It’s Wednesday. To keep hump day interesting, let’s play two truths and a lie.

One of these didn’t happen this week.

Answer is at the bottom of today’s 2-minute section.

101
The number of runs Australian cricketer Georgia Voll scored in just her 12th T20I, becoming only the fourth Aussie woman to score a century in the format. Her knock helped power Australia to a 40-run victory in the third and final match of their T20 series against the West Indies in St Vincent. The Aussies swept the series 3-0.

"This marks the beginning of a bold new era of the WNBA”. 
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a statement after the league’s board of governors unanimously ratified the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The WNBA is the U.S’ top women’s basketball league. Players approved the CBA earlier this week. It will run for seven years. Last season, the maximum salary for players was $US250,000 ($AU360,000). With the new CBA, the minimum salary will be $US270,000, while the best players could earn up to $US1.4 million. The season is set to begin on 8 May.

Scoring a perfect 147 in snooker requires 36 consecutive flawless shots. Players must pocket a red ball followed by the black, 15 times, then clear the remaining six coloured balls in order. It is also known as a maximum break and is the equivalent of golf’s hole-in-one. England’s Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record for the most in professional competition, with 17. That includes the fastest ever at five minutes and eight seconds.

🏉 St George Illawarra forward Ryan Couchman has accepted a four-match ban for a hip-drop tackle that ruptured Parramatta Eels forward J’maine Hopgood’s ACL and ended his season. Couchman avoided a six-week suspension after pleading guilty and showing remorse, with the NRL stressing the need for a strong deterrent. A hip drop tackle is where a defender drops their weight onto an opponent’s legs to bring them to the ground. Couchman said: “It can be a tough process… I extend my support to him. I made a mistake – I’ll cop the four weeks.”

⚽ The Matildas' next opponents have been confirmed following last week's Asian Cup final loss to Japan. Australia will face Malawi first at the FIFA Series in Nairobi on 11 April. Depending on that result, they will play either Kenya or India four days later. Coach Joe Montemurro has flagged a heavily rotated squad, with senior players including Sam Kerr and Steph Catley set to return to their European clubs.

🏈 Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has signed a four-year, $168.6 million ($AU241 million) contract extension, according to ESPN. The deal makes him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. The 24-year-old's deal averages $42.15 million ($AU60.25 million) a season and surpasses the previous record held by Cincinnati Bengals star Ja'Marr Chase. Smith-Njigba was the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 and caught 10 touchdown passes in the regular season before helping the Seahawks win Super Bowl LX.

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Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has announced he will leave the football club at the end of the season, bringing an end to one of the most decorated careers in the team’s history. 

Here’s what to know.

The 33-year-old shared a social media video announcing his departure on Tuesday (local time). Liverpool later confirmed the news, outlining Salah’s achievements since joining the club in 2017. 

Described as “one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history,” Salah has helped the club win two Premier League titles, the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the FA Cup, two League Cups, alongside an FA Community Shield.

Salah has scored more than 250 goals for Liverpool in all competitions, making him the club’s third-highest goalscorer. He also won the Premier League Player of the Season last year and has taken the Golden Boot four times (the highest goal-scorer of the season) and the Playmaker Award (most assists) twice, becoming the first player to win all three.

But this season has been different, with Salah benched for several matches. 

In early December, after being left out of a third straight match, Salah told reporters: “Seems like the club is throwing me under the bus… It’s very clear someone wants me to get all the blame.”

After nine years at Liverpool, Salah said: “Leaving is never easy.”

In the same post to Instagram, he also said: “Liverpool is not just a football club, it’s a passion, it’s a history, it’s a spirit.” 

In a statement, Liverpool said: “Salah expressed his wish to make this announcement to the supporters at the earliest possible opportunity to provide transparency about his future”.

Salah is out injured but will still see out the season with Liverpool.

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The NRL is going to Papua New Guinea, and players are being offered a financial package unlike anything the competition has seen before.

Here is how it will all work. 

The Papua New Guinea Chiefs are set to become the NRL's 19th team when they enter the competition in 2028. The franchise is backed by $600 million in Australian government funding over 10 years, announced jointly by Prime Minister Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape in December 2024. 

The Perth Bears will join the competition as the NRL's 18th team a year earlier, in 2027.

Rugby league is the national sport of PNG, and the country has a long history of producing NRL talent.

In February, PNG Prime Minister James Marape announced that all player salaries will be tax-free. 

Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys has since confirmed that third-party sponsorship deals will also fall under that same tax-free status and will not count toward the salary cap, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

V’landys said: "Any revenue they earn in PNG is tax-free. Playing in PNG will set them up for life."

The SMH reported that a “marquee player” earning $1.5 million in salary plus $400,000 in sponsorship income could pocket the equivalent of $3.5 million after tax in Australia.

The team will be permanently based in Port Moresby, where a $66 million player village is being built at the Airways resort. Home games will be played at Santos National Football Stadium, which holds around 15,000 spectators. 

In terms of recruitment, players will be allowed to begin contract negotiations with the Chiefs from November this year, while some players have already expressed interest in making the move. 

South Sydney's Alex Johnston, who recently became the NRL's all-time leading try scorer and is of PNG descent, said this month he would "definitely be talking to the Chiefs" if he still has playing years left.

Not everyone is convinced that the NRL’s PNG venture will be a success. Critics have raised questions about salary cap fairness, security in Port Moresby, and whether the luxury player village sits awkwardly in a country where many schools lack reliable power. 

The Lowy Institute argued this month that "a national team whose players live in conditions most Papua New Guineans cannot imagine does not automatically produce social cohesion." The deal also contains a geopolitical clause allowing Australia to withdraw funding if PNG signs a security agreement with China.


Two truths and a lie: Serena Williams has not announced she is looking to make a comeback to this year’s U.S. Open. That being said, there is some speculation about Williams returning to the sport after she put herself back on the sport’s drug testing list.