🗞 Road Rash

G’day Sports Fans,

📈 Wild Stat: Michael Phelps has won more gold medals than 80% of participating countries in their entire history.

📧 P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

🏉 According to reports, Joe Schmidt is set to take over as the new head coach of the Australian rugby team, replacing Eddie Jones.

It comes after the 58-year-old had served as assistant head coach to his native New Zealand since 2022. Previous to that, he had a 6 year stint with Ireland, where he got them to No.1 in the World.

Should Schmidt get the job he will become the third New Zealand native to manage the Wallabies after Robbie Deans and Dave Rennie.

🏏 Australia dominated the West Indies on Day 2 with stellar displays from Travis Head 119 (134) and Josh Hazlewood (18 for 4). A relentless Aussie onslaught saw the West Indies tumble to 6-73, still trailing by 22 runs. The day concluded with Justin Greaves' lbw dismissal, echoing their past struggles at Adelaide Oval.

🎾 Thanasi Kokkinakis’ Australian Open has come to an end in the second round, falling to 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets (6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4).

Kokkinakis’ loss leaves Alex de Minaur as the only remaining Australian male in the tournament.

Ajla Tomljanovic's dream run is done. She lost to Jelena Ostapenko in a titanic tussle, downed 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.

Storm Stevens is now the sole Australian left in the women's singles draw.

⚽️ The Socceroos have progressed through to the knockout stages of the Asian Cup as Jackson Irvine’s scrappy goal secured a 1-0 win over a plucky Syria.

🏏 The Bison was Mic'd Up for Day 1 at the Adelaide Oval and as expected, it is pretty good stuff (Twitter)

🏉 The NRL have made changes designed to “incentivise more contests for the ball from set restarts,” announcing the move which the league believes will give teams “more incentive” to attempt short kick-offs or drop-outs.

Summary: “if a team kicks the ball out on the full over the touch line, or the ball fails to travel at least 10 metres forward in an attempt to contest a restart from the goal-line, 20m line, or half-way line, play will now restart with a play-the-ball 10 metres out from the line of the kick and 10 metres in from touch, rather than with a penalty kick.”

🏀 Australian NBA star Josh Giddey will not face charges for an alleged improper relationship with an underage girl after police closed the case. 

According to US news outlet TMZ, Newport Beach PD says the charges have been dropped after officials found no evidence to support the allegations.

🇦🇺 Under the league’s new pay deal AFL Clubs have been told every non-injured player must be available to be interviewed for 20 minutes after every game, and there will be more access to senior coaches than ever before in 2024. (Twitter)

🚴🏻‍♂️ Aussie Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) doubled-up at the Tour Down Under with another dominant sprint victory on stage 3, adding to the win he took on stage 1.

Australian National champion Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) crashed on stage 3, hitting the deck along with at least four other riders with ten kilometres to go on the fast downhill run to the line in Campbelltown.

❤️ Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic has died at the age of 46 after suffering a heart attack.

Milojevic fell ill at a private team dinner on and was taken to hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Warriors said, external that "despite life-saving efforts", Milojevic passed away late on Wednesday morning.

Head coach Steve Kerr said his assistant, who was born in Belgrade, "brought joy and light to every single day with his passion".

🏟️ Sheikh Jassim was offered the chance to buy 100 per cent of Manchester United at a $2Bn discount cheaper than Sir Jim Ratcliffe, according to reports. The Red Devils were put up for sale by the Glazer family over a year ago, with Sheikh Jassim initially being linked with a full-scale takeover before Ratcliffe ended up buying a 25% minority stake in the club.

👨🏻‍⚖️ Yasir al-Rumayyan, the chairman of LIV Golf and EPL club Newcastle United, is facing a $112 million lawsuit from allegations he “carried out the instructions” with “malicious intent” of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman. 

As reported by The Athletic, the allegations were made in legal papers which were received by Rumayyan in the second week of January.

It is being alleged that Rumayyan also acted with the aim of ‘harming, silencing and ultimately destroying’ the family of Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief, Dr Saad Aljabri.

🎾 The longest singles tiebreak in grand slam history, culminated in a monumental Australian Open upset. 

Last year’s finalist and third seed Elena Rybakina was knocked out of the tournament by 25-year-old Russian Anna Blinkova, but not before a match tiebreak lasting 42 points. 

It ended with Blinkova the victor 22-20, having saved six match points and converting the 10th of her own.

🏀 Big Trade Deal: The Raptors are sending All-Star forward Pascal Siakam to Indiana for three first-round picks and some role players.

🏈 Mike McCarthy will return as Cowboys head coach in 2024, owner Jerry Jones announced Wednesday. Dallas has finished 12-5 in McCarthy's last three seasons, but they all ended in playoff disappointment.

🏉 England's Jamie George, France's Gregory Alldritt and Ireland's Peter O'Mahony have been handed the captaincy jobs for their countries at the forthcoming Six Nations Championship (kicks off 3rd Feb)

⚽️ Tottenham have not given up hope of signing 23-year-old England midfielder Conor Gallagher from Chelsea.

TODAY

08:00 - PGA TOUR - The American Express, Round 1 (Fox Sports)

10:30 - Test Match - Australia v West Indies (Channel 7, Fox Cricket)

11:00 - Men's NCAA - Memphis Tigers v South Florida Bulls (ESPN 2)

11:30 - NBA - Toronto Raptors v Chicago Bulls (ESPN)

14:00 - NHL - Los Angeles Kings v Nashville Predators (ESPN 2)

14:00 - NBA - Minnesota Timberwolves v Memphis Grizzlies (ESPN)

14:00 - Men's Super Smash - Otago Volts v Central Stags (Fox Sports)

17:00 - A-League Men - Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory (Paramount+)

17:10 - T20 Series - New Zealand v Pakistan (Fox Sports)

19:30 - NBL - Tasmania JackJumpers v Melbourne United (ESPN)

19:40 - Big Bash League Qualifier - Brisbane Heat v Sydney Sixers (Fox Cricket or Channel 7)

19:45 - A-League Men - Sydney FC v Newcastle Jets (Paramount+)

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

SATURDAY

02:30 - SA20 Group Game - MI Cape Town v Paarl Royals (Fox Cricket)

08:00 - PGA TOUR - The American Express, Round 2 (Fox Sports)

10:30 - Test Match - Australia v West Indies (Channel 7, Fox Cricket)

11:30 - NBA - Boston Celtics v Denver Nuggets (ESPN)

12:30 - NHL - Chicago Blackhawks v New York Islanders (ESPN 2)

14:00 - NBA - Golden State Warriors v Dallas Mavericks (ESPN)

14:00 - Men's Super Smash - Auckland Aces v Northern Brave (Fox Sports)

16:30 - T20 Black Clash - Team Cricket v Team Rugby (Stan Sport)

17:30 - NBL - New Zealand Breakers v South East Melbourne Phoenix (ESPN)

19:40 - Big Bash League Knock-Out - Perth Scorchers v Adelaide Strikers (Fox Cricket or Channel 7)

19:45 - A-League Men - Western Sydney Wanderers v Perth Glory (10 Bold or Paramount+)

20:00 - NBL - Illawarra Hawks v Adelaide 36ers (ESPN)

22:30 - SA20 Group Game - Durban Super Giants v Sunrisers Eastern Cape (Fox Cricket)

23:30 - Premier League - Arsenal v Crystal Palace (Optus Sport 1)

SUNDAY

02:00 - Netball Nations Cup - Australia v New Zealand (Fox Sports)

02:30 - SA20 Group Game - Joburg Super Kings v Pretoria Capitals (Fox Cricket)

04:00 - Men's NCAA - Texas Longhorns v Baylor Bears (ESPN)

04:00 - Men's NCAA - Syracuse Orange v Miami Hurricanes (ESPN 2)

04:30 - Premier League - Brentford v Nottingham Forest (Optus Sport 1)

04:30 - Spanish La Liga - Valencia v Athletic Club (Optus Sport 2)

06:00 - Men's NCAA - Tennessee Volunteers v Alabama Crimson Tide (ESPN 2)

08:00 - PGA TOUR - The American Express, Round 3 (Fox Sports)

08:30 - AFC Divisional Game - Baltimore Ravens v Houston Texans (7mate, ESPN)

10:30 - Test Match - Australia v West Indies (Channel 7, Fox Cricket)

11:00 - T20 Series - New Zealand v Pakistan (Fox Sports)

12:00 - Men's NCAA - Missouri Tigers v Florida Gators (ESPN 2)

12:15 - NFC Divisional Game - San Francisco 49ers v Green Bay Packers (7mate, ESPN)

14:00 - NBL - Sydney Kings v Perth Wildcats (10 Peach, ESPN 2)

14:00 - UFC 297 Main Card - Sean Strickland v Dricus Du Plessis (Main Event)

16:00 - NBL - Cairns Taipans v Brisbane Bullets (10 Peach, ESPN 2)

17:00 - A-League Men - Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne City (10 Bold or Paramount+)