🗞 Shock Return

AUSSIE SPORTS
Barty Party

🎾 Aussie tennis legend Ash Barty will reunite with former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua at this year’s Wimbledon.

Barty announced her shock return to the court on Thursday morning, but her partner for the legends’ invitational doubles event was not yet known.

Barty and Dellacqua made three grand slam finals together, including the final at Wimbledon in 2013.

🏏 According to a report by Code Sports, there is growing acceptance among Victorian cricket players and officials that Will Pucovski may have played his final professional match.

Graham Manou, Cricket Victoria's performance chief, confirmed that an expert panel has convened to assess Pucovski's ongoing concussion situation, with discussions ongoing.

The publication added that sources said Victorian players are not expecting Pucovski to return to the field.

⚽️ Lyon women have appointed Australian coach Joe Montemurro, the club. Lyon lost to Barcelona in the Women's Champions League final last season.

👊🏻 Australia’s Rob Whittaker plans to ‘take the head off’ his opponent in their main event clash at UFC Riyadh Fight Night this weekend.

On Sunday (AEDT) Whittaker takes on Russia’s Ikram Aliskerov in Saudi Arabia after the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev pulled out with an undisclosed illness at the start of this week.

Whittaker is favoured to beat Aliskerov after the Aussie beat Paulo Costa in his last fight in February.

NRL NEWS
Chevy Chased

👶🏻 Chevy Stewart (who made his Canberra Raiders debut in round 6) led the U19 New South Wales Blues to a 24-20 victory over the Queensland Maroons in State of Origin Game 2.

Stewart's performance, including two crucial tries, was pivotal in securing the win. Despite a strong comeback from the Maroons, the Blues held firm, with key contributions from Nathan Cleary and Latrell Mitchell. The win ties the series at 1-1, setting up a thrilling decider.

In the corresponding Women’s fixture, NSW outscored Queensland by nine tries to one, running out 46-4 winners.

🏉 Star Melbourne playmaker Cameron Munster is back running and is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a serious groin injury.

Munster was expected to be sidelined for another six weeks after suffering a tear in an adductor tendon at Magic Round four weeks ago.

✍🏼 Penrith’s assembly line of junior talent has produced two more long-term stars, with siblings Jesse and Casey McLean signing new deals that will keep the outside backs at the club until 2028.

Both represented NSW in Thursday night’s under-19 State of Origin match, with Jesse as co-captain.

AFL NEWS
Alive and Well

📄 AFL Round 15 Teams: Major Returns and Changes: Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has made significant changes, dropping four players including Ivan Soldo, ahead of their match against Brisbane.

North Melbourne welcomes back co-captain Jy Simpkin and Luke Davies-Uniacke for their game against Melbourne.

Gold Coast faces a major setback with Ben King out due to a knee injury, among other changes.

Geelong regains Patrick Dangerfield, and Melbourne makes three changes, including the inclusion of Adam Tomlinson.

🙋🏼‍♀️ The AFLW has ditched its state-based draft and shifted to a nationwide model in a bid to spread talent evenly across the competition.

For the first time since the inaugural 2016 draft, AFLW hopefuls will now be available to be selected by any of the 18 clubs in December following Thursday's announcement. (AFLW.com)

🇦🇺 Taylor Walker is an all-time great with the Adelaide Crows, but he might not be staying with the club in 2025 as he is off contract at the end of the season.

Despite a stellar career, including a club-record 629 goals and a recent All Australian nod, the Crows have not yet offered a new deal.

Speculation is growing about potential interest from other AFL clubs if a contract with Adelaide doesn’t materialise.

👋🏼 Hawthorn legend Michael Porter has spoken about the moment he learned he was pronounced dead during the Australian Football Hall of Fame memorial tributes.

Porter has assured family and friends he’s “alive and I’m well”.

“It’s all over really. I’m alive and I’m well. Had 43 turns at golf today. Can’t do much better than that,” he said.

T20 WORLD CUP
England & India win well

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England produced their best performance of the T20 World Cup so far to begin the Super 8s stage with a composed eight-wicket win against West Indies.

🇮🇳 India underlined their title credentials with a comprehensive 47-run victory over Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup Super 8s in Barbados.

Suryakumar Yadav struck a sublime 53 off 28 balls to lead India to an imposing 181-8 despite their acclaimed top order failing to fire. They then went on to bowl Afghanistan out for 134.

🇦🇺 Australia are in Group 1 and if they finish as one of the top two sides after the next three matches, they will qualify for the semi-finals. 

• Today: v Bangladesh, Antigua, 10.30am AEST

• 23 June: v Afghanistan, 10.30am AEST

• 25 June: v India, St Lucia, 12.30am AEST

EURO 2024
Stuttering Favourites

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pre-tournament favourites England stumbled to a 1-1 draw with Denmark. England are top of the group on 4 points, but, by all accounts it wasn’t pretty.

🇷🇸 Luka Jovic scored a 95th-minute equaliser as Serbia grabbed a last-gasp draw against Slovenia. Both earned first points of the tournament giving themselves a chance to progress into the next round, with a win in their respective final matches.

📺 Spain (won their first match v Croatia) v Italy (Current Champions won 2-1 in their first game): is live now.

🦸🏻‍♂️ France boss Didier Deschamps says "everything is moving in the right direction" for Kylian Mbappe to be available to play against the Netherlands in their second Euro 2024 match on Friday (local).

The 25-year-old striker was forced off during Monday's 1-0 victory over Austria after breaking his nose.

WORLD NEWS
Had a bad day

🏀 The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a four-year contract with JJ Redick to make him the team’s next coach, ESPN has reported.

Redick, an ESPN basketball analyst who played 15 years in the NBA, (but no prior coaching experience), met with Lakers vice-president and general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss over the weekend and was offered the job on Thursday morning.

The announcement comes about a week after Dan Hurley declined the Lakers’ reported $70 million offer and opted to return to the University of Connecticut with hopes of winning a third NCAA championship. 

⚽️ Leicester City have appointed former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper as their new manager on a three-year deal.

Cooper, 44, has been out of work since leaving Forest in December 2023.

The Foxes have been searching for a new manager since Enzo Maresca departed for Chelsea at the start of June.

🥇 If you’re having a bad week, spare a thought for Katie Archibald - a cycling gold medallist at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics - will miss next month's Games in Paris after breaking her leg in a freak accident.

"I tripped over a step in the garden and managed to, somehow, dislocate my ankle; break my tibia and fibula; and rip two ligaments off the bone. What the heck," said Archibald.

While French swimmer Rafael Fente-Damers secured his spot at Paris 2024 with a brilliant swim before dislocating his shoulder moments later after thrashing the water in celebration.

🏀 18-year-old Florida commit Olivier Rioux is now listed at 7’9” having grown two more inches in under a season.

📺 Brad Pitt's Formula 1 movie will be released next June, the sport's bosses have confirmed.

F1 said the film, co-produced by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and extensively shot at the UK Silverstone Circuit, will be released on 25 June next year.

Pitt, 60, will play the role of a veteran driver, Sonny Hayes, who is returning to the F1 grid after a long absence.

🎾 New British men's number one Jack Draper continued his memorable week (won his first ATP title last week) with a notable win over Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz at Queen's.

Draper, 22, earned a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over defending champion Alcaraz in the second round.

🏀 The 2024 NBA offseason is in full swing with several top stars eligible to negotiate contract extensions.

Recent changes in extension rules have encouraged players to secure guaranteed contracts early rather than wait for free agency. Since the 2022-23 season, 39 players, including Nikola Jokic, LeBron James, Devin Booker, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, have signed veteran extensions.

This offseason, over 100 players, including All-Stars Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, and Kevin Durant, are eligible to pursue extensions.

All-Star forward Pascal Siakam intends to sign a four-year, US$189.5 million maximum contract to stay with the Indiana Pacers.

⛳️ icymi: Tiger Woods has been awarded a lifetime exemption by the PGA Tour to enter all of its designated 'signature' events.

"An additional sponsor exemption will be created to recognise Tiger Woods in his own category as a player who has reached an exceptional lifetime achievement threshold of 80-plus career wins," a PGA Tour memo said.

The American is tied with Sam Snead for the most overall victories on the tour, while his 15 wins in majors is second on the all-time list to Jack Nicklaus (18).

📺 Netflix Trailer

Relive the 2023 NFL season through the eyes of five of the best pass catchers in the league. Go inside the huddle and outside the lines with Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown to see what it takes to stay always open.

With players mic'ed up for every game, Receiver promises an all-access look at the preparation, pressure, and swagger it takes to play one of the toughest jobs in sports.

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