Remember Raygun?

Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn is back in the headlines, this time criticising the state of higher education in Australia after her voluntary redundancy from Macquarie University became public. 

Gunn, whose kangaroo-inspired routine at the Paris Olympics failed to score a point, had been lecturing in media and cultural studies for five years before leaving in February amid major arts faculty cuts.

"We need to have a serious conversation about higher education in this country," she told the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and finish reading Gunn's paper, "Nocturnal Paradox: How Breakdancing reveals the potentials of the night."

$AU7.4 billion
Roughly how much money Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has poured into LIV Golf – a breakaway professional golf league launched in 2022 to rival the traditional tours – with the venture losing more than $AU1.4 billion in its first three years. According to the Wall Street Journal, the PIF plans to end its funding after the 2026 season, leaving the league's future in doubt as it looks for new backers. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund is shifting its focus to domestic projects ahead of hosting the 2034 men's FIFA World Cup.

"I'm sharing this because speaking up matters. No one is there to judge you, every person I've opened up to has supported me in ways I never expected. From the outside, it might look like I have everything, but what's going on internally can be a very different story. Everyone is dealing with something, and it's okay to not be okay."
That’s from Fremantle Dockers player Nathan O'Driscoll, who shared a candid Instagram post about his struggles with anxiety and depression over the past four years. The 23-year-old, who has played 40 games for the club since debuting in 2022, revealed there had been three separate occasions where he had come “extremely close” to taking his own life. O'Driscoll said the increased focus on mental health across the AFL recently prompted him to speak publicly, following a mental health incident involving Elijah Hollands during Carlton’s round six match against Collingwood. If you or someone you know needs support, Lifeline is available on 13 11 14.

Wimbledon was the first major tennis tournament in the world to allow women to compete, in 1884. 19-year-old Maud Watson won the inaugural women's singles, beating her older sister Lilian in the final in front of around 500 spectators. She played in a corset and an ankle-length dress.

🏉 Melbourne Storm prop Tui Kamikamica said he could return to the NRL within six weeks of suffering a stroke, telling the Sydney Morning Herald he "will be back out there again". The 31-year-old was rushed to the hospital on 30 March after waking up unable to move or speak, and underwent emergency brain surgery to remove a blood clot. He had a second operation last week to close a hole in his heart. Meanwhile, the Storm are on a six-game losing streak –  equal to the worst run in the club's 28-year history. They will play the Dolphins on Friday night.

⚽ In the Champions League, Arsenal drew 1-1 with Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their semifinal in Spain on Wednesday. Viktor Gyökeres put Arsenal side ahead from the penalty spot just before half-time, before Julian Alvárez equalised for  Atlético with another penalty in the 56th minute. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left frustrated after a late penalty appeal was overturned by VAR, calling the decision "against the rules". Arsenal are chasing their first Champions League final appearance in 20 years.

⚽ FIFA has cleared the Afghanistan women’s football team to return to international competition for the first time in five years. The sport’s global governing body amended its rules to allow a national team to be formed when a country’s football association is unable to do so – a direct response to the Taliban’s ban on women’s sport since returning to power in 2021. Most of the squad were forced to flee Afghanistan, with FIFA funding the diaspora team since last year. They’re set to play the Cook Islands in New Zealand in June.

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 From tomorrow, AFL and AFLW players will no longer be covered for head trauma through their superannuation insurance.

Most superannuation funds include total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance, which provides a lump sum payout if someone  is permanently unable to work due to injury. For AFL and AFLW players, that cover  is provided by Zurich through the AFL Players' Association super fund.

From 1 May, Zurich will exclude concussion, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and all other head trauma-related conditions from its cover. CTE is a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head knocks.TPD cover will drop by $650,000 per player, and death cover by $350,000 per player. More than half of AFL players holds the policy.

Zurich told AMP, the fund's trustee, it "cannot continue to support this high level of claims." The insurer said  it is the only company offering this type of coverage to AFL and AFLW players, and no other insurer has indicated it will step in.

Claims surged after Melbourne premiership player Angus Brayshaw was forced into medical retirement following a concussion in the 2023 qualifying final, with hundreds of players rushing to take out cover. Several players have since received seven-figure payouts. Brayshaw is now in a payout dispute with Zurich after his TPD claim was approved by seven doctors but denied by a Zurich-appointed doctor. 

More than 100 former players are also pursuing a separate class action against the AFL and multiple clubs over concussion-related injuries.

The AFL and AFLPA established a "severe injury benefit" last year that provides up to $600,000 for players who suffer significant cognitive impairment linked to their careers. However, that payment is capped and discretionary, unlike the insurance it replaces.

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Women’s State of Origin kicks off tonight.

The three-match series pits NSW and Queensland’s best women’s rugby league players against each other. It will also act as a preview for the coming NRLW season, set to kick off on 2 July. 

Here’s what to know.

State of Origin is a three-game NRL series between NSW (the Blues) and Queensland (the Maroons). Women’s Origin began with a one-off game in 2018. It expanded to two games in 2023, and to three games (the same as the men’s series) in 2024.

Team selection isn’t as simple as where players live, or which team they currently play for – e.g. players on the Brisbane Broncos aren’t automatically locked in to play for Queensland. There’s a complex eligibility system covering where players went to school and where they lived before they turned 13. 

Fun fact: in the men’s series, a state can select a player if his father played for them.

Last year’s winners NSW will be captained by Isabelle Kelly, and feature debutants Teagan Berry (the Dragons) and Rima Butler (the Roosters). TDA’s player to watch is Tiana Penitani Gray, set to make big moves this year in the back row.

In the regular season, she plays for the Cronulla Sharks, and has represented Australia in rugby league and sevens. She told TDA the Blues have been through six weeks of “intensive” training and are “excited to get to show how hard we’ve been working.”

Millie Elliott is set to return for game one after missing last year’s series due to pregnancy. Elliott told NRL.com: “There are so many players who have paved the way in having kids and coming back to the sport... at a level better than they were before.”

“I don’t know what the science is, but it is probably experiencing childbirth and knowing that nothing can be that bad,” Elliot said.

Qld will be captained by Tamika Upton, who is also TDA’s player to watch.

Upton is Qld’s biggest attacking threat. She’s been part of five premiership-winning teams and has two Dally M Medals (the award given to the best player across a season). 

In the regular NRLW season, Upton plays for the Brisbane Broncos.

The Maroons have several newcomers, with the Sharks’ Chantay Kiria-Ratu, the Roosters’ Otesa Pule, and the Titans’ Phoenix-Raine Hippi, Ivana Lolesio, and Destiny Mino-Sinapati.

While game one is in Newcastle, NSW, Maroons vice-captain Lauren Brown said: “We have won the last two here, and [the Blues] haven’t so that will be a huge goal for them to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The game is set to kick off at 7:45pm tonight (AEST) and will be broadcast on Channel 9.