Good evening!

Earlier this week, renowned actor James Earl Jones died at age 93. Jones was perhaps best known for his role as Darth Vader in ‘Star Wars’.

But for the sport romantics out there, he might be most famous for his role in ‘Field of Dreams’. If you can carve out an hour and 47 minutes of your week, it’s well worth the watch.

Or, if you really want, you can just watch Star Wars.

Also, I just wanted to plug our feedback survey once more today because your feedback is gold to us. If you have 1-2 minutes we’d love to hear from you.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

$20,000
How much GWS Giants’ football boss Jason McCartney was fined after he bumped Swans player Tom Papley as he left the field for quarter-time during Saturday afternoon’s qualifying final. 

Quote of the day

"For a really long time, we've worked really hard to come together as a community and work out what that means to be a Paralympian. And every time we gather, we solidify what that means, the values, how we are there for one another."
8-time Paralympian, Danni di Toro, speaking to media as the Australian Paralympic team arrived home in Sydney this morning. Di Toro has competed in para-table tennis since Atlanta 1996, winning two medals (one bronze, one silver).

Random fact of the day

BASE Jumping is a sport that sees athletes jump off a fixed object and release a parachute before reaching the ground. The word BASE is an acronym that stands for the objects one can jump from: Buildings, Antenna (radio towers), Spans (bridges), and Earth (cliffs).

I’ve got 30 seconds

In case you missed it…

🎾 Australia’s Davis Cup tennis team won their first group-stage match against France overnight. Thanasi Kokkinakis secured his biggest-ever win at the Davis Cup, beating France’s Arthur Fils (world no.25) in straight sets. Australia’s next game in the round-robin stage is against Czechia at 12am Friday (AEST).

🏎️ Legendary Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey, who has worked with Red Bull for almost 20 years, has signed a long-term contract to work with Aston Martin. Newey will begin a role as Aston Martin’s managing technical partner in March 2025, overseeing the design of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll’s cars.

🏑 Australian hockey player Tom Craig will serve a six-month ban from Hockey Australia-sanctioned competitions with a further six months dependent on good behaviour. The ban relates to Craig’s arrest during the Paris Olympics for trying to buy cocaine. The 29-year-old will be eligible for selection to the Kookaburras in 2025. 

I’ve got 1 minute

How is Raygun the world’s top-ranked female breakdancer?

Rachael Gunn (aka Raygun), the Australian breakdancer who went viral for her performance at the Paris Olympics, is the world’s no.1 ranked female breaker according to the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF). 

Gunn’s ranking comes after the dancer lost all three of her matches in Paris and wasn’t awarded a single point by the judges. The three b-girls who won Olympic medals are not ranked in the top 10.

How does the ranking work?

The WDSF rankings take into account an athlete’s best four performances at specific ranking events within the last year. 

These events did not include some Olympic qualifiers or the Games, meaning no competitions have contributed to the ranking since December 2023. 

As a result, Raygun’s win at the Oceania championships in 2023 has contributed heavily to her current no.1 ranking. The next WDSF ranking event is in Shanghai in October, where it’s expected the rankings will shift.

What they said

Some within the breaking community have discredited the WDSF as a sporting body that breakers only participated in to qualify for the Olympic Games. 

Zack Slusser, the vice president of Breaking for Gold USA, told the Associated Press that the WDSF doesn’t “have any real merit with the breakers or the breaking community." 

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I’ve got 2 minutes

The Socceroos drew with Indonesia in World Cup Qualifying. Can they still make the World Cup?

The Socceroos have been left frustrated once again in World Cup Qualifying after a 0-0 draw with Indonesia, the world’s 133rd-ranked team.

What happened?

Australia was dominant in possession (63%), with five shots on target and 15 corners, but were unable to capitalise on their opportunities. 

The best chance came in the 33rd minute courtesy of 18-year-old Bayern Munich star Nestory Irankunda, whose long shot hit the right goalpost. 

What does it mean for the Socceroos’ World Cup chances?

Australia is part of the Asian Football Conference (AFC). The AFC has been allocated eight spots at the 2026 World Cup, plus the possibility of one extra through playoffs. 

Of the 46 teams in Asia, 18 remain in the third round of qualifying. Those 18 teams have been split into three groups of six. The top two teams in each group will earn a spot in the 2026 World Cup. 

Australia is currently in fifth and has three more games (against China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia) to move up into the top two.

What if we don’t make the top two?

If Australia does not make the top two, they head to the fourth round which consists of the third and fourth-placed teams from each third-round group. 

The six teams in the fourth round will be split into two groups of three, with the winner of each group earning a spot. Then, all eight of the AFC’s spots at the 2026 World Cup will be occupied. 

There is a last-ditch opportunity for a team to qualify for the FIFA play-off tournament, but that’s a position the Socceroos won’t want to find themselves in.

What they said:

Coach Graham Arnold said: “How many chances do we create? How many chances do we get? And it’s been a common theme for over a year… They all admitted their performance wasn’t good enough in the first game. They’re in [the changerooms], they’re filthy about the result.”

What’s next?

The Socceroos’ third match of this round of World Cup Qualifying is against China on 10 October. China are the only team in the group to have lost their first two matches.

A message from our sponsor

In a recent article, Dr. Dominique Condo, Senior Lecturer in Sport Nutrition at Deakin, discusses the AFL's decision to stop body composition and skinfold testing for players under 18. It comes soon after the AFL put an end to publishing player’s weights.

The move to ban skinfold testing on junior players has sparked debate among prominent figures in the AFL who argue that these measures are important for performance and fitness. Ex-player and coach, Paul Roos said, “This is just farcical … they [skinfold tests] are such a minor thing, to take them away seems ludicrous.”

But by keeping weights private, the league aims to reduce the pressure on players to meet certain body standards, which can lead to body image issues and unhealthy behaviours.

Skinfold testing, which measures body fat, has long been used to help track an athlete’s fitness but also risks causing anxiety about body image, especially in young players. The AFL’s new policy reflects a growing understanding that athlete health is more holistic than just physical metrics. The change is part of a broader, global trend in sport to support athletes' mental well-being and promote a healthier approach to body image.

Think Beyond The Field. Study sport at Deakin.

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