Remember William Goodge?

He’s the British ultra-endurance athlete who ran across Australia, from Perth to Sydney, in 35 days in 2025.

While it still hasn’t been ratified by Guinness World Records, Goodge set a new record for ‘the fastest journey on foot across Australia’.

Well, now Goodge has embarked on his latest challenge: Running 50 marathons in 50 U.S. States over a period of 24 days.

I can’t decide if this one is more logistically or physically gruelling.

7
The number of goals the Matildas scored against Haiti at an international friendly match. Leticia McKenna scored twice on her first start for the national team, before second-half goals from Caitlin Foord, Daniela Galic, Clare Wheeler, and Holly McNamara sealed the win. An own goal from Haiti brought the final score to 7-1.

“I understand the seriousness of what has been raised in recent reports about my withdrawal”.
Olympic cyclist Matthew Richardson in a statement to Instagram following his withdrawal from Great Britain’s team ahead of this week’s track world championships in Shanghai over alleged misconduct. The Olympian added that he will “co-operate fully” with British Cycling’s “established procedures”. The Times reports Richardson, who left Australia’s team in 2024 after the Paris Olympics, has been accused of using racial slurs.

Bernard Fanning, the lead singer of Australian band Powderfinger, is a big cricket fan. In a 2017 interview with ABC, Fanning said his favourite cricketing moment was Queensland winning its first Sheffield Shield in 1995, ending a 68-year drought.

Never been to a live football game? This weekend is a good place to start.

The A-Leagues season opens Friday with a Sydney rivalry, then the Ninja A-League Women begin Saturday. Limited Football Starts Here tickets are available from $25 per adult.

🏎️ Formula 1 has confirmed a 10-year deal to return to Africa for the first time since 1993, with the ‘African Grand Prix’ set to join the calendar as soon as 2030. The race will be held at a purpose-built circuit in Rwanda, which is yet to be built. F1 boss Stefano Domenicali said: “With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the world championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.” The last F1 race held in Africa was at South Africa’s Kyalami Circuit in 1993.

🏏 Australia beat South Africa by 214 runs in the first Test in Durban, with bowler Josh Hazlewood claiming career-best figures of six wickets for 49 runs in the final innings. South Africa folded in pursuit of the hefty target set by the Aussies, losing its last four wickets for only five runs. Matt Renshaw was named the player of the match after posting scores of 190 and 82. Australia now lead the three-Test series 1-0 and will meet the Proteas in Gqeberha for the second Test beginning 18 October.

🏉 Code-hopping football star Mark Nawaqanitawase might not be returning to the Wallabies. The 26-year-old, who just won an NRL premiership with the Sydney Roosters, is moving back to rugby union after signing a club contract with Japan’s Panasonic Wild Knights. It has been widely expected that Nawaqanitawase would return to the Wallabies, who he played six Test matches for in 2022-23. However, a story by News Corp suggested he is considering a shock allegiance switch to Fiji or Italy ahead of next year’s World Cup. A statement from his agent said: “With his heritage making him eligible to represent both Italy and Fiji, he remains open to all options regarding his international future.”

Nearly half of women’s footballers are considering retirement early over financial issues and their mental health, according to a new report from the global players’ union.

Here’s what to know.

FIFPRO surveyed almost 800 players during the 2025-26 season. The organisation called it the “most extensive review of women’s football conditions in a decade”.

Of those surveyed, 59% cited financial pressures and 46% cited psychological stress as the reasons for considering early retirement.

FIFPRO’s Dr Alex Culvin said “the professionalisation of women’s football is accelerating” but “away from the best resourced clubs, there is a recurring theme of precarity and fragile conditions.”

Only 56% of players surveyed had employment contracts (as opposed to freelance or amateur contracts), and just 13% had club pensions.

While there have been pay increases in the U.S. and Mexican leagues over the last 10 years, the average pay is below minimum wage in 10 Eastern European countries and near it in major Western European and Asia/Oceania markets.

Currently, players in Australia’s top women’s soccer league don’t have a pay agreement. A-League Women - the top football competition in Australia and New Zealand - features 11 women’s teams.

Earlier this year, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) offered to lift the salary cap from $640,000 to $775,000, and the minimum wage by 27% to $35,000 a season.

TDA understands the APL and Players Football Association (PFA) are still negotiating a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) covering pay, workloads, leave, disputes and strikes. The Matildas have a separate CBA with Football Australia (FA).

The PFA told TDA it “does not believe the current environment is sustainable” and is advocating for greater investment, stronger support structures and accelerated professionalisation” for the A-League Women.

The Matildas have a separate CBA with FA.

TDA has reached out to FA for comment.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.

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Sportsbet has deleted a series of AI-generated videos featuring AFL players after the league told its official gambling partner to stop using players’ likenesses without permission.

Here’s what to know.

The AFL Players’ Association’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the league sets out when the AFL, clubs and their partners can use players’ images and footage.

The current agreement, which runs from 2023 to 2027, does not specifically mention AI-generated content.

Schedule 6 requires the AFL or a club to seek a player’s approval before using their image in circumstances not otherwise permitted under the agreement.

It states: “AFL or Club (as applicable) must seek approval from any Featured Player but not surrounding Players, in an Image.”

Sportsbet created AI-generated videos showing AFL players delivering lines from movies, TV shows and celebrity speeches to react to real events.

One video showed Lachie Neale, who won a premiership with the Brisbane Lions before joining Collingwood, accepting an award by mimicking rapper Snoop Dogg’s 2018 Hollywood Walk of Fame speech. In the clip, Neale appeared to thank himself for “believing in me”.

The AFL Players’ Association raised concerns with the league late last week, arguing the videos breached the CBA.

The association’s general manager of legal affairs, Alex Taverner, said: “AI-generated player imagery is not permitted without the players’ approval.”

Taverner said the union had called for the content to be removed and for Sportsbet to stop using AI-generated images and footage of players without their permission.

The AFL agreed to work with Sportsbet to remove the content. The videos had been deleted from Sportsbet’s Instagram account by Tuesday afternoon.

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen told TDA: “The AFL will continue to work closely with our partners on the use of AI content, and will continue to do so as the tech evolves.”

Sportsbet, however, still has AI-generated videos featuring athletes from other sports, including MMA fighter Alex Volkanovski, on its Instagram account.

Separately, federal laws banning athletes from appearing in gambling advertisements will take effect next year.