Well, it’s nearing the end of the regular season for both the NRL and AFL.

That means that tipping comps among friends, family, and colleagues around the country are edging closer to determining a winner.

In the TDA office tipping comp, Sam (our CEO, co-founder, and fearless leader) is ahead of the chasing pack by just one tip.

So, what’s your advice to a chasing tipper in the final weeks of the regular season?

Just asking for a mate. 

$148,000
The amount of money raised for club rugby union player Wes Thomas via GoFundMe. The hooker suffered a central cord syndrome neck injury playing for the Warringah Rats in Sydney’s Shute Shield last Saturday. Thomas was a premiership winner with the Rats last year and named the competition’s best player. The money is being raised to cover medical expenses and support his family. 

“We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again.”
An excerpt from a letter FIFA President Gianni Infantino sent to the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations apologising for his failed plan to sell minority stakes in FIFA's commercial business to private investors. The proposal, which could have raised up to $US4.2 billion ($AU6 billion), was leaked before being dropped following a backlash. Infantino now faces calls to resign, which he has rejected.

Former New Zealand rugby union captain Sam Cane is the only player to have been given a red card in a Rugby World Cup final. Cane was sent off in the first half against South Africa for a dangerous tackle. The Springboks won the match 12-11 to claim their fourth World Cup title.  

🚴‍♀️ Demi Vollering has won stage five of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes, outsprinting her two biggest rivals in the race for the overall title. The Dutch rider and 2023 champion beat race leader Marlen Reusser on a hilly stage through the Beaujolais, but the Swiss rider kept the yellow jersey and now leads by just 12 seconds. Defending champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney sits third overall, setting up a three-way battle as the race heads into the mountains with four stages remaining.

🏉 The AFL Players Association (AFLPA) is in talks with the AFL after a News Corp report claimed a club asked a player with a history of concussion to sign a contract accepting the legal risk of any future brain injury. The club, named by AAP as Geelong, reportedly saw the agreement as its only way of keeping the unnamed player on the field. AFLPA boss James Gallagher said clubs cannot "contract out of their obligations" to protect player safety. The reports come as a concussion class action against the AFL is due to go to court next year.

🏉 South Sydney Rabbitohs hooker Brandon Smith has had one of two criminal charges against him withdrawn, with an insider-betting case dropped after Queensland Police offered no evidence in Southport Magistrates Court. The 30-year-old was accused of leaking inside knowledge of the Rabbitohs' line-up, which an associate then used to place a bet. Smith still faces a separate charge alleging he supplied cocaine to Sydney Roosters lock Victor Radley in 2025. Radley has not been charged. The former Kiwi international has played more than 160 NRL games.

Claude, the AI for scientific discovery

Researchers at Australia's Garvan Institute are partnering with Claude to do what wasn't possible before: analyse genomic data at massive scale to understand how our genes cause rare diseases, and accelerate treatments to cure them. When science and AI come together, the future of human health gets a little brighter.

^{Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

LIV Golf, the breakaway rival to the PGA Tour, says it has landed a new lead investor to keep it running into 2027.

It comes months after Saudi Arabia said it would pull its funding. 

Here's what to know.

Chief executive Scott O'Neil says a term sheet has been signed and cleared by the LIV board, with the deal due to close in September. The backer and the sum have not been named. 

It replaces Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which is walking away at the end of this season, having spent around $US6 billion ($AU8.5 billion) on the league since 2022.

Locally, the 2027 rescue also keeps LIV Golf Adelaide on track. The event is already locked in for next March at Kooyonga Golf Club, though its future had been clouded while the league's funding hung in doubt.

O'Neil says the golfers will become majority owners of the league, which LIV calls "a first for a major global sports league." The tour also plans to shrink to about 10 events across five continents, with prize money cut back.

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What do you think rugby union’s greatest rivalry is? Well, New Zealand and South Africa are claiming the title for themselves as the All Blacks embark on an eight-match tour of South Africa which will include a four-Test series against the Springboks. 

Meanwhile, the Wallabies are set to face  Japan in the first match of a two-Test series this weekend.

Here’s what to know. 

The tour is officially billed as 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry', and will mark the All Blacks’ first tour of South Africa since 1996. 

Before the first Test against South Africa, New Zealand will face the Stormers, Sharks and  Bulls.  They will then play the Lions between the first and second Tests, before the final two matches against the reigning world champions.  

The fourth and final Test will be played at a neutral venue in the U.S., M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. 

The tour’s billing as ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’ has some backing: the two contested the 2023 World Cup final, which South Africa won 12-11, and between them they have won seven of the 10 World Cups. 

New Zealand hold the overall head-to-head lead, though South Africa have had the better of it lately, including a 43-10 win in Wellington last September –  the All Blacks' heaviest-ever defeat.

The tour has replaced the Rugby Championship this year, so the four-nation event that normally includes Australia and Argentina will not be held in 2026 and returns in 2027. 

Without the usual Rugby Championship fixtures, Australia will take on Japan in a two-Test series between Osaka and Townsville before travelling to Argentina for two Tests across late August and early September. Argentina will also host South Africa in Buenos Aires this weekend. 

Australia will still face New Zealand in the two-match Bledisloe Cup series in October, meeting a side arriving home from a long tour of South Africa.

The Wallabies’ first match against Japan will take place this Saturday in Osaka. It’s coach Les Kiss’ first Test in charge, after he replaced Joe Schmidt. Waiting for him is Japan coach Eddie Jones, the former Wallabies boss whose second stint with the team fell apart when Australia failed to progress beyond the pool stage for the first time ever at the 2023 World Cup.

Both teams faced the same three opponents in the opening leg of the Nations Championship in June and July: Ireland, France, and Italy. Both came away with two losses (to Ireland and France) and one win (over Italy). 

Australia have won all seven meetings between the sides, though a 19-15 result last October was Japan's closest margin yet. 

Kiss announced his squad today, and the biggest changes are in the tight five, where Aidan Ross starts at loosehead prop for the first time and Miles Amatosero comes into the second row. Regular starting prop Angus Bell has been dropped to the bench. Fraser McReight returns at openside flanker, and Hunter Paisami comes in at inside centre for the injured Len Ikitau, while uncapped centre Isaac Henry is in line to debut off the bench as Australia's 999th Test player.