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Have an excellent weekend. 

🏉 The Gold Coast Suns defeated St. Kilda 103-80 on Thursday night as both sides played their final match of the season. The Suns spoiled St Kilda forward Bradley Hill’s milestone 300th match and celebrated Jed Holman and Ben King’s final matches for Gold Coast. Both clubs will be disappointed to have finished outside of finals given the talent within their rosters. 

🏉 The Penrith Panthers have kept their hopes of the minor premiership alive, defeating the Melbourne Storm 22-14 on Thursday night. Winger Brian To’o helped the Panthers to a 22-0 lead, scoring three of the side’s four tries before the Storm threatened to produce a boilover in the second half. The result means the Storm will miss the finals for the first time since 2010. 

🏎 Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has extended his contract with Red Bull until the end of 2030, ending months of speculation about his future. The announcement came on Thursday, the eve of his home Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. He said this week he had seriously considered leaving the sport before committing.

🎾 World number two Carlos Alcaraz has confirmed he will return to competition at the U.S. Open in New York, ending a four-month layoff caused by a wrist injury. The seven-time major singles champion has not played since April's Barcelona Open, missing the French Open and Wimbledon. The Spaniard is the defending champion in the U.S. Open, having beaten Italian rival Jannik Sinner in last year's final. The tournament begins on 30 August.

The woman who made the sexual assault allegation Victoria Police are investigating in relation to the Sydney Swans has spoken publicly for the first time in an interview with the Herald Sun on Thursday.

Choosing to remain unidentified, the woman said she was hired to perform lap dances and said nine people were in the room at the time of the alleged assault on 17 August at a hotel in East Melbourne, following the Swans’ game against Essendon on Sunday afternoon. She said: “I don’t want money. All I care about is justice. I’m going to stand up for what is right. And I’m never going to let this happen to anyone else. Justice will be served.”

TDA does not suggest that any of the players are being accused of sexual assault, only that they have been connected to the police investigation.

The Swans released a statement this morning saying: “All investigations carried out by the Club have consistently indicated that the only representatives of the Club in the room central to the police investigation were the five players who have been stood down.”

As well as the statement, Swans coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills formally addressed the media today for the first time since the five players linked to the investigation (Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon, and Riley Bice) were suspended for the remainder of the season on Wednesday.

The players were suspended for breaching the club’s standards for drinking and staying out late.

Mills said he was “deeply shocked and disappointed” and that the playing group was supportive of the sanctions handed down to his teammates.

Meanwhile, Cox said: "We're going to work as hard as we possibly can to get the trust back from the community, to get the culture where we desire to be, where we once had been." He also confirmed that he was not in the hotel room at the time of the alleged assault.

Sydney AFLW coach Colin O’Riordan and captain Lucy McEvoy also fronted media in a press conference this afternoon. McEvoy said: "There's no doubt the club has taken a reputational hit this week. And we'll do whatever we can as a club, in both programs, to make sure we build back the trust and respect of our members and fans and the community more broadly".

With his side preparing for a match against North Melbourne on Sunday at the SCG, O’Riordan added: "I encourage everyone, all our fans, to turn up and support them because these bunch of women deserve it."

The fixture also carries significance as the club’s first double-header with the women’s and men’s teams playing back-to-back.

Talking points: Australia head into the second and final Test of their series against Bangladesh, needing a win to level the series and avoid the country’s first Test series defeat to Bangladesh. The visitors produced a huge upset last week, with strong bowling and batting performances to secure their first Test victory on Australian soil in Darwin. Now, the series moves to the Queensland city of Mackay, where Great Barrier Reef Arena will host its first men’s international Test. Opener Jake Weatherald has been dropped for the second Test, with Matthew Renshaw recalled after more than three years out. 
How to watch: The first ball will be bowled at 10am on Saturday (AEST). You can watch the match live on Channel Seven, 7plus, Kayo and Foxtel.

Talking points: The Wallaroos take on the Black Ferns in Auckland for their 100th Test match ever, dating back to their inaugural fixture against the same opponents at North Sydney Oval in 1994. New Zealand won the first leg of this year's O'Reilly Cup 40-5 on Anzac Day. Sevens star Maddison Levi, Australia's all-time leading Sevens try-scorer, will debut for the Wallaroos off the bench. So too may Pia Tapsell, who would become the first woman to play Test rugby for both Australia and New Zealand after earning six caps for the Black Ferns between 2019 and 2020.
How to watch: Kickoff is at 1:05pm on Saturday (AEST). You can watch the match live on Stan Sport.

Talking points: Formula One returns from its summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, a race which is dropping off the F1 calendar after this year. Australian Oscar Piastri is the defending champion, claiming his most recent race win here in 2025, but has slipped to seventh in the drivers' standings after retiring from the last race in Hungary while leading with a gearbox failure. Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli leads the championship, 50 points clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Zandvoort hosts its first-ever Sprint weekend, with the Sprint on Saturday night and the race on Sunday.
How to watch: The Dutch Grand Prix begins at 11pm on Sunday (AEST). Live on Kayo and Foxtel.

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