🗞 Stingers shock the World

AUSSIE OLYMPICS
Good Times 👍🏻

🥇 Nina Kennedy on top of the medal podium for the women's pole vault, now has the gold in her hands.

🥈 Australian Moesha Johnson splashed through the Seine's polluted waters - with a Coca Cola and a dose of antibiotics - to win a pristine silver medal in the Olympic marathon swimming 10km race.

🥈 Australia clinched an Olympic silver medal in a thrilling men's K4 500 metre final, edged by sprint kayak powerhouse Germany.

In a blanket finish, the crew of Riley Fitzsimmons, Jackson Collins, Pierre van der Westhuyzen and Noah Havard finished in second spot in a photo finish, with Spain third.

🥉 Australia's Charlie Senior will return home with a boxing bronze medal after losing his Olympic semi-final.

The 22-year-old lost all three rounds to No.1 seed Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan in the men's 57kg semi.

🥉 At one round each Caitlin Parker landed some nice blows and Qian Li was tiring but still had some answers.

It was anyone's guess but the judges gave it to Li in a unanimous decision.

Parker taking the bronze.

🤽🏻‍♀️ Australia clinched a spot in the women’s water polo final after a thrilling 6-5 penalty shootout victory over the USA, the reigning gold medallists.

The match, held after a dramatic final quarter where Australia equalised at 8-8, saw every Australian player score their penalty.

Goalkeeper Gabby Palm, who had been pivotal throughout the game, made a crucial save in sudden death to secure the win.

They will now face Spain in the final (late on Saturday AEST), aiming to reclaim the gold they last won in Sydney 2000.

🏃🏼‍♀️ Jess Hull has set herself up for a shot at the medals in the women's 1500m, after her perfectly executed semifinal run left her the second-fastest qualifier for the final. 

Bad Times 👎🏻

Not exactly bad but, Australia will contest the Beach volleyball bronze medal match after losing a dramatic tie-breaker to Brazil 15-12 in the semi-final.

After the Aussies stole the first set, Brazil powered back to win the second, and won a chaotic third.

Australia, who finished second in Tokyo, will now face Switzerland for the bronze medal, while Brazil take on Canada for gold.

Australia's highly-rated women's 4x100m relay team came up short in their bid to qualify for the Paris Olympics final.

Despite lowering the national record in the men's heats, the Australian men's 4x100m squad also failed to make the final.

Women's 100m hurdles repechage: Michelle Jenneke, Liz Clay and Celeste Mucci missed out on finals.

Men's 800m repechage: Peter Bol and Joseph Deng missed out on semifinals.

Sam Welsford finished 14th overall in the men's omnium (cycling)

AUSSIE SPORTS
Pap’s Back (again)

📄 Result: Melbourne Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen sent a warning to his NRL rivals with a scintillating performance in his side's 28-16 win over the Rabbitohs. 

🏟️ Tonight: Titans (1.55) v Sharks (2.45) - After a dismal 0-6 start, the Gold Coast Titans are making a late push for the finals, now just four points off a top-eight spot.

The Titans face a tough road ahead with three top-four teams remaining, including the fourth-placed Sharks. Cronulla, meanwhile, has been hit hard with Braydon Trindall joining Nicho Hynes on the injury list.

• Six of Gold Coast's last seven night matches have gone UNDER the total match points line. (50.5pts).

• David Fifita or Phillip Sami have scored at least one try in eight of their last nine home appearances together.

🏟️ Tonight: Eels (5.75) v Panthers (1.14) - After snapping a six-game losing streak with a win over the Warriors, the Parramatta Eels are aiming to secure consecutive victories for the first time this season. They face a tough test against the Penrith Panthers, who are on a four-game winning streak and have closed in on the top spot.

Despite being winless in their last three games at CommBank Stadium, the Panthers are confident following a 22-14 victory over Newcastle.

• Each of Parramatta's last four matches have gone UNDER the total match points line. (48.5pts)

• Izack Tago has scored at least one try in each of his last four away appearances against opponents that were ranked in the bottom four.

Time for a Rebrand

📄 The teams are in for round 22's Friday and Saturday matches, plus squads for Sunday » AFL.com.au

🎨 Adelaide and St Kilda are gearing up for significant rebrands, with both clubs in the final stages of redesigning their logos for the 2025 AFL season.

St Kilda, which has used its current logo since 1995, is set for a change after nearly 30 years. The club is finalising a new design that aims to honour its history while embracing a modern look. “After considerable consultation with members and stakeholders, we are confident the new logo represents our heritage and future,” a club spokesperson said.

Adelaide, which last updated its logo in 2010, is also preparing for a potential redesign. The current emblem features a blue crow and "Adelaide Crows" in red and yellow.

Gold Coast is also in the midst of a rebrand, with new guernsey and logo designs expected for 2025. Although the Suns' logo has seen only minor changes since its debut, a significant overhaul is anticipated.

🏟️ Tonight: Sydney (1.44) v Collingwood (2.75) - Sydney, are still reeling from a historic 148-36 drubbing by Port Adelaide—the largest margin of defeat for a ladder leader since 1983.

Collingwood, meanwhile, is back in the top-eight race following an 84-81 win over Carlton in Scott Pendlebury’s 400th game. Sydney had the upper hand in their earlier clash this season, defeating the Magpies 102-69 at the MCG.

• Six of Collingwood's last seven matches at the SCG have gone UNDER the total match points line (175.5pts)

• Chad Warner has kicked 2+ goals in seven of Sydney's last 10 matches as a favourite.

Rugby Championship

🏉 The Wallabies will kick off the 2024 Rugby Championship as they host the Springboks in Brisbane.

Live on Stan Sport and the Nine network (k.o. 14:55)

Joe Schmidt's team is undefeated in 2024 after a pair of wins over Wales and a victory against Georgia.

However, the Springboks are the red-hot favourites to take out the Rugby Championship following last year's World Cup success.

They split their series with Ireland before a thumping win over Portugal.

It will be the opening game of the Rugby Championship (NZ play ARG in Wellington), with the two sides set to head to Optus Stadium a week later.

The Wallabies will then head to Argentina for a two Test series before the start of the Bledisloe Cup.

OLYMPIC NEWS
I Could Do That

🏀 USA 95-91 Serbia: Serbia were so close to beating the number one team in the world but as LeBron James let out a mighty roar, the USA are celebrating another appearance in an Olympic gold-medal basketball game.

13 points down going into the final quarter. Steph Curry, followed by LeBron James, took it to another level to secure a hard fought victory.

Letsile Tebogo is the new 200m champion!! An Incredible a run from the man from Botswana (running in memory of his mother, who he lost in May this year). A first Olympic gold of all time for Botswana, in a time of 19.46.

Two medals for the USA - Kenny Bednarek gets the silver and 100m gold medallist Noah Lyles* takes the bronze.

*update: USA Athletics confirmed post race, Noah Lyles tested positive for COVID two days before the final.

🏃🏼‍♀️ The world record was smashed in the women's 400m hurdles final (50.37). After taking a whole year out Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) took the field apart to fly home on her own.

⚽️ Morocco won its first footballing medal in their Olympic history, securing bronze. Egypt were dreadful, but this was a dreamlike 6-0 win for The Atlas Lions.

🇵🇰 Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who threw an Olympic record of 92.97m in the Javelin became the first Pakistan athlete to win a gold medal in track and field, and only the third individual medal for the nation in Olympic history.

🇺🇸 Men’s 110m Final: The American Grant Holloway won in 12.99 seconds, ahead of teammate Daniel Roberts (13.09) and Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell in bronze (13.09).

🥊 Cindy Ngamba, of the Refugee Olympic team, was beaten on a split decision, losing 4-1 to Athenya Bylon of Panama.

Her Olympics is over but she took a bronze medal - the first for the Refugee Olympic team in history.

🤿 I could do that: Mexico's Aranza Vazquez Montana scores no points after performing a "disastrous dive" which ends her hopes in the women's 3m springboard competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

😮 Winning Life: The Philippines' first Olympic gold medalist at Paris, Carlos Yulo (men’s floor exercise and vault) will receive the following:

1. A lifetime of free colonoscopies at 45 years old

2. A furnished apartment

3. A house

4. Over US$200k in cash

5. An iPhone 16

6. Free cookies for life from a local bakery

7. Free food for life from multiple local restaurants

8. Free engineering education

WORLD NEWS
Pickpockets For Hire

⚽️ Pep lives in Arteta’s head rent free: Apparently Mikel Arteta secretly hired a team of pickpockets while hosting a dinner with his players.

The Arsenal manager asked his players to empty their pockets at the end of the meal with a number of them missing valuable items.

He wanted to teach his squad the importance of being alert at all times.

🎾 Rafael Nadal has pulled out of this month's US Open, saying he would not "be able to give my 100% at this time".

⚽️ EPL Whispers: West Ham target Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier, Manchester United might offer lucrative contract to lure Sander Berge to Old Trafford, from Burnley, Chelsea (somehow) agree a deal to sign Samu Omorodion, from Atletico Madrid. 

🎾 The best shot that never counted, from Alexander Bublik ⬇️

👊🏾 Francis Ngannou will face Renan Ferreira on his return to MMA on 19 October.

The Cameroonian heavyweight will make his promotional debut for the Professional Fighters League (PFL), having previously been a champion in the UFC.

🏉 St Helens have signed Australian outside back Tristan Sailor from Brisbane Broncos, on a deal from next season which will run until the end of the 2026 campaign.

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