What's a Hollywood franchise without a hero coming out of retirement? 

In ‘The Incredibles’, Bob Parr trades his corporate cubicle for the supersuit when duty calls, in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Pete Mitchell is dragged back to train a new generation, and in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, Bruce Wayne pulls the mask back on when Bane comes for Gotham.

Last October, rugby union veteran James Slipper was clapped off the field in Perth as he retired from international rugby. 

Now, with the Wallabies hit by a loosehead prop crisis, Slipper is set to dust off his own green and gold supersuit. The 37-year-old will be named in Friday's Wallabies squad for the first Test of 2026, against Ireland in Sydney on July 4. 

As Slipper himself put it: "I'm back."

$513 million
The amount of money the Federal Government will commit to high-performance sport over the next two years, in a funding package announced in Brisbane today. The figure is up from $489 million in the previous cycle and lands ahead of next month's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. It runs through to mid-2028, covering 68 Olympic and Paralympic programs on the way to the Los Angeles Games and Brisbane 2032.

"I personally think it's unfair to have something personal like that be aired publicly."
Queensland coach Billy Slater speaking at the State of Origin Game Two press conference, after it emerged this week that referee Ashley Klein had previously held $400,000 in gambling debt. The NRL was aware of Klein's history and found no wrongdoing, with his betting limited to horse and greyhound racing rather than rugby league. New South Wales coach Laurie Daley backed him as well. Klein is set to referee Game Two at the MCG tonight from 8:05pm.

GambleAware: 1800 858 858

Random fact of the day

Until Monday, no mother and son had both played for their country at a World Cup. New Zealand defender Tyler Bindon changed that when he came off the bench against Iran, 15 years after his mother, Jenny Bindon, played in goal for New Zealand at the 2011 Women's World Cup. 

🎾 Serena and Venus Williams will reunite for the women's doubles at Wimbledon after being handed a wild card by organisers on Tuesday. It will be the sisters' first appearance together since 2022 and their first at Wimbledon since 2016, when they won the last of their six doubles titles at the sport’s grass-court major. The pair have won  14 Grand Slam titles and never lost a major doubles final together. Serena returned to the tour only this month after nearly four years away. Meanwhile, Venus celebrated her birthday today as she turned 46. 

🏏 Sri Lanka’s women’s cricket side beat New Zealand by five wickets in Southampton overnight, their first win over the defending champions at a Women's T20 World Cup. Batter Nilakshika Silva finished unbeaten on 54 to seal the chase and hand the White Ferns a second straight loss. England beat Ireland by four wickets to stay unbeaten. Australia are back in action against Bangladesh at Headingley tonight, 7:30pm (AEST). The men's team also face Bangladesh, opening a three-match T20 series at 6pm (AEST).

Worksite safety, redefined by Claude.

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

Today saw three of the world’s biggest football superstars shine on centre stage, with each scoring two or more goals in their opening matches at the World Cup.  

Kylian Mbappé scored twice as 2022 runners-up France beat Senegal 3-1 to open their campaign. His second goal, a long-range strike, took him past Olivier Giroud as France's all-time leading men’s goalscorer with 58 international goals.

Erling Haaland marked his World Cup debut with two goals as Norway beat Iraq 4-1. The performance was no surprise for Haaland, who has finished as the English Premier League’s top scorer in three of the past four seasons. It was also Norway's first appearance at the tournament since 1998.

Then, Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in the opening match of his sixth World Cup as defending champions Argentina beat Algeria 3-0. The 38-year-old’s hat-trick means he has now tied Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the men’s record of 16 career World Cup goals. Argentina are bidding to become the first team to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962.

Meanwhile, Tunisia has appointed Hervé Renard as coach of its side mid-tournament. It comes after former coach Sabri Lamouchi was sensationally sacked following Tunisia’s 5-1 loss to Sweden in its opening match. Lamouchi is the first coach to lose his job after just one match at the World Cup. 

Thursday (AEST) will feature four World Cup matches. In Group K, Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal takes on a DR Congo side back at the tournament for the first time since 1974. Debutants Uzbekistan will then face Colombia. In Group L, England meet 2018 runners-up Croatia in a highly anticipated group stage clash before Ghana takes on Panama.

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Gout Gout has broken an Australian record in the rarely run 150m, clocking 14.96 seconds at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in the Czech Republic.

The 18-year-old finished third behind Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, who set a world-best time for the distance.

The Golden Spike sits on the World Athletics Continental Tour, one tier below the Diamond League. 

Gout arrived in Ostrava looking to bounce back from a difficult Diamond League debut in Oslo last week. The 18-year-old was slow out of the blocks and finished sixth in the 200m.

After that race, Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo urged caution over the hype surrounding the Australian teenager. Speaking to Citius Magazine, Tebogo said Gout "still has a long way to go".

“He should by all means play with his age mates where he is a bit more comfortable because the more he runs, the more he pushes and the more injuries he is going to get,” Tebogo said. 

Run partly around a bend, the 150m sits awkwardly between the traditional sprint distances and is rarely included on a track and field program. 

Olympic Champion Noah Lyles won in 14.67 seconds, setting a new world best and eclipsing Kishane Thompson's previous mark of 14.92 seconds.  South Africa's Sinesipho Dambile was second in 14.78 seconds, also under Thompson's previous best. 

Gout was sixth coming off the bend before surging through the field in the closing stages to finish third in 14.96. The time is an Australian record and gave the 18-year-old a second under-20 world record, alongside the 200m mark he claimed in April when he bettered Usain Bolt's time at the same age.

Speaking to the Straight At It podcast after the race, Gout said: "This is definitely a race I was needing after Oslo, and I am glad I got it, and I am ready for more."

There was a second Australian record on the night. Peter Bol, fourth in the men’s 800m at the Tokyo Olympics, surged late to win the men's 1000m in 2:15.13, a national and Oceanian best over a distance that also rarely features. 

Meanwhile, Torrie Lewis placed fourth in the women's 100m in 11.28.

Gout’s next race will see him line up for the 200m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on 5 July (AEST). He has passed up next month's Glasgow Commonwealth Games for the Under-20 world championships in Oregon, where he chases the 200m title that escaped him as a 16-year-old.