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It’ll take you less time than it does to do your footy tips, I promise.

500
The number of NRL games Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary will have coached after tonight, when his side takes on the Melbourne Storm. The 55-year-old started his coaching career at the New Zealand Warriors in 2006 and will become the seventh coach to reach the milestone. South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett, who is still active, holds the record with 983 matches.

“We are deeply sorry to everyone involved. We know that our behaviour has fallen well short of the standards expected of us and the values of our Club.”
An excerpt from a joint statement issued on Wednesday by the five Sydney Swans players who the club has stood down for the remainder of the 2026 AFL season. Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon, and Chad Warner accepted the club sanction, imposed for breaches of standards. It comes amid an ongoing investigation by Victoria Police into a sexual assault allegation made on Monday 17 August. The club said it has made the decision independent of the outcome of the police investigation.

The last-placed rider at the Tour de France earns an unofficial title – the ‘lanterne rouge’. It translates to ‘red lantern’ and is named after the red light that once hung on the back of trains. It’s a celebrated position because the rider who wins it spends the most time cycling while still finishing each stage within the cutoff time. Belgian cyclist Wim Vansevenant is the only three-time lanterne rouge, having finished last in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

⚽ Hungarian football federation chief Sándor Csányi is the fifth of FIFA’s eight vice-presidents to criticise Gianni Infantino’s leadership as the fallout from the FIFA president’s failed plan to privatise the World Cup continues. In a now public letter sent to Infantino earlier this week, Csányi said he had “lost the confidence I previously placed in you”. The letter was sent in the context of FIFA’s COO Kevin Lamour being sacked after criticising Infantino and his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

🎾 Alex de Minaur has been knocked out of the Cincinnati Open, losing to France’s Arthur Fils in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) in the round of 16. The result means that Australia’s top-ranked player has missed out on a top-four seeding for the U.S. Open, which would have given him a more favourable draw at the tournament starting later this month. Meanwhile, fellow Aussie Chris O’Connell was also beaten in the round of 16 earlier today, losing to American Taylor Fritz in straight sets.

🏑 The Hockeyroos secured a dramatic 4-4 draw against Chile at the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup on Wednesday night. In a back-and-forth contest, the Aussies were trailing 4-3 with 31 seconds left when Mariah Williams equalised. The result means the Hockeyroos will progress out of Pool A and into the tournament’s second round. They will need to finish in the top two of their new pool to book a semi-final spot. Australia’s men’s team, the Kookaburras, will play South Africa in a pool stage match at 7pm tonight (AEST).

🏉 Melbourne Storm prop Tui Kamikamica has retired from rugby league on medical grounds, five months after having a stroke. The 32-year-old finishes his career with 142 NRL games and 23 Tests for Fiji, which he captained. Kamikamica has not played since March. Asked to reflect on his career, he said: “I’m incredibly proud of everything I’ve been able to achieve in the game.”

Worksite safety, redefined by Claude

Aussies are transforming safety for construction workers using AI. Presien, a physical AI company for heavy industry, used Claude to develop an agentic platform that analyses worksites around the clock - cutting critical safety events by over 70% in three months.

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has been provisionally suspended from all tennis competitions after returning a positive test for cocaine.

The 31-year-old said in a statement on his Instagram that he made a “huge mistake and [he] takes full responsibility for it”. “Above all, I’m sorry to the kids who follow me. I know the example this sets, and I’m deeply disappointed in myself,” he said.

Kyrgios said the positive test had given him a “wake-up call”, and that he would step away from social media for 28 days.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency says Kyrgios, whose world ranking peaked at No.13, could appeal against the provisional suspension but is yet to do so.

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Two riders have died in the space of 24 hours during qualifying for this year’s Manx Grand Prix, a motorcycle road race held on the Isle of Man.

Here is what to know.

On Tuesday night, 29-year-old Mauro Poncini died after a two-rider collision during a qualifying session. It was the Swiss rider’s first time racing the event. The second rider involved sustained minor injuries.

On Wednesday afternoon, Manx local Sam Naughton, 37, died in a separate crash during the third qualifying session. Naughton was competing in the event for the second time and is survived by his wife and four children.

The Manx Grand Prix is an amateur road race held every August on the Isle of Man, a small island in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. The island is a Crown Dependency, meaning it belongs to the British monarch but is self-governed and not part of the United Kingdom.

The race is run on the Snaefell Mountain Course, a 60.7 kilometre circuit that also hosts the professional Isle of Man TT in June.

Both events take place on closed public roads that wind through villages, over stone bridges and up the flanks of Mount Snaefell, the island’s highest point. The course is incredibly dangerous because very little separates the road from the racing. Riders reach speeds well above 250 kilometres per hour on tight village streets lined by kerbs, walls and telephone poles.

The Mountain Course has claimed more than 270 lives since it was first raced in 1911. As a result, it is widely regarded as the deadliest circuit in world motorsport. Poncini and Naughton are the second and third riders to die on the Mountain Course this year alone. In May, 33-year-old British rider Daniel Ingham died in Isle of Man TT qualifying at Doran’s Bend, the same corner where Naughton was killed on Wednesday.

The Manx Grand Prix is scheduled to continue until 29 August (AEST). Race organisers have opened investigations into both crashes.