It’s that weird time of year when it’s still kind of summer but footy is officially back.

Tonight, the AFL begins, the NRL’s opening round continues, and the fourth round of Super Rugby Pacific starts. And, if that’s not enough oval-shaped ball sports for you, the Six Nations also continues this weekend!

If you don’t want summer to be over, there’s Indian Wells (aka tennis’ “fifth major”) and the ICC Champions Trophy cricket final between India and New Zealand.

Oh, and there’s also the NBL and WNBL Finals.

In short, there’s lots of sport on this weekend.

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The Matildas’ new world ranking, after losing all three matches at the SheBelieves Cup last month. It is the side’s equal worst ranking since 2005, two years after the introduction of FIFA world rankings. While they continue to await the appointment of a new head coach, the Matildas are preparing to play world number 19 South Korea in two international friendlies next month.

“Fred Stolle was too nice a guy to hold a grudge. He won many grand slams and was in the finals of many more. It took the best to beat the best. We never tired of reliving the past as we travelled the world looking into the future with an enduring love of the sport. You will be missed, Fiery, RIP.”
A tribute from Australian tennis great Rod Laver dedicated to Fred Stolle, who died yesterday at the age of 86. Stolle will be remembered as one of Australia’s finest tennis players and commentators. He enjoyed a successful playing career that saw him win a total of 19 grand slam titles (two singles, 10 doubles, seven mixed doubles) and three consecutive Davis Cups for Australia, before spending almost five decades behind the microphone. 

The Melbourne Storm have not lost in the first round of the season during Craig Bellamy’s two-decade tenure as the team’s coach. The Storm will look to extend that record on Sunday in their opening match against the Parramatta Eels. 

🏉 The AFL’s Opening Round begins tonight with a highly-anticipated clash between the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn Hawks at the SCG. The Swans are the competition’s reigning minor premiers and will be looking for redemption after losing last year’s grand final, while the Hawks are a highly touted outfit who will be seeking to get their 2025 campaign off to the best start possible. The only other match this weekend will be between the GWS Giants and Collingwood on Sunday afternoon. Two other matches were postponed earlier this week due to Cyclone Alfred. 

🏉 The Brisbane Broncos have got their 2025 NRL season off to the best possible start, beating the Sydney Roosters 50-14. The Roosters opened the scoring for the night but things quickly fell apart after Victor Radley was forced to leave the field for a head injury assessment. Broncos winger Selwyn Cobbo starred for the visitors with three tries. The action continues tonight with the Wests Tigers facing the Newcastle Knights at 6:00pm, and the South Sydney Rabbitohs up against the Redcliffe Dolphins at 8:00pm.

🎾 Australia’s top ranked women’s tennis player Kimberly Birrell has made a strong start at Indian Wells, winning her opening match in straight sets. Birrell defeated Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-4, 6-4 and will play 28th seed Elise Mertens in the second round. In the men’s draw, Chris O’Connell and Adam Walton have both advanced to the second round after winning their respective first round matches. Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin are also playing in the second round after receiving first round byes. Indian Wells is considered tennis’ “fifth major” and attracts a highly competitive field. 

Super Rugby Pacific is under fire following reports of Fijian Drua players not being looked after properly. Fiji-born former Wallaby Lote Tuqiri has described the situation as “unacceptable”.

Two weeks ago, the Fijian Drua arrived in New Zealand to play a match against the Hurricanes. The bus scheduled to pick them up had not arrived and the team was forced to hop in the back of a truck. The Drua were then denied a late checkout at the hotel they were staying at in Napier and not given a suitable space to spend time in the lead up to their Saturday afternoon game.

Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley has since commented: "Essentially what happened was several oversights and breakdowns in communications were identified which created those challenges for the Drua. And we have now addressed those issues with the clubs and an external transport provider. But yeah, it's really disappointing that it happened."

The competition continues tonight with defending champions the Auckland Blues hosting the ACT Brumbies at 5:35pm (AEDT). Both teams have only won one of their first three matches and will be looking to improve their record.

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The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has announced a maternity leave program for the world’s top female tennis players. The program, funded by the Saudi Arabian Government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is the first of its kind for self-employed athletes.

The WTA hopes the program will help “address some of the challenges faced by female athletes”.

The program will include up to 12 months of maternity leave and a range of family benefits such as access to fertility treatments. The WTA has not publicised how much the players will be paid.

To be eligible to receive the benefits of the program, players must meet one of two criteria. Players must have either competed in at least four WTA events of WTA 250 level or above in the 12 months before receiving assistance, or 24 events in the three years before.

A WTA 250 event means the winner of the tournament will be awarded 250 points towards their world ranking. The winner of a grand slam receives 2500 ranking points.

The program also gives two months paid leave to any player who becomes a parent through partner pregnancy, surrogacy, or adoption.

A previous WTA policy allows players to return to the ranking they had before they went on maternity leave, if they come back within three years.

The WTA said the program has the capacity to support at least 320 players.

WTA CEO Portia Archer said: “It can be challenging to balance the physical and emotional demands of a professional tennis career with the complexities of motherhood and family life. For some time, we have been exploring how we can increase our support for players to help them become parents at a time of their choice.”

World no.35 Victoria Azarenka, who sits on the WTA’s Player’s Council, said: “This marks the beginning of a meaningful shift in how we support women in tennis, making it easier for athletes to pursue both their careers and their aspirations of starting a family.”

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has made significant investments in sports, e.g. funding the LIV golf league, and hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Critics have labelled the country’s efforts as sportswashing – attempting to distract from its human rights and women’s rights record with sporting events and funding.

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