Well, aren’t you a smart bunch.

43% of voters in yesterday’s trivia question were correct - Stockholm was the only one of the cities listed to have previously hosted the Olympics.

The Swedish capital hosted the 1912 Olympics, and the equestrian events during the 1956 Olympics, which were actually hosted by Melbourne.

As a reminder, the cities included that haven’t hosted the Games were Toronto, Madrid, Chicago, and Buenos Aires.

1997
The year that Venus Williams made her singles debut at the U.S. Open and went on to win the title. Twenty-nine years later, at the age of 46, Williams is set to compete in the tournament again after being handed a wildcard spot in the women’s singles draw. This week, Venus competed alongside her younger sister and 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, Serena, in the women’s doubles at the Cincinnati Open. The pair, who won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, were beaten in the opening round.

“It really did upset me and it upset a lot of the other boys to see things and hear things like that. I felt a bit emotional but then tried to forget about it.”
Socceroos star Nestory Irankunda in an interview on ABC Radio addressing the comments made by Pauline Hanson during Australia’s World Cup campaign. At the National Press Club in June, Hanson called for a monocultural Australia where people live under “one cultural umbrella”. She later told the Senate: “The Socceroos, in fact, represent my vision of a monocultural Australia. People from different background and cultures and nations all wearing the green and gold and representing one nation under one flag and succeeding under the same set of rules.” Irankunda was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania before migrating to Australia with his parents and is one of several players in the team with a similar upbringing.

The 100th rugby player to become a Wallaby (i.e. part of Australia’s men’s national team) was Ken Gavin. Aptly, his middle name was ‘Australia’. He was disqualified from rugby union in 1909 after accepting £100 to play in a rugby league exhibition series.

🏑 The Kookaburras are two-for-two in the pool stage of the FIH Hockey World Cup after a 1-0 victory over Spain. It was a tight battle in Australia’s 100th World Cup match, with the Kookaburras not breaking the 0-0 deadlock until early in the final quarter. The team’s final pool stage match will be against South Africa on Thursday at 7pm (AEST). Meanwhile, the Hockeyroos, the Australian women’s team, will take on Chile in their last pool-stage match at 5:30pm tonight (AEST).

🏉 Former Adelaide Crows player Ricky Henderson is suing the AFL and Fox Sports for over $1.2 million after a camera in the change rooms aired footage of his genitals at the Gabba in 2013. According to court documents obtained by the ABC, Henderson claims the broadcast breached his privacy and caused acute stress disorder that later became chronic PTSD. In response, the AFL and Fox Sports argue the footage came from a public warm-up area where players were aware of broadcast cameras and not a private change room where cameras are not allowed. The matter will return to court later this month.

🏉 Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has been unveiled as the NSW Waratahs’ head coach for the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season, returning to the club he steered to its only title in 2014. The 59-year-old will take over a side that finished eighth this year and has not reached the finals since 2023. Cheika will first see out the NRL season as a Sydney Roosters assistant and coach Lebanon at the Rugby League World Cup, before switching codes ahead of the home Rugby World Cup in 2027.

Worksite safety, redefined by Claude

Aussies are transforming safety for construction workers using AI. Presien, a physical AI company for heavy industry, used Claude to develop an agentic platform that analyses worksites around the clock - cutting critical safety events by over 70% in three months.

Giants Netball have rebranded this week, unveiling new colours and a new logo as the Sydney Sirens.

It marks the formal launch of the Super Netball franchise’s fresh start under new ownership Sports Entertainment Group (SEG).

The Sirens’ first full team roster has not yet been announced as the contracting period for next season is still open until 28 August. There are a couple of pieces in place though: Giants coach Nerida Stewart will stay on with the rebranded team and Amy Sligar, who debuted for the Giants in 2021, was the Sirens’ first announced signing on a three-year deal.

SEG does not take formal control of the licence until 1 October. The organisation also owns the Melbourne Mavericks, a fellow Super Netball club, and two teams in the Women’s National Basketball League. It sold men’s basketball side, the Perth Wildcats, earlier this year for around $40 million. SEG is the parent company of Sports Entertainment Network (SEN).

In a statement yesterday, CEO of SEN Teams, Richard Simkiss, said: “Today is much more than the unveiling of a new name and logo. It’s the beginning of an exciting new era for netball in New South Wales.”

The rebrand has surfaced a naming conflict, with an amateur women’s ice hockey club also called the Sydney Sirens competing in the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League since 2005. The ice hockey club told the Guardian they are weighing their options.

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The Sydney Swans have announced five players will not be considered for selection for the remainder of the season. The players are: Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon, and Riley Bice.

It comes amid an ongoing investigation by Victoria Police into a sexual assault allegation made on Monday.

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.

On Monday, Victoria Police confirmed its sexual crimes squad is investigating an allegation of sexual assault on 17 August at a hotel in East Melbourne, following the Swans’ game against Essendon on Sunday afternoon.

The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid at the time of reporting.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Swans said the five players will not be considered for the remainder of the season. The club said: “We respect there is an ongoing investigation by Victoria Police and the actions we have taken today are independent of this.”

The decision comes after club officials interviewed the players on Tuesday. According to the AFL, Sydney “has not ruled out further sanctions once the outcome of the police investigation is clear”.

Club chairman Andrew Pridham and CEO Matthew Pavlich held a press conference at midday on Wednesday. Pridham and Pavlich said the bans relate to the players continuing to drink late and bringing women back to the team hotel. Pavlich said the conduct “fell a long way short of what we expect of our players”.

At the press conference, I asked Pavlich if he regretted his phrasing at a press conference earlier in the week that the players had ‘found’ themselves in the situation. He replied: “We were trying to take ownership of this process and this incident. We are deeply disappointed with the players’ behaviour. But at the same time, yeah, we are expressing our concerns deeply for the women involved.”

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon released a statement on Tuesday night.

It said in part: “The conduct and serious allegations regarding Sydney Swans players are deeply concerning.⁣.. The woman who made the report to police is entitled to privacy and care, and that should be respected.⁣..

“Our first question should not be what this means for a football club. It should be whether our actions match the standards we stand for and the community expects of us.⁣”