G'day sports fans,

Classic quote: “Fair dinkum, if Manly was playing Iraq in the grand final, I would be finding a shop that sold Iraqi flags.” - Penrith legend Greg Alexander echoing the thoughts of most of Sydney in regards to calls that the city should support the Manly Sea Eagles in the 2007 NRL Grand Final.

🇦🇺 Aussie Sport

Test drawn as Shafique, Imam dominate dour final day.

Australia sent down 77 wicketless overs on day five as Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq each scored centuries before both sides shook hands. (match report)

First Test, Rawalpindi:

Pakistan 476-4 dec. Azhar 185, Imam 157 & 252-0: Shafique 136*, Imam 111*

Australia 459 all out: Khawaja 97, Labuschagne 90, Smith 78, Warner 68; Nauman 6-107

Match drawn

***

Kerry O’Keeffe says there’s no doubt that Swepson should play the second Test given how toothless the three-pronged pace attack was in these conditions.

“I think it’s a must,” he said on Fox Cricket. “It’s been exposed that three fast bowlers and one specialist spinner on these pitches is not going to work,” O’Keeffe says there’s no doubt that Swepson should play the second Test given how toothless the three-pronged pace attack was in these conditions.

🏉 Penrith have announced Nathan Cleary will miss the first 3 weeks of the season as he continues end-stage rehab from a shoulder reconstruction & rotator cuff repair. Which would push his return to play just beyond 5.5 months post-surgery (usual range 4.5-6 months)

🏉 Official team lists, updates, and injury news for round one of the 2022 Telstra Premiership season. (Link)

🏉 Panthers ($1.95) v Sea Eagles ($1.85): Cleary out; Olakau'atu makes a surprise return. (match preview)

• Each of the last seven matches between Penrith and Manly at BlueBet Stadium have gone UNDER the total match points line.(42.5pts)

• Dylan Edwards has been the first try-scorer in each of his last two appearances against Manly. ($19.0)

• Tom Trbojevic has scored at least one try in 15 of his last 18 appearances. ($1.72)

With the return of the NRL season, so does our prediction comp!

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🐴 Three-year-olds Hitotsu, Lightsaber, and Pinstriped have been handed the final wildcards for Saturday week’s $5 million All-Star Mile at Flemington.

🐴 Fifteen years after securing his first win in the famous sprint, Craig Newitt will be out to secure a record-breaking fourth win in the Newmarket Handicap this weekend when he rides Artorius in the group one down the Flemington straight. (Racing)

🐴 Champion jockey Hugh Bowman is to take over as Profondo’s rider for his next run in the G1 Rosehill Guineas in a fortnight.

Trainer Richard Litt took to Twitter to announce the change of rider for the G1 winner following his wide run when well out of the placings in last Saturday’s Australian Guineas.

🏆 Shout out to Aussie Footballer Jordan Murray who won the Indian Super League with Jamshedpur. (Twitter)

👏 Sydney FC couldn't have picked a better occasion to return to form. They were on fire, making light work of Kaya FC, as they booked their spot in the AFCCL Group Stage, with a 5-0 victory.

🌍 World Sport

The Players Championship: The PGA Tour takes in the third leg of the Florida swing this week. Universally referred to as the fifth major, the Players Championship is one of the most prestigious tournaments staged throughout the year and this is the 49th edition.

TPC Sawgrass can play tough when the wind picks up, especially if the golfers’ irons aren’t precise.

The greens will be small and fast. Approach-the-Green will be a priority

First-timers don't have a great record at Sawgrass. In 40 previous renewals here, only two debutants have won.

Keep an eye on: It's very easy to side with Morikawa ($20.0) and Hovland ($24.0) every week and at these prices, it's quite appealing. One will win a major this year in my opinion.

Matsuyama ($34.0): One of the best rounds last Sunday when everyone else was having a nightmare - shooting 2-under and gaining 4.9 strokes on the field.

Two at bigger prices:

Matt Fitzpatrick ($46.0) - Three top 10s in his last 3 starts. Top 10 here last year. Still looking for the win on the PGA however.

Tyrell Hatton ($70.0) - A form player who looked to be back in form last weekend, and if he's in with a chance he can close out tournaments

🏉 Ireland and Leinster fly-half Johnny Sexton says he will retire from the game after the 2023 World Cup after signing a contract extension until the end of the tournament in France.

The former World Player of the Year has won 103 international caps and hit the milestone of 500 Six Nations points last month.

🥊 "Essentially, I'm a good, professional loser - and I'm OK with that," says UK fighter Lewis 'Poochi' van Poetsch.

Poochi is a journeyman who has won just 9 of his 151 bouts.

"I'm there to put on a show, make the fight fun and lose, preferably on points," explains Van Poetsch. "No-one's telling me to lose, as such, but that's how it is. If I get stopped or injured, there's a 28-day suspension, so I don't want that."

⚽️ The Premier League has suspended its broadcast deal with Russia following the country's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

🏎 Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has accused rivals Mercedes of "bullying" behaviour resulting in the exit of race director Michael Masi.

🎾 World number three Alexander Zverev faces an eight-week ban from tennis if he repeats the behaviour which led to his expulsion from the Mexican Open.

🥇 Armand Duplantis improved his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.19m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour event in Belgrade, Serbia.

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⚽️ 07:00 - UEFA Champions League Bayern Munich v Salzburg & Liverpool v Inter Milan (STan Sports)

🏏 09:00 - ICC Women's World Cup: WI v ENG (Fox Cricket)

⚽️ 11:25 - Copa Sudamericana Cienciano v Melgar & Nublense v Calera (BEIN Sports)

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🏀 11:30 - NBA Heat v Suns (ESPN)

🏏 12:00 - ICC Women's World Cup ODI: NZ v IND (Fox Cricket)

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🎾 15:00 - WTA 1000: Indian Wells Day 1 (BEIN Sports 1)

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🏉 20:05 - NRL Panthers v Sea Eagles (Fox League, 9)