already without Tom Papley due to injury, adding to the team's challenges as they head into the finals.

🗣️ Melbourne insist Christian Petracca will remain at the club until the end of his contract in 2029, responding to a report about the superstar being "disgruntled" at the Demons.

After a Nine Network report stated the 2021 Norm Smith medallist would ask for a trade if he was off-contract due to feeling "disillusioned" at Melbourne, chief executive Gary Pert moved to write a letter to the club's members.

"He has been an important member of our football program since he walked through the doors in 2014 and is contracted until the end of the 2029 season," Pert wrote on Tuesday.

"He will remain in the red and blue until at least the end of his contract and hopefully beyond."

📄 TEAMS: Round 23 of the 2024 AFL season begins with a huge clash between Essendon and Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

The Bombers: will make at least one change after Nik Cox was subbed out of last week's game with concussion.

Carlton: will be forced into making six changes for this weekend's must-win trip to Perth to face West Coast, headlined by Coleman Medal duo Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay's absence due to injury.

MEDICAL ROOM: Check out the full injury list

👊🏼 UFC star Dricus Du Plessis has revealed his coach tasers him if he 'messes up' in training but argued that the aggressive method 'works better than any sticky note'.

The South African will defend his UFC Middleweight Championship title against former two-time champion Israel Adesanya in Perth, Australia, on Sunday.

Du Plessis beat American star Sean Strickland by way of decision at UFC 297 in Toronto in January.

🏀 As rare as it was for LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant to team up for a handful of games this summer, now there is a collectable commemorating their time together at the Paris Olympics that's even rarer.

James, Curry and Durant will all autograph a 1-of-1 Topps trading card featuring the gold-medal-winning trio in their red, white and blue Team USA uniforms that will be sent to a customer at random who purchases the stars' base card from the company.

🏈 Tyreek Hill (wide receiver for the Miami Dolphin) has defended NBA and NFL players against Noah Lyles and called him out for pretending to be sick. (Twitter)

“I would beat Noah Lyles (in a race).”

Apparently, in high school, Hill ran the 100M in 10.19 seconds, 0.4 seconds slower than Lyles' 100M gold medal race.

⚽️ EPL (Kicks off 5am Saturday AEST) has a clear favourite: Opta geeks predicts that Manchester City has an 82.2% chance of winning the league, making their fifth-consecutive title win. It also predicts they’ll be way ahead in terms of points.

• Manchester City - 88.7 predicted points.

• Arsenal - 77.6

• Liverpool - 74

• Chelsea - 61.7

What they’re saying: "I wouldn't say it's an ego, but we've done this now four times in a row - this is our trophy to lose.” - City defender Kyle Walker

Interestingly, with the outstanding 115 charges hanging over them, Man City are only $17.0 to be relegated. Arsenal are $2501.0.

Last season saw all three promoted clubs fall straight back into the Championship, with Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United relegated to the second tier. And Opta thinks there’s a good chance of this happening again in 2024-25, with them filling the bottom three slots according to the super-computer.

We’ll have more on the upcoming season in Friday’s Sport Journal.

⚽️ West Ham United have signed defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Manchester United for AU$29m.

The 26-year-old has penned a seven-year deal with the Hammers.

Wan-Bissaka left Crystal Palace for Manchester United in a AU$95m move in 2019 and scored two goals in 190 appearances for the Red Devils.

⚽️ A reported offer made for Vini Junior to go to Saudi Arabia:

• €1 BILLION salary, 13x bigger than his current one.

• Free agency in 2029.

• Opportunity to return to Europe before Vini turns 30 years old.

• Whatever job he wants in Saudi football after retirement.

• Ambassador for 2034 World Cup.

He rejected it.

🥇 Ivy League school - Stanford University took home 39 Olympic medals — more than the Netherlands, Germany, or South Korea — which would have ranked it the eighth-winningest country.

🏟️ NBA star Kevin Durant has become a new minority shareholder of three-time defending Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, the French club announced on Wednesday.

The recent Olympic gold medalist with Team USA at the 2024 Olympics has invested a few millions dollars of his own money to join the club.

Durant is already part owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union. 

SHARE SPORT JOURNAL

The best thing you can do to help us grow, is share Sport Journal with your friends & colleagues, even that bloke at the pub…

📲 Share it with the group chat via WhatsApp HERE

🧑🏻‍💻 Share the link with a friend to sign up HERE

TODAY 

10:10 - MLB - Milwaukee Brewers v Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN)
17:05 - NPC - Bay of Plenty v Counties Manukau (Stan Sport)
00:00 - The Hundred - Southern Brave v Welsh Fire (Fox Cricket)

THURSDAY

03:30 - The Hundred - Trent Rockets v Oval Invincibles (Fox Cricket)
05:00 - UEFA Super Cup - Real Madrid v Atalanta (Stan Sport)
11:45 - MLB - San Francisco Giants v Atlanta Braves (ESPN 2)
19:50 - NRL - Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm (Fox League or Channel 9)