🗞 The Snake Catcher

G'day sports fans,

“I don’t know much about rugby but every rugby player I’ve met, they’re f***ing hooligans. I f***ing love them,” - Sean Strickland (who is fighting at Sunday’s UFC293 main event in Sydney), before being shown vision of Raiders prop Joseph Tapine levelling Reece Walsh.

🇦🇺 Collingwood hung on to defeat a wasteful but fast-finishing Melbourne by seven points in the qualifying final. (WATCH: the last 2 minutes)

The Pies kicked just two points to the Demons' 3.2 in the final term, holding firm in the final minutes to win 9.6 (60) to 7.11 (53) in a somewhat spiteful affair.

Melbourne – which blew an inside-50 advantage of 69-37 – will now face the winner of the elimination final between Carlton and Sydney next week, while Collingwood will enjoy a week off and has qualified for the preliminary final.

Talking point: Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard admitted he was "shattered" after inadvertently knocking out Angus Brayshaw, who laid motionless on the turf for several minutes before he was taken off the ground on a stretcher.

"I don't want to say too much, but it's a footy act. I came forward, I jumped to smother the ball and unfortunately I got him on the way down," 

"I don't know, we'll have to wait and see what happens. It's all love, I absolutely love that guy (Brayshaw) to bits. It's shattering what happened."

🇦🇺 The speculation around Dustin Martin future is set to kick into overdrive after he was spotted meeting with incoming Suns coach Damien Hardwick on the Gold Coast.

🏉 Australia centre Samu Kerevi will return from injury for this weekend’s Rugby World Cup opener with Georgia as Eddie Jones revealed his team for Sunday morning’s (2am AEST) clash.

Kerevi, 29, has been sidelined with a hand issue since early August and replaces Lalakai Foketi in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game in Paris.

Kerevi is one of three changes made by Eddie Jones from last month’s loss to France in the Wallabies’ final warm-up match.

Young bolter Ben Donaldson comes in for Andrew Kellaway at full-back in a surprise move and Marika Korebeite replaces Suliasi Vunivalu on the wing for the match at the Stade de France. (Rugby.com.au)

Verdict: Australia and Georgia meet for the second straight World Cup, but first time since the two sides played each other four years ago. It was a comfortable but not overwhelming Wallabies win on that occasion in Shizuoka, but an encounter that feels like a whole other lifetime ago given what has transpired in Australian rugby since.

Certainly the expectation is that the Wallabies should have too much class for Georgia despite Australia's 0-5 build-up under Eddie Jones, particularly if they are able to replicate their first-half effort from Bledisloe II in Dunedin.

Australia to cover -22.5 is $1.85

🏉 Incoming Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has wasted little time in reshaping the roster with his son Kyle Flanagan set to join St George Illawarra on a two-year deal.

The 24-year-old has bounced around the NRL following stints with the Sharks, Roosters and Bulldogs, with Flanagan one of several Canterbury players to leave Belmore at the end of a turbulent year on and off the field.

🐍 Glenn McGrath was renowned for his unerring accuracy during his cricketing career, a trait that came in handy in a wild moment in his family home.

McGrath, 53, posted a series of videos and photos to Instagram on Thursday showing a new-found skill - snake wrangling. (Instagram)

🇦🇺 The GWS Giants have cleared Toby Bedford of rough conduct, leaving him free to play in Saturday’s elimination final against St Kilda.

Bedford’s rough conduct ban for his bump on Zac Fisher in round 24 was upheld at Monday’s AFL Tribunal hearing, but the Giants lodged a final challenge at the AFL Appeal Board on Thursday.

There, they successfully argued the Tribunal’s decision “was so unreasonable that no Tribunal acting reasonably could have come to that decision having regard to the evidence before it.”

🏆 The countdown is over, the 2023 Rugby World Cup has finally arrived with hosts France to launch the tournament with one of the biggest and most anticipated opening matches against the All Blacks in Paris.

The blockbuster opening weekend continues with Australia, Italy and Ireland all taking to the pitch for their opening matches, while three headline clashes will also take place, with England facing Argentina, Scotland taking on South Africa, and Wales against Fiji to close out the weekend.

⚽️ Erling Haaland is one of 12 Premier League players on the 30-man shortlist for the 2023 Ballon d'Or.

Argentina legend Lionel Messi is the overwhelming favourite to win and extend his record to eight Ballons d'Or after winning the World Cup.

Treble-winning Manchester City are represented by record-breaking goalscorer Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne, Ruben Dias, World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Josko Gvardiol.

The other Premier League nominees are Arsenal's Saka and Martin Odegaard, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, Manchester United keeper Andre Onana and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

There are two players who left European clubs this summer - Messi, who joined Inter Miami from Paris St-Germain, and current holder Karim Benzema, who left Real Madrid for Al-Ittihad.

Five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al-Nassr, was not nominated for the first time since 2003.

🏀 Latvia will play Lithuania for fifth place at the Basketball World Cup. And Slovenia and Italy couldn't recover one day after seeing their hopes of making the tournament semifinals fall short.

Latvia topped Italy 87-82 on Thursday in the start of the consolation playoffs. Lithuania then beat Slovenia 100-84 in the night's second game.

Slovenia will play Italy for seventh place on Saturday, the same day that Latvia and Lithuania will play for fifth place.

🚴🏻 Wout van Aert produced a surprise late attack to win stage five and establish a lead in the general classification of the Tour of Britain.

The Belgian appeared to be leading out his Jumbo-Visma team-mate Olav Kooij but instead surged clear of the peloton in the final kilometre in Felixstowe.

⛽️ Fuel companies are using sport to "greenwash their image" and should not be allowed to sponsor World Cups, says former Australia captain David Pocock.

French oil company TotalEnergies is one of the main sponsors of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Pocock told the BBC he believed the message should be "you can't sponsor us unless you have a legitimate decarbonisation plan, and you are transitioning your business".

🏈 Oddsmakers have pegged Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs as consensus Super Bowl favorites, continuing their recent run as the team to beat in the NFL.

Chiefs are $7.0 to win the Super Bowl ahead of their season opener against the Detroit Lions (10:20am AEST).

Mahomes also is a $7.0 favourite to win the regular-season MVP. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is next at $8.0.

It's the fourth time in the past five years the Chiefs have entered the season as Super Bowl favourites.

08:40 - MLB - Tampa Bay Rays v Seattle Mariners (ESPN 2)

10:20 - NFL - Kansas City Chiefs v Detroit Lions (ESPN)

17:05 - NPC - Waikato v Wellington Lions (Stan Sport)

18:45 - Men's FIBAWorld Cup Semi-Final - Serbia v Canada (ESPN)

19:50 - NRL Qualifying Final - Brisbane Broncos v Melbourne Storm (Fox League or Channel 9)

19:50 - AFL Elimination Final - Carlton Blues v Sydney Swans (Fox Footy or Channel 7)

21:30 - ODI Series - England v New Zealand (Fox Cricket)

22:40 - FIBA World Cup Semi-Final - United States v Germany (ESPN)

04:45 - UEFA EURO Qualifier - Slovakia v Portugal (Optus Sport 1)

05:00 - Super League - St Helens v Leigh Leopards (Fox League)

05:15 - Rugby World Cup - France v New Zealand (Stan Sport)

09:00 - Major League Baseball - MLB Strike Zone (ESPN)

14:10 - QLD Hostplus Cup Preliminary Final - Burleigh Bears v Wynnum Manly Seagulls (Kayo Sports)

14:35 - NPC - Hawke's Bay v Bay of Plenty (Stan Sport)

14:35 - NPC- Counties Manukau v Southland (Stan Sport)

15:20 - AFL Elimination Final - St. Kilda Saints v GWS Giants (Channel 7, Fox Footy)

16:05 - NRL Qualifying Final - Penrith Panthers v Warriors (Fox League or Channel 9)

17:05 - NPC - Auckland Rugby v Canterbury Rugby (Stan Sport)

18:00 - FIBA World Cup - 5th Place (ESPN)

18:00 - FIBA - 7th Place (ESPN)

19:25 - AFL Qualifying Final - Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide Power (Fox Footy or Channel 7)

19:30 - ODI Asia Cup Super Four - Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (Fox Cricket)

19:50 - NRL Elimination Final - Cronulla Sharks v Sydney Roosters (Fox League or Channel 9)

20:30 - ODI Asia Cup Super Four - Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (Fox Sports More)

21:00 - Rugby World Cup - Italy v Namibia (Stan Sport)

21:00 - ODI Series - South Africa v Australia (Fox Cricket )

23:30 - Rugby World Cup - Ireland v Romania (Stan Sport)

23:45 - Super League - Leeds Rhinos v Wigan Warriors (Fox League)

00:00 - CPLT20 - St Kitts & Nevis Patriots v St. Lucia Kings (Fox Sports)

02:00 - Rugby World Cup - Australia v Georgia (Channel 9 or Stan Sport)

02:00 - UEFA EURO Qualifier - Ukraine v England (Optus Sport 1)

05:00 - Rugby World Cup - England v Argentina (Stan Sport)

10:00 - CPLT20 Group Game - Trinbago Knight Riders v Jamaica Tallawahs (Fox Cricket)

12:00 - UFC 293 Main Card - Israel Adesanya v Sean Strickland (Main Event)

12:00 - Friendly - Australia v Mexico (Channel 10 or Paramount+)

12:05 - NPC - Manawatu v North Harbour (Stan Sport)

12:05 - NPC - Taranaki v Tasman Mako (Stan Sport)

14:05 - QLD Hostplus Cup Preliminary Final - Brisbane Tigers v Central Queensland Capras (Kayo Sports)

14:35 - NPC - Otago v Northland (Stan Sport)

16:05 - NRL Elimination Final - Newcastle Knights v Canberra Raiders (Fox League or Channel 9)

18:30 - FIBA World Cup - 3rd Place Game (ESPN)

19:30 - ODI Asia Cup Super Four - Pakistan v India (Fox Cricket)

20:00 - ODI Series - England v New Zealand (Fox Sports More)

21:00 - Rugby World Cup - Japan v Chile (Stan Sport)

22:40 - FIBA World Cup Final (ESPN)