Morning Guys,

Classic quote: "It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up" - Muhammed Ali.

In today's edition of Sport Journal:

🏏 Big Bash Semi, Bushfire Bash new venue

⚽️ Messi on the move?

🏉 Latest on the NRL

📱 Social Media round-up

Quade Cooper's Instagram - "A hundred bucks say I hit him, he's just got a new shirt" - it's better with sound if you want to watch the whole thing on Instagram here

Unsurprisingly, not everyone is a fan of the West Coast Eagles' new club song.

Some of the not so constructive feedback on Twitter included...

What do you guys think? Haters gonna hate, or is it truly offensive to the ears?

🚓 A police chase at the Kansas City Super Bowl Parade, no one injured. On-lookers assumed it was a drunk fan and people were cheering him on to getaway. Others say it was a disgruntled Tom Brady.

🍺 Is there anything this man can't do?...Super Bowl winning QB, Patrick Mahomes, waves to fans for a beer to be thrown, catches it as cool as you like...necks beer!

🏏 Cricket

Stars break losing streak as grand final awaits after Stoinis’ blitz

Stars 2-194 beat 8-166 Thunder: Right from the very first over, it was clear the Melbourne Stars had the right vibe. And the BBL’s biggest underachievers now have a chance at winning the trophy on Saturday.

Marcus Stoinis has broken yet another record during BBL|09 after passing D’Arcy Short’s record for the most runs scored in a single tournament.

The Melbourne Stars opener now has 695 runs from 16 innings. But his feats this year wasn’t enough for him to score a spot in Australia’s squad for their ODI and T20I tour of South Africa.

Bushfire Bash scrapped as a Big Bash final curtain raiser, due to weather.

Bushfire Relief game will now take place on Sunday at Melbourne’s Junction Oval.

In a blow to the charity match, Australia greats Shane Warne, Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke, Brisbane Heat player Grace Harris, and NRL legend Brad Fittler will no longer be available to play but the game will not be short of star quality. (Fox)

Adam Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (c, wk), Fawad Ahmed, Alex Blackwell, Brad Hodge, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Yuvraj Singh, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Shane Watson (one more to be announced) Coach: Tim Paine

Ricky Ponting XI: Ricky Ponting (c), Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Brad Haddin (wk), Matthew Hodge, Luke Hodge, Brian Lara, Justin Langer, Phoebe Litchfield, Brett Lee, Elyse Villani Coach: Sachin Tendulkar

⚽️ Football

Rumour mill: Lionel Messi could join Manchester City for free

Lionel Messi’s public bust-up with Barcelona means he could leave the Spanish club for free.

Manchester City will swoop for Lionel Messi if he fails to resolve a bust-up with Barcelona.

The Argentine legend’s future has been plunged into doubt after a public fallout with club sporting director Eric Abidal.

City has believed for years that if 32-year-old Messi ever left Barcelona, his most likely destination would be the Etihad.

A-League Previews

Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory: (match preview) Melbourne City are two matches without a win & head coach Erick Mombaerts goes in search of his first Derby triumph against Melbourne Victory tonight.

Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix: (match preview) It's 3rd versus fourth as two of the competition's form teams go head-to-head at HBF Park in pursuit of second place in the Hyundai A-League ladder.

WATCH: Behind the scenes from camp for the Olympic Qualifiers!

A-League Previews continued...

Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers: (match preview) Sydney FC may be runaway leaders this season but they face the only side they have yet to beat in 2019/20 when they host local rivals Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday.

Brisbane Roar v Adelaide United: (match preview) A huge opportunity awaits Brisbane Roar as they take on Adelaide United in an intriguing clash at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners: (match preview) Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners have the chance to brighten up what’s been difficult campaigns for both as they chance local bragging rights in Sunday’s F3 Derby.

🎽 Olympics

Sportswear giant Nike will be dressing 2020 Olympic athletes in uniforms and sneakers made of recycled polyester and old shoe parts, it's been announced. (MensHealth)

🏉 Rugby

Brumbies v Rebels: The Brumbies have won nine straight games at home and are gunning for the club record of 13 which they set 22 years ago, but the Rebels have dominated their recent rivalry.

They have won the previous four games against last year’s Australian conference winners and are looking to bounce back from a shock loss to the Sunwolves in Japan.

Rebels coach Dave Wessels after the first-round loss to Sunwolves insisted they were "a good team that played badly", not a bad team.

Waratahs v Blues: Young gun Will Harrison has kept the Waratahs 10 jersey, while Test forwards Harry Johnson-Holmes and Jack Dempsey have returned to the starting side to face the Blues in Newcastle.

“I think it’s pretty obvious really, a young 10 needs time,” Rob Penney said.

And former Eels NRL player Tepai Moeroa is in line to make his Super Rugby debut after being named on the bench.

Lions v Reds: Born again Wallabies star James O’Connor will start at five-eighth for the Reds in one of four changes to Brad Thorn’s starting side to tackle the Lions at Ellis Park this weekend.His first start there in 5 years.

“As far as this trip — a round the world trip, no other sport really does it, let alone a contact sport.

“So, if you can get a victory on this trip you can call that a success.” - Thorn

6 Nations

There's no love lost between the sides in the first two matches of round 2. Ireland v Wales has been spicy over the last number of years since Ireland won their first Grand Slam at the Millennium Stadium in 2009.

The Calcutta Cup - Scotland v England - will be a showdown. Scotland will be feeling positive despite falling short last week. While England have no time (6 day turnaround) to lick their wounds after a beating in Paris. Last season, England blew a 31-0 lead and settled for a draw.

🇺🇸 'Merica

Patrick Mahomes knew something special was required.

New footage has emerged, thanks to NFL Films’ Super Bowl edition of Inside the NFL, which shows a mic’d up Mahomes exhorting his teammates just before their go-ahead touchdown drive.

“Hey, it’s gonna be special,” he said. “They’re gonna talk about this forever, baby. They’re gonna talk about this forever. It’s gonna be special. They’re gonna talk about it forever.”

Then, he said: “They’re playing man coverage. If we catch the ball and make one person miss, it’s touchdown. Let’s do something special. Let’s do something special. They’re already counting us the (expletive) out. One play at a time. Do something special.”

Christian activist wants to sue NFL for Super Bowl halftime show

Christian activist Dave Daubenmire is planning to sue the National Football League, claiming the Super Bowl halftime show was discriminatory against the Christian community.

The Super Bowl LIV halftime entertainment featured Latina divas Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in daring outfits, their sexy choreography a heavily-debated topic.

However, Daubenmire believes the energetic set and unsolicited “crotch shots” will put his soul “in danger of hellfire”, and wants to sue the NFL for US$867 trillion, or AU$1.28 quadrillion.

🏀 Trade Season

Reading reports that Golden State has traded Burks and Robinson III to Philadelphia. The Sixers are sending three second-draft picks to the Warriors.

Warriors now have four open roster spots. The Cauley-Stein vacancy must be filled by Saturday (two-week mark since the trade) - likely by Marquese Chriss. Two other spots must soon be filled. The 15th roster spot doesn't have to be, as the team tries to duck the luxury tax

🏉 NRL

NRL Nines jerseys: Perth 2020

The official jerseys for the 2020 NRL Nines tournament in Perth have been released.(See all)

🤝 Liam Knight has extended his contract with the Bunnies

Following a breakout 2019 season. The 25-year-old was due to come off contract at the end of this year but will now remain a Rabbitohs player until at least the end of 2023.

Jesse Southwell is the 1st female to sign a playing contract with the Newcastle Knights.

Skipping training and not interested

Sharks management has told the Josh Dugan camp the problem centre has failed to complete enough training sessions this summer and does not look interested.

In the meeting over the $900,000-a-season centre’s future at the club on Thursday, the Sharks claimed Dugan seemed detached from the rest of the NRL playing group.

Previous reports were that Josh Dugan’s camp floated the idea of medical retirement due to a knee complaint, but was told by Cronulla’s medical experts that it stood little chance of being passed by the NRL. (Fox)

📺 Today's sport

🏀 Women's Olympic Qualifying - France v Australia (6:30am)

🏌🏻‍♂️ AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Round 1 (7am)

⚽️ Copa del Rey Quarter-Final - Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona (7am)

🏌🏼‍♀️ Victorian Women's Open, Round 2 (3pm)

⚾️ ABL Championship Series - Melbourne Aces v Adelaide Giants (7pm)

🏉 Super Rugby - Brumbies v Rebels (7:15pm)

⚽️ AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying, Chinese Taipei v Australia (7:30pm)

⚽️ Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory (7:30pm)

🇦🇺 AFLW - Richmond Tigers Women v Carlton Blues Women (7:45pm)

⚽️ Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix (9:45pm)

Back on Monday!

SPREAD THE WORD OF SPORT JOURNAL

1. Press this link https://www.newsletter.sportjournal.com.au

2. Select ‘Copy Link’

3. Go to a WhatsApp/Message and paste the link in a chat

4. Type / Copy and paste something like, “I found this cool sports newsletter…it’s filled with sports news, funny stories and they even make highlight’s videos, so I don’t have to go looking for them online. Best of all, it’s free to sign up”

OR just forward on this edition to them by email.