G'day Sports fans,

Classic Quote: "It's getting tickly now...squeaky-bum time, I call it" - Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson's most famous lines, describing the title race towards the end of the 2002/2003 season, which Man Utd finished as champions ahead of Arsenal.

In today's edition of Sport Journal:

🇦🇺 AFL's 3 phase plan

🏉 NRL has Government approval for 28th May restart

⚽️ Live football from 9th May (in Germany)

Home trick-shots

ESPN is getting in on the act of showcasing home trick-shots (must have been reading SJ) and is partnering with Facebook to produce a weekly show featuring the best fan-submitted videos.

🇦🇺 AFL

Three-phase AFL fixture plan revealed as season could reboot by June

It's not clear what hubs will look like but at least a flexible fixture plan has been flagged.

The 2020 AFL season could be rebooted as early as June, reports The Age.

The league is putting the finishing touches on a plan for hubs, which are almost certain to be required for the AFL season to resume amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Matches are likely to be played “two or three centralised national locations”.

3 likely phases:

• Phase 1 - games in quarantine hubs

• Phase 2 - would see games “played in different states or in different circumstances”

• Phase 3 - Finals

🐴 Racing

Thirst for live sport has led to horse racing being catapulted to the top of pay tv ratings

As one of the few sports able to continue across most of Australia during the COVID-19 outbreak, racing on the Foxtel platform has thrived.

The Sky Raceday channel has been the most popular on the Foxtel network for the past four Saturdays, outrating shows like Selling Houses Australia by 30 per cent.

Average audiences have risen by almost 40 per cent overall since the autumn carnival kicked off eight weeks ago with the Group I Chipping Norton Stakes race day on February 29.

"These are unprecedented times and we are proud of Sky Racing's role in continuing to keep racing fans informed with the best racing vision, talent and tips, as well as reaching new audiences to help racing grow," TAB's Darren Pearce said. (Racenet)

Jockey disqualified for 6 months after head-butting rival

Queensland jockey Luke Tarrant has been disqualified for six months after admitting to head-butting fellow rider Larry Cassidy at the weighing scales at Doomben.

🏉 NRL

NRL says it has government approval for May 28 restart

NRL clubs will be able to resume training from May 4 as the competition charges towards its planned May 28 restart.

The other key issue yet to be finalised is how to get the Warriors into Australia from New Zealand.

"We are working with the government authorities to get them over here and get them through a quarantine period and have them ready with the other teams for the start of the competition," Commissioner Wayne Pearce said.

The other non-NSW teams will "have to come into camp in NSW, but the landscape is changing pretty quickly," Pearce said.

Key points:

• The league says it has the green light from government to resume competition on May 28

• The structure of the competition has yet to be finalised but points earned at the start of the year will carry over

• The league is still working out how to get the Warriors over from New Zealand

• Competition points that had been earned in the first two rounds will carry over to the extended competition (ABC)

The 2020 NRL season could run longer than first expected, with broadcasters set to negotiate for between 17 and 22 weeks when talks resume today.

🏉 Rugby

Raelene Castle resigns from Rugby Australia 

Raelene Castle has sensationally resigned from Rugby Australia according to reports, bringing to an end months of infighting within Australian Rugby over the sport's management. 

According to journalist Wayne Keith Smith: "Raelene Castle has announced her resignation as Rugby Australia chief executive. She has telephoned RA chairman Paul McLean and given him the news.

It brings to an end a tumultuous three year reign in which she was dogged by the Israel Folau case."

Former Captain Phil Kearns wasted no time to sticking the boot in.

"We've seen our ratings fall, our crowds fall, we don't have a broadcast sponsor for next year, we've seen a $9.4 million loss and the Wallabies are se venth in the world now," he told Fox Sports on Tuesday.

"There's a lot of stuff there that can show the demise of our game and there's no self-interest at all.

"(I've heard) comments from sponsors, comments from broadcasters, comments from people in the game, comments from the players.

"That's pretty much every stakeholder saying the game needs to change." (RugbyPass)

Castle leaves with a proud legacy of being the first female CEO of one of Australia’s top four football codes — but the mud splattered during her tumultuous reign will not be washed off easily. (Fox)

🇺🇸 'Merica

Ex-Patriots star comes out of retirement to join Tom Brady at Tampa Bay

The New England Patriots have agreed to trade Rob Gronkowski to the Buccaneers.

Author of the Book: It's Good to Be Gronk (you get the idea) has come out of retirement, after a nine-year career during which he won three Super Bowls with New England and was one of the league's most colourful personalities - to team up with QB 🐐 Tom Brady.

Gronkowski's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said Tuesday on SportsCenter that the five-time Pro Bowler has been "really invigorated" physically since he retired from football nearly 13 months ago.

Like Brady, Gronkowski hasn't played for any team other than the Patriots.

Stat: The 78 touchdowns Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski connected on were the most in the NFL from 2010 to 2018. They are also twice as many as Brady has thrown to any other player.

2020 NFL draft work-from-home setups with all the screens and phones

Just about everyone is working from home. That includes NFL teams preparing for today's 2020 NFL draft.

"It looks like I can set off a spaceship at this thing," Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay told the Rams' website about his home draft room.

The Detroit Lions, who said they are preparing redundancies for every piece of equipment, are also bringing their IT director to general manager Bob Quinn's house. He'll be stationed in an RV outside Quinn's home.

Likely (mock) draft:

1. Bengals: QB Joe Burrow, LSU

2. Redskins: DE Chase Young, Ohio State

3. Lions: CB Jeff Okuda, Ohio State

4. Giants: OT Tristan Wirfs, Iowa 

5. Dolphins: QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

6. Chargers: QB Justin Herbert, Oregon

7. Panthers: LB Isaiah Simmons, Clemson

8. Cardinals: OT Andrew Thomas, Georgia

9. Jaguars: DT Derrick Brown, Auburn

10. Browns: OT Jedrick Wills, Alabama

You can catch the draft on ESPN, from 10am (AEST).

⚽️ Football

Bundesliga 'ready to return on 9 May', says German Football League

Despite football being halted across the globe by the coronavirus pandemic with all major leagues and competitions suspended, the Bundesliga is now eager to return to action with plans to play spectator-free games in May (the first major league to do so). 

"If we start on 9 May, we are ready. If it is later, we will be ready again," DFL chief executive Christian Seifert said on Thursday.

German politics has recently decided that large events with crowds will be banned at least until 24 October.

League officials estimate that up to 300 people are needed per match, including players, medical staff, tv, ball kids etc.

European Transfer Gossip:

🔁 Arsenal have opened talks with Atletico Madrid over a deal to sign Ghana international Thomas Partey, 26, according to the midfielder's father. (Mail) Lacazette could make way.

🔁 Brazil striker Neymar, 26, will have to take a pay cut of around £26m if he wants to move to Barcelona from Paris St-Germain this summer. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish)

🔁 Werner ready to sign for Liverpool. RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner is ready to sign for Liverpool if they pay his £52m release clause before it expires on June 15.(Skysports)

💈 This Kid wanted this hair cut like Cristiano Ronaldo, his dad gave him 1998 World Cup final Ronaldo.

🏏 Cricket

Men's T20 World Cup and Women's 50-over World Cup plans ongoing - ICC

Plans to stage the men's T20 World Cup and women's 50-over World Cup are going ahead as scheduled according the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Australia is set to host the men in October and November, with the women's event in New Zealand in February 2021.

Both countries are in lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cricket Australia says it is "jointly exploring all other options" in staging the T20 World Cup, but will "take the right decisions at the right time".

An ICC statement confirmed: "Planning for both events as currently scheduled is ongoing."

"Our next step is to create a roadmap for the resumption of international cricket," said Dr Peter Harcourt, chair of the ICC medical committee.

"This will consider everything from player preparation to government restrictions and advisories and bio-bubbles (Try to squeeze that phrase into a conversation over the weekend "bio-bubble") (BBC)

🎾 Tennis

'Merge tennis' governing bodies,' says Roger Federer

Roger Federer says "now is the time" for the men's and women's governing bodies to merge while tennis is in limbo because of the coronavirus.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion floated the idea in a series of Twitter posts.

He said a merger of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the men's Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) "probably should have happened".

"We can come out of this with two weakened bodies or one stronger body," Federer said.

"It's too confusing for the fans when there are different ranking systems, different logos, different websites, different tournament categories."

While many high-profile tennis players have backed Federer's plan, Australia's Nick Kyrgios tweeted on Thursday to say: "We shouldn't merge."

We'll be back on Monday!