🗞 Roll up, Roll up!

G'day sports fans,

"Before a series, I always go back to a little list and bottom of the list is results," - Kiwi England Captain Ben Stokes ahead of the Ashes on Friday.

🇦🇺 Aussie Sport

🏉 NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler has labelled the debate around the side's halfback position a "circus" after declaring the jersey was Mitchell Moses' to lose.

Moses replaced Nathan Cleary in the 2021 series and many believed the Eels halfback would have to fight for the position along with Nicho Hynes and Adam Reynolds.

Fittler explained he was confident Moses would be the man to take on the role, and his performance against the Bulldogs further solidified his spot. (nine)

🇦🇺 Hawthorn will be without captain James Sicily for the next three matches after he was suspended for a dangerous tackle on Brisbane midfielder Hugh McCluggage.

Sicily will miss games against Gold Coast, Carlton and Greater Western Sydney after this weekend's bye.

Tigers were unsuccessful in their Ryhan Mansell challenge. The three-game ban has been upheld. Mansell won't be free to return until Round 18.

Mansell will miss matches against St Kilda, Brisbane and Sydney before being made available to return.

St Kilda's Dan Butler though has been cleared to play against Richmond after overturning his one-game ban. (AFL Tribunal)

“No, I’d get dropped” - St Kilda’s Dan Butler asked at Tribunal if he had any option other than to tackle Sydney’s Nick Blakey.

🏉 Official team lists, updates and injury news for Round 16 of the Premiership season. (NRL)

• Former Eel Jakob Arthur has been named as the stand-in Sea Eagles halfback to take on his old club and his father, Parramatta coach Brad.

• Roosters: Joey Manu goes to fullback in the absence of skipper James Tedesco

• Tigers’ teenage sensation Tallyn Da Silva is set for NRL debut.

🏉 Shane Flanagan will return to NRL head coaching next year after being offered the St George Illawarra job.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the club's board has voted unanimously in favour of appointing Flanagan, who coached the Sharks to the 2016 premiership.

The Dragons sacked Anthony Griffin from the chair last month.

🚘 Motorsport Australia is optimistic it can expand the SpeedSeries calendar to the Northern Territory and Western Australia in years to come.

As it stands, SpeedSeries is largely based on Australia's east coast with events split across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.

A greater national footprint is on the table for 2025 that could see the show taken to Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin and Wanneroo Raceway in Perth. (Nine)

⚽️ The Socceroos are treating Thursday’s clash with Argentina less as a friendly and more of a “grudge match” after their defeat at the World Cup in Qatar.

With memories of the disappointment felt following the 2-1 loss which ended Australia’s World Cup campaign never far from his thoughts, midfielder Keanu Baccus has declared the clash with the world champs in Beijing won’t be too “friendly”.

Argentina has named a strong roster for the clash, including superstar captain Lionel Messi, which has only enhanced the taste for a revenge win among the Socceroos.

“We’re not going to treat it like a friendly, as such,” Baccus said from China on Tuesday.

🏏 The race to make the Australian XI for the First Test at Edgbaston is on, with debate raging over whether Scott Boland has done enough to justify his place in the team over incumbent Josh Hazlewood.

Hazlewood has played three of a possible 14 Tests since the last Ashes series courtesy of a run of injuries involving his back, side and Achilles, which has seen Scott Boland storm to national prominence as his replacement.

Boland has 33 career wickets from eight games at a scarcely believable average of 14.57, the third-best figures in the history of the game for anyone that has bowled at least 1000 deliveries.

It might make him by some margin the best bowler by bowling average in well over a century of the sport, but there is a very real possibility that he is dropped on Friday night (AEST) for the First Test at Edgbaston.

🌎 World Sport

⛳️ US OPEN PREVIEW: The 2023 U.S. Open, golf's third major of the year, takes place at Los Angeles Country Club beginning on Friday (AEST). The U.S. Open 2023 will be the city's first major championship in 28 years.

The courses measures as a monster 7,421-yard par 70 with Bentgrass greens. As is the norm with U.S. Opens, the rough is going to be absurdly difficult this week being Bermuda, while scoring conditions should be as tough as we’ll see all season.

Last three winners: (2023) Matt Fitzpatrick, (2022) Jon Rahm, (2021) DeChambeau, all won with -6.

⚽️ Paris St-Germain are prepared to sell Kylian Mbappe this summer rather than risk losing him for free in a year's time, after he told the French club he will not renew his contract. - Real Madrid are said to be preparing a bid of around €150m

🏀 The Denver Nuggets clinched their first NBA title as a 94-89 win over the Miami Heat sealed a 4-1 series triumph.

Nikola Jokic led his side to victory with 28 points to end the Nuggets 47-year wait for the championship trophy.

Serb Jokic, 28, was named the Finals' most valuable player to add to the two overall MVPs he won in 2021 and 2022.

"We're not in it for ourselves, we're in it for the guy next to us and that's why this [means] even more," Jokic said following victory at Ball Arena.

Australia has another NBA champion: Victorian Jack White has become the seventh Aussie to win an NBA championship.

⚽️ Arsenal are close to agreeing a £100m deal to sign West Ham's 24-year-old England midfielder Declan Rice.

🥊 The fallout from Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition boxing match with John Gotti III is getting worse. After the bout ended in dual disqualifications and a brawl in the ring between both fighters’ camps, Gotti’s sister, Nicolette, allegedly threatened Mayweather’s daughter.

For those of you unaware John Gotti Snr was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City.

⚽️ Manchester City's Champions League victory sparked wild celebrations among fans and players - and nobody has celebrated the club's success more than Jack Grealish.

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📺 Live Sport TV Guide

TODAY

09:10 -MLB - New York Mets v New York Yankees (ESPN 2)

10:00 - NHL Stanley Cup Finals - Vegas Golden Knights v Florida Panthers (ESPN)

THURSDAY

04:45 - UEFA Nations League Semi-Final - Netherlands v Croatia (Optus Sport 2)

09:10 - MLB - New York Mets v New York Yankees (ESPN)

12:10 - MLB - Los Angeles Dodgers v Chicago White Sox (ESPN)

19:40 - AFL - Port Adelaide Power v Geelong Cats (Fox Footy or 7mate)

22:00 - Friendly - Australia v Argentina (Channel 10)