🗞️ Little Niggles

🏏 icymi: Australia have added uncapped Tasmania all-rounder Beau Webster to their squad for the second Test against India in Adelaide.

The 30-year-old, who was player of the year in the Sheffield Shield last season, will join the national team for the match which starts on 6 December.

Webster averages 38 with the bat in first-class cricket and 37 with the ball.

“(Marsh) has been battling a couple of little niggles since the UK tour,” Australian captain Pat Cummins said during the post-match press conference in Perth.

“He was a little but sore towards the end of this Test match, so the next ten days he has a chance to freshen up and try to get it right.

🏉 Joseph Suaalii has been passed fit to face Ireland on Saturday and is named in a side that shows six changes from last weekend's defeat by Scotland.

Suaalii was forced off in the early stages of the Murrayfield game amid fears he had suffered a broken wrist.

"Joe's fine, he got one of those stingers where he had a bit of a dead arm," said Australia coach Joe Schmidt at Thursday's team announcement.

"We felt it was better to get it properly assessed and we couldn't hold the game up to do that so we took him out of the game against Scotland."

The Wallabies coach - who was in charge of Ireland from 2013 to 2019 - makes five changes to his pack, including recalls for props James Slipper and Taniela Tupou.

Rob Valentini is the only forwards retained from last week's starting line-up.

Australia: Tom Wright; Andrew Kellaway, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen; Noah Lolesio, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Taniela Tupou; Nick Frost, Jeremy Williams; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight; Harry Wilson (capt)

📺 Sunday 02:10 - Ireland v Australia - Stan Sport App

⚽️ A celebration of retiring defender Clare Polkinghorne’s decorated career didn’t go to plan on Thursday night for the Matildas, who were beaten 3-1 by Brazil at Suncorp Stadium. 

Polkinghorne, who is retiring after an 18-year Matildas stint and a record 168 appearances for the national team, started the match and wore the captain’s armband. 

She was given a standing ovation by the crowd of more than 47,000 when she was replaced.

⛳️ Despite his past frustrations with courses in Melbourne, Cameron Smith (-6) blitzed the first round of the Australian Open.

Smith, the pre-tournament favourite, shot a scintillating six-under 66 at The Victoria Golf Club to start strong but it was another Aussie who stole the show.

Smith's Ripper GC teammate Lucas Herbert finished his round at eight-under to give him the outright lead.

🏆 AFLW Grand Final Preview

Ninety-nine home and away games, eight finals, and now North Melbourne and Brisbane will face off in the ultimate decider for the second year running.

The first AFLW night Grand Final will be played at Melbourne’s Ikon Park from 7:45pm AEDT on Saturday. Watch live on Fox Footy & Kayo Sports.

Insert Jonathan Brown’s famous "It's basically the same, just darker." quote, on night Grand Finals vs Day Games.

Head-to-head: North Melbourne – one win, Brisbane – five wins

Last time they met: North Melbourne 12.6 (78) defeated Brisbane 5.4 (34), week one, 2024.

Neither side made a change from its victorious preliminary final line-up for the Grand Final.

Final score prediction: North Melbourne 53, Brisbane Lions 40

• The Kangaroos’ class and consistency should secure the premiership, but the Lions’ resilience will likely keep the margin respectable.

🏏 Cricket Australia believes the move to a shorter WBBL has been proven correct, with more viewers and almost as many spectators despite a significant drop in the number of games.

Officials on Thursday unveiled their WBBL team of the decade, with nine Australians in the XI and Ellyse Perry named captain.

Officials on Thursday unveiled their WBBL team of the decade, with nine Australians in the XI and Ellyse Perry named captain. (abc)

The Melbourne Renegades will face either the Brisbane Heat or Sydney Thunder in the WBBL grand final on Sunday.

🏀 There was some encouraging signs from Tacko Fall's NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers but overall the Illawarra Hawks dominated the contest as NBL25 resumed with their 109-71 home victory. 

Last night saw the NBL season resume following the FIBA international window at the WIN Entertainment Centre in a second against third match up, but the Hawks were in control from go to woe.

🏀 Basketball is on the up!

🎾 World number two and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

The 23-year-old reigning French Open champion tested positive for a heart medication, trimetazidine (TMZ), in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024, when she was world number one.

*quick google; it is believed that trimetazidine can help with endurance in physical activity.

🎾 No sign of a ban though for test-failing world number one Jannik Sinner. As we start to crunch the stats on his incredible season…

Before the season began, Sinner had 22 wins and 27 losses against top-10 players. He ends the year having won 17 of his 22 matches against them, including 10 of the past 11 meetings.

When Sinner did lose in 2024 he always took his opponent the distance. He has not lost a match since 2 October, where he fell in three sets to Alcaraz in the Beijing final.

Remarkably, Sinner went the entire year without suffering a straight-set defeat. He is only the second man after Federer in 2005 to achieve that in a full season.

*Sinner, 23, has so far avoided suspension from competition since the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced in August that he wasn't at fault despite testing positive for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid.

He has now won 26 sets in a row, finishing the year with a 92.41% win rate.

🏉 Young Sam Prendergast has retained his place in the Ireland team for Saturday's concluding autumn Test against Australia as he is preferred at fly-half to Jack Crowley.

Prendergast is thought to be the most “Jonny Sexton-like” player in ireland and there are big hopes for him. However, he’s very light for an international player and defence remains a query.

⚽️ EPL Whispers: icymi: Ruud van Nistelrooy is set to be appointed as Leicester City's new manager.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri hopes to return to action before the end of the season. (lord knows they need him).

Liverpool will target Bayer Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong if Trent Alexander-Arnold joins Real Madrid & Chelsea could move for Ipswich's Liam Delap.

🏏 Sri Lanka were bowled out for 42 by South Africa in Durban - the lowest Test total in the history of their men's team.

Replying to South Africa's first innings 191, Sri Lanka were all out after 13.5 overs on day two of the first Test.

🏏 Opting to field first on a green pitch that played true, England battled a stiff breeze and the brilliance of New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, whose 93 formed the backbone of the home side's 319-8 at the close of day 1.

🏎️ Sour Grapes? A senior steward fired by Formula 1's governing body, by text message no less, says the FIA is "running out of people to do those jobs".

"There aren't a lot of 'platinum-level' FIA race directors, which is the FIA's highest level certification. I'm one of them. It's a lot of work and, if you are doing the job right, you wake up every day with an ulcer thinking of all the various things you need to be thinking about.

"They're not doing themselves any favours. They are literally running out of people to do those jobs."

⛳️ Good golfer and YouTube idiot creator Bryson DeChambeau hit a hole in one over his house – after 16 days of trying. The trick shot over his Texas mansion took him 134 attempts. (watch on Twitter)

🪙 Just when you thought golf couldn’t get anymore cringe… The PGA Tour-LIV Golf made-for-TV matchup on Dec. 17 featuring four of the sport's biggest names will have a purse worth a minimum of $10 million in cryptocurrency, Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday.

The newly named Crypto.com Showdown will see Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy of the PGA Tour compete against Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau of LIV in an 18-hole event at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.

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08:30 - NFL - Dallas Cowboys v New York Giants - ESPN

09:00 - Test Match - New Zealand v England - Fox Cricket

09:00 - Men's NCAA - ESPN 2

12:20 - NFL - Green Bay Packers v Miami Dolphins - ESPN

18:30 - Test Match - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Fox Sports

19:30 - NBL - Cairns Taipans v Sydney Kings - ESPN

19:35 - A-League Men - Adelaide United v Perth Glory - 10 Bold or Paramount+

21:30 - NBL - Perth Wildcats v Brisbane Bullets - ESPN

22:35 - Test Match - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Fox Cricket

SATURDAY 

07:00 - NFL - Kansas City Chiefs v Las Vegas Raiders - 7mate, ESPN

07:00 - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Southampton - Optus Sport 1

07:00 - NHL - Carolina Hurricanes v Florida Panthers - ESPN

09:00 - Test Match - New Zealand v England - Fox Cricket

10:00 - Global Super League - Guyana Amazon Warriors v Victoria Men - Fox Sports

11:30 - NBA Cup - Minnesota Timberwolves v Los Angeles Clippers - ESPN

14:00 - NBA Cup - Los Angeles Lakers v Oklahoma City Thunder - ESPN

14:20 - Test Match - New Zealand v England - Fox Sports

14:40 - Two-Day Tour Match - Prime Minister's XI v India - Fox Cricket

15:00 - A-League Men - Auckland FC v Newcastle Jets - Paramount+

17:00 - A-League Men - Melbourne City v Western Sydney Wanderers - 10 Bold or Paramount+

17:06 - Men's World Series - Men's Dubai Sevens, Day 1, Round 1 - Stan Sport App

17:30 - NBL - South East Melbourne Phoenix v Illawarra Hawks - ESPN

18:30 - Test Match - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Fox Sports

20:00 - NBL - Adelaide 36ers v Tasmania JackJumpers - ESPN

22:10 - Test Match - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Fox Cricket

SUNDAY

01:00 - Global Super League - Hampshire Hawks v Lahore Qalandars - Fox Sports

02:00 - Premier League - Brentford v Leicester City - Optus Sport 2

02:00 - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Newcastle United - Optus Sport 6

02:00 - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Bournemouth - Optus Sport 3

02:00 - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town - Optus Sport 5

02:00 - Premiership Rugby - Northampton Saints v Gloucester Rugby - Stan Sport App

02:10 - Autumn Nations Series - Ireland v Australia - Stan Sport App

04:30 - Premier League - West Ham United v Arsenal - Optus Sport 1

04:45 - Premiership Rugby - Bath Rugby v Exeter Chiefs - Stan Sport App

09:00 - Test Match - New Zealand v England - Fox Cricket

12:20 - Test Match - New Zealand v England - Fox Sports

13:00 - NBA - Phoenix Suns v Golden State Warriors - ESPN 2

13:20 - WBBL Final - Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat or Sydney Thunder - 7, 7+

14:30 - NBL - Melbourne United v Sydney Kings - Channel 10, ESPN AU

14:40 - Two-Day Tour Match - Prime Minister's XI v India - Fox Sports

16:00 - A-League Men - Western United v Melbourne Victory - Paramount+

16:30 - NBL - Perth Wildcats v New Zealand Breakers - 10 Bold, ESPN AU

17:15 - Two-Day Tour Match - Prime Minister's XI v India - Fox Cricket

17:48 - Men's World Series - Men's Dubai Sevens, Day 2, Round 1 - Stan Sport App

18:30 - Test Match - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Fox Sports

19:35 - Women's Friendly - Australia v Brazil - Paramount+ or Channel 10

22:10 - Test Match - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Fox Cricket