🗞 Suspension lifted

G'day sports fans,

“The AFL can sell meat but the vegetarians won’t eat it” - Peter V’Landys on Queenslanders getting into AFL.

🇦🇺 Aussie Sport

🏏 Matt Short has continued a tremendous summer that has seen him rocket into Australian white-ball teams contention, with a century to spark a big Victoria win in the One-Day Cup.

Short (108* off 94 balls) and captain Marcus Harris (78* off 85 balls) helped the Victorians easily catch Queensland’s total of 202 in just 31 overs, finishing 205-1 to earn a bonus point win.

🏉 Stan has released the trailer for its upcoming three-part documentary “Dawn of the Dolphins”.

The Stan Original series will launch on Monday, March 6, to coincide with the 2023 NRL season launch.

🇦🇺 Dayne Zorko has stepped down as Brisbane captain, saying the time is right for someone new to lead the AFL club into its next chapter.

The Lions ended their 10-year finals drought during Zorko’s first full season as captain in 2019 and they have reached the finals every year since.

Zorko’s 105-game reign as Brisbane captain sits behind only Michael Voss (210), Jonathan Brown (128) and Roger Merrett (125).

But his leadership spell wasn’t without controversy.

There were calls for Zorko to relinquish the captaincy role last year following a on-field sledge that brought Melbourne defender Harrison Petty to tears.

🏉 The trial teams have dropped for NRL clubs this weekend in their final hit-outs before the season. Some kick-off times have changed due to the weather. EVERY CLUB’S TRIAL TEAM

🇦🇺 The Sharks have extended coach Craig Fitzgibbon until the end of 2027 following his stunning rookie season last year.

🏉 The NRLW have announced a salary cap of $900,000 for 2023 with a rise to $1.518 million by 2027.

🏃🏾‍♂️ Peter Bol, who finished fourth in the 800 metres at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has had his provisional doping suspension lifted after the 'B' sample of his test did not match his 'A' sample, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) said.

But Sport Integrity Australia says this is not the same as a negative result and will continue its investigation.

EPO increases red blood cell mass, allowing the body to transport more oxygen to muscles and increase stamina and performance.

Under the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) code, Bol faces a ban of up to four years if found guilty.

🌎 World Sport

🤐 Not in the news: I'm starting a rumour for Jurgen Klopp to become Chelsea Manager.

🎾 Wu Yibing became the first Chinese man to win an ATP Tour title with victory over John Isner at the Dallas Open.

🏳️‍🌈 Czech Republic's Jakub Jankto "no longer wants to hide" as he becomes the first current international in men's football to publicly come out as gay.

⛳️ American Scottie Scheffler regained the world number one ranking by successfully defending his Phoenix Open title with a two-shot win (winning US$3.6m as the event is one of the new 'elevated events' in the PGA Tour's attempt to compete with LIV Golf).

After winning the event last year he went onto win 4 of the next 10 events (incl. The Masters), so watch this space.

🐯 Tiger Woods features at the Genesis Invitational, his first competitive start since The Open in July and first non-major PGA Tour appearance since October 2020, starts Friday AEDT.

🏟 Elon Musk is "closely monitoring" the Manchester United sale and is considering making a bid, the Daily Mail reports.

Musk has said in the past they if he were to buy a sports team, it would be United, his "fav team as a kid."

🏈 Superbowl viewing peaked during Rihanna's halftime performance, which averaged 118.7 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched halftime show on record behind Katy Perry's 2015 performance. (game time viewing peaked at 113m)

🏏 India batter Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive buy at the inaugural Women's Premier League auction in Mumbai, going to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 3.4 crore (USD 415,000 approx). She was also the first player to come up for bidding at the auction.

Strangely, NZ and England were playing group matches at the same time the auction was live, and players said it was distracting.

🛩 More than 200 private jets departed Arizona airports immediately after the Super Bowl.

⚽️ Real Madrid are tracking Juventus' Serbia forward Dusan Vlahovic, 23, and Tottenham's Brazil striker Richarlison, 25, as long-term replacements for 35-year-old former France striker Karim Benzema. (ESPN) 

📺 Sky Sports UK have released their new promo video ahead of the new Super League season (Twitter)

🏀 Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry said that there is no target date for him to return from his left lower leg injury that has held him out since Feb. 4.

📺 Live Sports TV Guide

TODAY

🏏 04:00 - Women's T20 World Cup - Australia v Bangladesh (Fox Cricket)

⚽️ 07:00 - English Championship - Burnley v Watford (beIN SPORTS 3)

⚽️ 07:00 - UEFA Champions Lge R16 - Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich (Stan Sport)

⚽️ 07:00 - UEFA Champions Lge R16 - Milan v Tottenham (Stan Sport)

🏀 11:30 - NBA - Milwaukee Bucks v Boston Celtics (ESPN)

🏒 12:00 - NHL - St. Louis Blues v Florida Panthers (ESPN 2)

🏀 14:00 - NBA - Los Angeles Clippers v Golden State Warriors (ESPN)

🏏 14:05 - Marsh One-Day Cup - South Australia Redbacks v Western Australia (Fox Cricket)

🏒 14:30 - NHL - San Jose Sharks v Pittsburgh Penguins (ESPN 2)

🏀 19:30 - NBL Semi-Final Series - Sydney Kings v Cairns Taipans (ESPN)

🏏 00:00 - Pakistan Super League - Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators (Fox Sports)

THURSDAY

⚽️ 06:30 - Premier League - Arsenal v Manchester City (Optus Sport 1)

⚽️ 07:00 - English Championship - Sheffield United v Middlesbrough (beIN SPORTS 3)

⚽️ 07:00 - UEFA Champions Lge R16 - Borussia Dortmund v Chelsea (Stan Sport)

🏀 11:30 - NBA - Philadelphia 76ers v Cleveland Cavaliers (ESPN)

🏏 12:00 - Test Match - New Zealand v England (Fox Cricket)

🏒 14:00 - NHL - Vancouver Canucks v New York Rangers (ESPN 2)

🏀 14:00 - NBA - Los Angeles Lakers v New Orleans Pelicans (ESPN)

🏏 14:05 - Marsh One-Day Cup - New South Wales Blues v Tasmania Tigers (Fox Sports)

⚽️ 19:10 - Cup of Nations - Australia v Czech Republic (10 Bold or Paramount+)

🏀 19:30 - NBL Semi-Final Series - Tasmania JackJumpers v New Zealand Breakers (ESPN)