‘Wharfie Time’ has got the green light for the AFL Grand Final.

If you’re not in the know, ‘Wharfie Time’ is an in-stadium activation with special lighting, vision of rough seas, and the tolling of ACDC’s ‘Hells Bells’. It’s used by Fremantle at home games to rally Dockers fans and inspire the team to victory in tight contests. This is the best example. The permissions come with a catch though, it is only allowed to be used once and as a post-goal celebration.

The AFL had debated allowing ‘Wharfie Time’ this weekend because the MCG is supposed to act as a neutral venue for the Grand Final. The Lions’ have their own rallying cry for fans with signature goalscoring songs. In last year’s Grand Final, Charlie Cameron kicked four goals with John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ ringing out across the MCG after each.

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The number of changes that South African rugby union coach Rassie Erasmus has made to his starting side ahead of a one-off Test against the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday. The only two players who also started in the Springboks’ fourth and final Test of the ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’ series against New Zealand are lock Eben Etzebeth and winger Ethan Hooker. The Springboks won that series 3-1 and have won three of their last four Tests in Australia. Les Kiss is expected to name his starting lineup on Friday.

“It was really nice to address the whole club. Extremely thankful they could give us their time and understanding … so yeah, it was really good.”
Sydney Swans player Isaac Heeney addressing the media for the first time outside the club’s Moore Park headquarters on Thursday evening. Heeney is one of five players, alongside James Jorodon, Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, and Chad Warner, who were suspended by the club for breaching its standards following a match against Essendon in Melbourne last month. Four of the five have spoken to Victoria Police as part of a sexual assault investigation relating to an incident on the same evening. TDA is not suggesting the players face allegations, only that they have spoken to police. The players returned to the club yesterday for exit meetings and reportedly addressed teammates and staff to apologise. Exit meetings, in the context of the AFL, are essentially end of season performance reviews. It does not mean the players are leaving the club.

Bulgaria’s Elina Pashalanova holds the record for the most pull ups completed by a woman in one hour. Pashalanova did 881 pull ups within 60 minutes in January this year.

⛳ Set your alarms, golf fans. The Presidents Cup is set to begin early tomorrow morning (AEST), with the U.S. team looking to secure its 11th straight victory over the Internationals. The Presidents Cup is a golf competition that pits the best players from America against the best from around the world and has been held since 1994. Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott will represent Australia as part of the Internationals.

⚽ The Matildas have called up three uncapped players in a 26-player squad for October friendlies against third-ranked Germany and 47th-ranked Haiti. Midfielder Hana Lowry missed a likely debut in 2024 with an ACL tear and has since moved to a Norwegian club, scoring and assisting in her first seven games. Defender Tori Tumeth and goalkeeper Courtney Newbon are other potential debutants in a squad that also includes star players Mary Fowler, Sam Kerr, and Caitlin Foord. The matches will be played in Europe next month.

🏉 The Perth Bears are preparing an offer for South Sydney Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell, according to the Daily Telegraph. NRL rules stop coach Mal Meninga’s side from approaching Mitchell until free agency opens on 1 November. However, they are reportedly willing to pay up to $1.7 million a season, higher than his current salary of $1.1 million. A conflicting report from the Sydney Morning Herald suggests Souths are comfortable waiting until March to open talks with Mitchell once he completes international duty and pre-season.

Only 3% of Australia's medical research funding goes towards women's health issues.

If that makes you feel hysterical, you're not alone. Swisse gets it: that's why they've launched HYSTERIA, a platform reclaiming the word and pushing for real conversation and funding for women's health. Their Ultiboost range backs that up, with support for everything from PMS and hormones to vaginal health and mental clarity, at every life stage.

Peter V'landys has officially been appointed executive chairman of the NRL, in a newly created role to replace the chief executive officer position. It comes after announcing earlier today that he will step down as CEO of Racing NSW, the state's governing body for horse racing.

The decision comes as V'landys prepares to turn all of his attention to rugby league. He began long-service leave from Racing NSW in July.

Already the chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), V'landys will now hold both the ARLC chair and the NRL executive chairman roles, after Andrew Abdo resigned as NRL CEO in May. Abdo is now chief executive of Tennis Australia.

Since the ARLC's inception in 2012, two different people have held the two roles governing the ARLC and NRL, meaning V'landys will now have a concentration of power across the sport that has not previously existed.

He said in a statement announcing his appointment: “I am honoured every day to have the opportunity to give something back to rugby league and could not be more excited for the game’s future. Rugby league is the greatest game of all, and we are going to take it to the world.”

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As thousands of fans prepare for Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, family violence prevention groups are warning it remains one of the riskiest weekends of the year for women, with frontline services bracing for a spike in demand.

National prevention body Our Watch is urging the sporting community to help prevent gender-based violence as the Brisbane Lions and Fremantle Dockers face off at the MCG.

Victoria Police is preparing for a 20 per cent rise in family violence incidents over the long weekend, a pattern Our Watch says has held for several years.

The group also cites this year’s FIFA World Cup, when a Vancouver-based support service reported a 37.2 per cent jump in contacts, as evidence the pattern reaches well beyond Australian football.

Similar spikes occur around NRL State of Origin nights, linked to a rise of more than 40 per cent in domestic assaults in New South Wales, according to a 2018 research from La Trobe University research.

In an interview with The Daily Aus, Our Watch chief executive Patty Kinnersly, said the sport itself is not the cause of the violence.

She said finals weekends combine more alcohol, heightened emotion, and family gatherings that give perpetrators more access to victims, and she linked the spike to attitudes around masculinity.

“Violence against women is driven by disrespect towards women and gender inequality playing out across our community,” she said.

“Our adherence as a community to a version of masculinity that says that men on these weekends should get rolling drunk and should be dominant and should be in control ... is a part of that story as well.”

Family violence is not confined to finals weekends.

On average, a woman is killed by a partner every nine days in Australia, and about one in four women has experienced violence, emotional abuse or economic abuse from a live-in partner.

Kinnersly said some police forces spend an estimated 70 per cent of their time on family, domestic or sexual violence, highlighting the scale of the issue and why prevention is important.

Our Watch runs a standing partnership with the AFL, training every AFL and AFLW team on gendered violence and helping clubs build a zero-tolerance culture year-round. The organisation has a similar relationship with the NRL.

Kinnersly pointed to the example of the AFL condemning and banning fans this week who threw bottles at match umpires following Hawthorn’s preliminary final loss to the Lions as a positive step in the right direction.

Kinnersly said the responsibility does not stop with codes and clubs and that the conversation needs to continue long after the season ends.

“Supporters are a part of this too. Speaking up when a mate makes a disrespectful comment about women, when it is safe to do so, helps challenge attitudes that otherwise allow harmful behaviours to go unquestioned.”