Good evening!

According to X, the Brisbane Lions 2024 Grand Final merchandise has ‘hit the streets’ of Bali.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of spelling errors, including Oscar McInerney’s name being spelt ‘Orcas’. The following meme ensued.

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Stat of the day

2
The number of Matildas who scored for Manchester City in their 3-2 win over St Pölten in the women’s Champions League. Alana Kennedy scored the opening goal, while Mary Fowler broke the 2-2 deadlock with the winning goal.

Quote of the day

“Solid effort from the team. Still a long way to go but the comeback’s on. Every day we’re getting better at driving this boat.”
Ben Ainslie, the skipper of Great Britain’s sailing team, after his clawed team back into America’s Cup contention against New Zealand after winning two races overnight. The score now stands at 4-2 in favour of New Zealand. The first team to win seven races will be crowned victors of the America’s Cup.

Random fact of the day

In ten-pin bowling, the term ‘Turkey’ is used to describe three strikes in a row. Six strikes are called a ‘Wild Turkey’ and nine are referred to as a ‘Golden Turkey’. A strike, just in case you’ve never slipped on a pair of snazzy bowling shoes at your local alley, is when you knock all ten pins down with one ball.

I’ve got 30 seconds

In case you missed it…

⚽ Lionel Messi starred for Argentina in a 6-0 victory over Bolivia, scoring a hat-trick of goals and recording two assists in a World Cup Qualification match. Messi has now scored 10 international hat-tricks, a record equalled in men’s soccer by none other than Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

🏀 Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark became the first rookie to be named to the All-WNBA first team since Candace Parker in 2008. Clark, who was also the Rookie of the Year, had a stellar first season, leading the WNBA in assists and three-pointers. She also played a crucial role in helping the Fever reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The All-WNBA first team is the five best players in the league as voted by a national media panel. 

🎾 Alex de Minaur has returned from a six-week stint off the court, advancing to the quarter-finals at the European Open in Antwerp, Belgium. De Minaur, the top seed at the tournament, beat Roberto Carballés Baena in three sets and is set to face France’s Hugo Gaston next. The 25-year-old is currently ranked ninth in the world and could make the ATP Finals if he is ranked in the top eight before the tournament in November. 

⚽ Thomas Tuchel has been appointed as the next manager of England’s men’s soccer team. The 51-year-old German has signed an 18-month contract which will see him take England to the 2026 World Cup. Tuchel has coached and won titles with some of the world’s best clubs including Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

🎾 Retired tennis legend Serena Williams has had a benign cyst removed from her neck. In a post to social media, the 43-year-old announced that the cyst, which she first noticed in May, was the size of a small grapefruit, but that “all was ok”.

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New York Liberty go ahead in WNBA Finals series with Game 3 win

The New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx 80-77 in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. The Liberty are now one win away from their first WNBA Championship. Game 3 was played at the Lynx’s home court in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

What happened

The Liberty trailed for most of the match, falling behind by as much as 10 points, but were able to rally in the final quarter. Breanna Stewart starred for the visitors with a game-high 30 points. With one second remaining and the scores level at 77-all, Sabrina Ionescu scored a stunning three-pointer to win the game. Game 4 will be in Minnesota on Friday night. If the Lynx win, both teams will return to New York for a decider.

What they said

Ionescu said: “I didn’t really remember it. I had to look at the video real quickly and see how far I was. In the timeout, Sandy [Brondello] was like, ‘You’re going to shoot the shot.’”

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T20 World Cup: Australia v South Africa semi-final preview

The Australian women’s T20 cricket team will play South Africa tonight in the semi-final of the World Cup. The winner will advance to the final. Tonight’s semi-final will be played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE.

Context

Australia has won all four of its games at the tournament so far. South Africa’s only loss has come against England, who did not make it past the group stage. In Australia’s last group game against India, the team was without captain Alyssa Healy who has an injured foot. It is not yet clear whether or not Healy will play in the semi-final. Grace Harris is likely to take Healy’s place if required.

Head-to-head

Historically, Australia has won nine of its 10 matches against South Africa. South Africa’s only win against the Aussies was at the beginning of the year in Canberra. They have never beaten Australia at a World Cup. This game is a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final in Cape Town, which Australia won by 19 runs. Australia has won six world cups, while South Africa’s best result was runner-up at the 2023 edition.

Aussie players to watch

Beth Mooney is one of Australia’s most lethal weapons with bat in hand. With a batting average of 63.75 in T20 World Cup knockout matches, Mooney knows how to step up in crucial moments. In 2020, she was the Player of the Tournament. Aussie bowler Megan Schutt has taken eight wickets at this tournament and will be looking to continue her run of form in this match.

How to watch

The semi-final begins at 1:00am tomorrow and can be streamed on Amazon Prime. The second semi-final, between the West Indies and New Zealand, will be played on Saturday at 1:00am (AEDT).

A message from our sponsor

Hunter Fujak and Joshua McLeod, both lecturers in Sport Management at Deakin University, recently wrote an article that explores the various voting systems football codes in Australia use to determine their Best and Fairest players.

Fujak and McLeod point out that the AFL, NRL, Rugby Australia, and A-League all use different methods to elect the respective competition’s best player. These different methods present different biases which naturally affect the outcome of the award.

The two examples they outline in detail are the AFL’s Brownlow Medal and NRL’s Dally M Medal. The Brownlow is voted on by the AFL’s umpires and has been criticised as a midfielder’s award - the Brownlow has been awarded 27 times since 2000 and Adam Goodes is the only player that would not be considered primarily a midfielder. The Dally M is also subject to a similar positional bias with 91% of medals being won by fullbacks, halfbacks, five-eighths, and hookers. The Dally M is voted on by two independent and anonymous judges, who presumably have their own biases too.

Fujak and McLeod emphasise that often the awards that are most valued by players are the internal club awards which are voted on by their peers and coaches. This is because the people most involved with the club naturally have a more holistic understanding of who their best and fairest players are.

Ultimately, they suggest that it is likely no method will be perfect but perhaps it is the human dimension of the award that makes these awards such an engaging spectacle.

Think Beyond The Field. Study Sport at Deakin.

Looking forward… (All times are AEDT)

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