As far as I’m concerned that was one of the biggest weekends of sport in recent memory.

It also marked the first weekend of TDA’s office tipping comp. To those who are starting this year on the bottom of the ladder (like me), remember it’s a long season.

Let’s get into it.

2 years

The length of the deal that Zac Lomax has signed with Rugby Australia and the Western Force, opening the door for the former Parramatta Eels winger to switch codes from rugby league to rugby union and potentially represent the Wallabies at the 2027 Rugby World Cup. Lomax joins a growing list of NRL players who have crossed to rugby union in recent years, including Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i and Mark Nawaqanitawase. Under a deal with the Eels, Lomax could not join another NRL team without his former team’s written consent.

"I'm going to enjoy the next bit and sing the team song one last time… but I'm genuinely really excited to watch this group of amazing people moving forward."
Retiring Australian women’s cricket captain Alyssa Healy after her side defeated India by 10 wickets in a Test match in Perth, giving her international career a winning farewell. Spinners Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King wrapped up India’s second innings before Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield chased down the target, as Australia recovered from losing the T20 series to win the overall multi-format contest 12-4. Meanwhile, at the men’s T20 World Cup on Sunday night, India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs in the final. They’re the first team to win back-to-back T20 World Cups.

Parkrun is a free, weekly 5km community run held every Saturday morning in parks around the world. The fastest recorded men’s time is 13 minutes and 44 seconds, set by Ireland’s Nick Griggs at Victoria Park in Belfast in 2024. The fastest women’s time is 15 minutes and 13 seconds, run by fellow Irish athlete Ciara Mageean at the same course in 2023. Shoutout to the parkrunners out there (and on the TDA team)!

⚽️ The Matildas finished second in Group A at the Women’s Asian Cup after a dramatic 3-3 draw with South Korea in front of a record crowd of 60,279. Alanna Kennedy scored twice, including a stoppage-time equaliser, while Sam Kerr also found the net. Australia will now face either China or North Korea in the quarterfinals, depending on the results in the remaining fixtures in Group B.

🏉 Collingwood closed the AFL’s Opening Round on Sunday with a 78-66 win over St Kilda at the MCG. The Magpies’ Jordan De Goey kicked three goals while Nick Daicos starred with 41 disposals. The Saints pushed hard late, but the Magpies held firm in front of a crowd of 82,528. Earlier in the weekend, the Western Bulldogs beat the Brisbane Lions 111-106, and the GWS Giants defeated Hawthorn 122-95. 

🏉 In the NRL on Sunday, the South Sydney Rabbitohs defeated the Dolphins 40-30 at Suncorp Stadium, with Alex Johnston moving to within one try of Ken Irvine’s all-time NRL record. Johnston now sits on 211 career tries ahead of a Round 2 clash with the Roosters this Friday. Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Canberra Raiders edged out the Manly Sea Eagles 29-28 courtesy of a field goal from Ethan Sanders, and the Cronulla Sharks thrashed the Gold Coast Titans 50-10.

🏂 Ben Tudhope has won Australia’s first medal of the 2026 Winter Paralympics, claiming silver in the men’s snowboard cross in Cortina. The 26-year-old finished behind Italy’s Emanuel Perathoner, adding to the bronze medal he won in Beijing four years ago. Remarkably, Tudhope revealed he dislocated his shoulder in the first heat of the event but continued racing to reach the podium. He said: "I can't really describe it. It hasn't really sunk in yet."

⛷️ Australia has produced encouraging results in the Para biathlon at the Winter Paralympics, with Lauren Parker finishing ninth and Dave Miln placing 20th in the 12.5km individual events in Tesero. Parker is competing in her first Winter Paralympics after transitioning from Para triathlon. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she won two gold medals in triathlon and road cycling to become the first Aussie Paralympian to win gold in two different sports since 1968. Meanwhile, Miln is also new to the sport after surviving a serious accident with a snowplough less than 18 months ago, which resulted in his legs being amputated. He said: “This is an amazing experience… and the potential for what’s ahead excites me.”

The 2026 Formula One season opened with chaos and drama at Melbourne’s Albert Park, where Mercedes driver George Russell claimed victory in the first race of the sport’s new regulation era. 

The event was a huge success off the track, with a record 483,934 fans attending across the four days at Albert Park.

Here’s what to know. 

The biggest story of the weekend came before the race had even begun. Australia’s Oscar Piastri crashed on the lap to the grid, ending his race before it started. 

Piastri, who had qualified in fifth place, said that the crash was caused by a “combination of bad factors”. 

He added: “It’s a shame. Things like that shouldn’t be happening anywhere, especially at my home race. It’s obviously even more disappointing.”

On track, Russell converted pole position into victory, but only after a tense battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. 

Leclerc surged into the lead at the first corner before the pair traded the lead across several laps. Eventually, strategy became the deciding factor. Mercedes pitted under an early virtual safety car, while Ferrari waited and ultimately lost crucial time by stopping under green-flag conditions. 

Russell held on to win, with his Italian teammate Kimi Antonelli close behind in second. The two Ferraris followed, with Leclerc third and Lewis Hamilton fourth. Reigning world champion Lando Norris finished fifth while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished sixth after a crash in qualifying saw him start the race in 20th. 

Another standout result saw 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad finish eighth on his F1 debut with Racing Bulls. 

The next race will be the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on 15 March.

Iran’s women’s football team has become the centre of a political and humanitarian controversy during the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia. 

The Cup began in the days after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran, killing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and follows mass protests earlier this year. 

Iranian state media criticised the team for not singing the country’s national anthem ahead of their first match. 

Many have raised concerns about the team’s safety if they return to Iran after their elimination from the tournament.

In December, the largest civilian protests in Iran since the 1979 Revolution kicked off. 

Demonstrators called for the end of the Iranian regime. Local health officials told media that an estimated 30,000 protesters have been killed. On 28 February (AEDT), the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, killing the Supreme Leader. Iran played its first Women’s Asian Cup match on 2 March.

Before that match, against South Korea, Iranian players did not sing their national anthem. A presenter on Iranian state media reacted by labelling the players “traitors,” calling their actions “the pinnacle of dishonour”. The backlash raised concerns about what might happen to the squad if they return home. The Iranian regime has executed people for treason (betraying the nation) in the past.

At their remaining group-stage games against Australia and the Philippines, the team sang the national anthem and gave a military-style salute. After the match against the Philippines on the Gold Coast, around 200 protesters surrounded the team’s bus as it attempted to leave the venue. Protesters banged on the vehicle and chanted “let them go”. 

Police intervened to push back the crowd and clear a path for the bus, which eventually managed to leave after about 15 minutes. Many of the demonstrators were members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia, with some waving Iran’s flag from before the revolution. The protest appeared to reflect wider anger toward the Iranian regime and concern for the players’ safety. According to Nine newspapers, a person on the bus displayed the international hand signal for ‘help’.

The controversy has prompted calls for Australia to offer the team protection. 

A group of Iranian community organisations has written to the Federal Government expressing concern the players will face repercussions if they go back to Iran.

The group has also launched a petition on Change.org titled ‘Provide protection for Iran’s women’s national football team’, which has almost 60,000 signatures.

“The players are... women under the authority of a barbaric authoritarian state that has a long record of punishing perceived disobedience, including through intimidation, coercion, torture and reprisals against family members,” the group said.

Former Socceroo Craig Foster told ABC Radio on Monday morning: “I think it’s pretty clear to everyone... the potential threat that they’re facing, whether here or particularly if they do return or when they do return to Iran.”

Iran’s coach Marziyeh Jafari told reporters on Sunday: “We want to come back to Iran as soon as we can. I want to be with my country and home, Iranians inside Iran.”

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