G'day sports fans,

Classic quote: “I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me and no one came, … I told them, ‘Come hug me or the referee isn’t going to allow it.'” - Maradona, after the 'hand of god' goal. See our recommended Maradona documentary below.

In today's edition of Sport Journal:

🧙🏼‍♂️ Quade Cooper goes viral

⚽️ A fresh FIFA bribery scandal

👊🏻 UFC joins the NRL in looking at Islands

Hulk Hogan claims coronavirus is God’s punishment for worshipping false idols and gives alternative to vaccine

The Hulkster has gone off the deep-end - “God said, ‘you want to worship athletes, I will shut down the stadiums. You want to worship musicians, I will shut down Civic Centers. You want to worship actors, I will shut down theaters."

“You want to worship money, I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You don’t want to go to church and worship Me, I will make it where you can’t go to church."

A busy time for Hogan who last month reached a confidential settlement for $141m in damages from Gawker media, Hogan eventually settling for $31m, against those he accused of conspiring to leak a sex tape.

🏉 NRL

Former stars back end-of-year Origin

Opening a new NRL season with State of Origin will tarnish the image of rugby league's showpiece according to former stars Corey Parker and Braith Anasta.

"If we're going to do Origin it's either got to be mid or after the grand final; I think after the grand final," Anasta said on Fox Sports.

"If you look at Origin and what makes Origin and what makes it so good, it's because it's the best of the best.

"Also the crowd. The crowd makes Origin. If we try and start getting rugby league back with Origin there's going to be no crowd because of the restrictions. (nine)

'I don't think it should be the NRL Telstra Premiership'

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett reportedly pitched an initial idea to organise teams in two conferences to Project Apollo, the NRL's innovation committee charged with finding a way to re-start the competition in the next two months amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"If the competition can start again, even if it starts again in two months' time and everyone plays each other once, I think they should keep the points," Paul Gallen told WWOS radio.

"But if we're going to a conference system, I don't think it should be the NRL Telstra Premiership this year.

"It's not the way the game's been played for the last 100 years. It should be called the Telstra conference champions.

"If the word is true, the winner of the two conferences play each other and whoever wins, that's the champion." (nine)

🐴 Racing

Queen Elizabeth Stakes field and barriers

International raiders Addeybb and Danon Premium headline a mouth-watering field of 13 runners for Saturday’s Group I Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.

Japanese star Danon Premium will jump from barrier three at his maiden Australian start for trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida while Ranvet Stakes winner Addeybb, trained by Williams Haggas, has the inside draw in gate one.

The duo share favouritism with TAB.com.au at $4 to win the coveted Group I on day two of The Championships.

Superstar mare Winx has won the past three editions of the 2000m feature and trainer Chris Waller will have five runners in the field as he looks to keep the trophy in his stable.

Tancred Stakes winner Verry Elleegant (barrier two) is his leading hope and is a $6 chance with bookies to continue Waller's winning run. (racenet)

⚽️ Football

FIFA has been hit by a fresh World Cup bribery scandal.

Court documents allege Trinidad and Tobago’s Jack Warner was paid $5million (US) to back Russia — who beat England to host the 2018 World Cup.

United States Department of Justice papers published last night state Warner was among “several committee members offered bribes in connection with their votes” for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

Warner was apparently sent the cash “in or about and between November 2010 and April 2011” from ten different offshore shell companies via “more than two dozen separate wire transfers” into an account he controlled at a Trinidad and Tobago bank.

It is also claimed Rafael Salguero, who served on Fifa’s executive committee, “was promised” a $1m bribe to vote for Russia. (SUN)

Premier League teams quiz: Are you the ultimate football fan? — www.bbc.co.uk

Take the quiz from each of the 20 Premier League teams to see if you are the ultimate football fan. (click to play)

🇦🇺 AFL

AFL memo reveals ‘return-to-play’ plan set for the end of April

To clarify, the plan is set to be in place by the end of April, not for matches to begin by then, unfortunately.

In a memo from AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan sent to clubs on Tuesday, it was revealed AFL executives Andrew Dillon, Steve Hocking and Travis Auld were empowered with devising a return-to-play plan, and that clubs being quarantined in environment-controlled hubs around Australia, in a bid to get matches played again, was a possibility.

The clubs were told it was the AFL's intention to relay to them by the end of this month a plan for the remainder of 2020. (AFL)

‘F**k I might’ve killed this bloke’

Black eyes, sharp stops, big bans — inside AFL’s most bitter rivalry

Nearly a decade later, they’ll still agree to disagree.

Geelong’s Steve Johnson and St Kilda’s Steven Baker had the football world entranced in Round 13 of the 2010 season, as their off-the-ball scuffles resulted in a broken hand to Johnson, a black eye to Baker and a 12 weeks worth of suspensions between them.

“During the first quarter I actually went for a ground ball and Brendon Goddard accidentally kicked my hand and I broke my hand." Johnson.

“I reckon he’s full of s**t! Because I reckon I saw him rub it right after he whacked me in the pill, it made a big cracking sound so I thought it was my head but he was rubbing his hand,” Baker says.

“I reckon he’s made that one up so people feel sorry for him, I reckon he broke his hand on my head.”

(continue reading the article)

🏎 F1

Mercedes make breathing aid freely available

Mercedes has made the design of a new breathing-aid device it helped develop freely available to help fight the coronavirus crisis.

The device helps patients with lung infections breathe more easily when an oxygen mask alone is insufficient.

UCL Hospital consultant Professor Mervyn Singer said: "These devices help save lives by ensuring ventilators are used only for the most severely ill."

The revised design consumes 70% less oxygen than the earlier model.

The designs released by Mercedes for public use include specifications of materials, tools and kit used in the rapid-prototyping process.

👊🏻 UFC

Fights to go ahead on private island - Dana White

UFC president Dana White says he is close to securing a private island to continue hosting fights during the coronavirus crisis.

White says UFC 249 will go ahead on 18 April at an undisclosed location.

The organisation was forced to postpone three events in recent months, but White says the calendar will resume for international fights this month.

"As of April 18, the UFC is back up and running," White told the American entertainment news website TMZ.

White said the UFC will be "pumping out fights every week" but fighters will be regularly tested for coronavirus and there will be no fans at the events.

"We're going to make sure that athletes, referees, my production people, that everybody there is going to be healthy before, during and after the fights," he said.

🏅 Greyhound scores easiest of wins

Because of a good old-fashioned walkover in race two on the card.

Drawn box one for the 395-metre maiden final, Sentinel McLaren was to have five opponents following on from a prelude of the series on March 27.

But with the race decimated by scratchings, Sentinel McLaren ended up lining up on his lonesome, meaning the $1,075 winner’s cheque was safely in trainer Tania Foster’s keeping well before the lids flew open.

📺 Sports Documentaries

Instead of a Top 10. We decided to fire a few at you, that may have passed you by.

You can probably watch them for free online if you have a search around 😉

Hoop Dreams

An Oscar™-nominated film, chronicles the universal process of growing up, coming of age, the love and conflict between fathers and sons, brothers, best friends and spouses.

Hoop Dreams tells the remarkable true story of two American dreamers plucked from poverty and given the opportunity to attend a suburban prep school and play for a legendary high school basketball coach.

Maradona

Boy meets ball, boy escapes slums to become the best player in the world, boy discovers drugs and women, boy falls from grace.

It's a tale as old as time.

Lovingly constructed by Asif Kapadia - maker of the brilliant Senna - this documentary pulls no punches as it charts Diego's rise and fall.

It centres on his years at Napoli, winning the first title in the club's history while at the peak of his on-pitch powers but also swallowed up by the city's seedier side.

"When you're on the pitch, life goes away," he says at one point. "Problems go away, everything goes away."

He couldn't outrun his problems forever though, spending more time in court than on the field by the end of the film.

Free Solo

The very first shot of Free Solo plunges the viewer over a cliff edge, to stare down its sheer drop at the tiny dot of a human patiently edging their way to the top.

As an introduction to the world of free soloing (that's climbing without ropes or safety equipment), it is nerve-shreddingly, exhilaratingly perfect.

The final 20 minutes are utterly gripping*

*pun intended.

We'll be back on Friday...and remember, wash your hands!