Cronulla Sharks to debut inaugural 'Tangata Moana' Pasifika jersey against Warriors
Sharks players Addin Fonua-Blake, Siosifa Talakai and KL Iro share why it's special to have pacific culture represented on the jersey and the strength, resilience and legacy they see in their pacific communities here in Australia.
Posted 17m ago 17 minutes ago Fri 6 Jun 2025 at 7:46am
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Wallabies express pride after avoiding Lions series whitewash with third-Test win
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt believes his squad is making progress after claiming a consolation victory in the third Test against the British and Irish Lions. The Lions had already wrapped up the series before Saturday night's final Test in Sydney, but the Wallabies avoided a whitewash with a 22-12 triumph in wet and wild conditions. Driving rain created difficult playing conditions, while the two teams were forced from the field for 40 minutes early in the second half due to lightning in the area surrounding Stadium Australia. After losing the first Test 27-19 in Brisbane and being pipped by the Lions 29-26 at the MCG last weekend, the Wallabies received a morale boost courtesy of their win in the series finale. Schmidt said he saw improvement from the Wallabies as the series played out. "I felt we grew through the series," he told reporters after the match. "We lost the first half of the series [opener] poorly and we won the second half. "We played well in the first half of the second Test. We didn't succeed eventually in that Test, but I felt we deserved to win both halves today." The dramatic nature of the Wallabies' defeat in the second Test in Melbourne made Saturday's result even more rewarding for Schmidt and his players. Schmidt had been critical of the refereeing decision not to award the Wallabies a penalty in the final minute of play when Lions back-rower Jac Morgan cleaned out Carlo Tizzano at a ruck. On the following phase, the Lions scored the match-winning try through Hugo Keenan. "I couldn't be … prouder of the way the players rebounded after last week," Schmidt said. "After the feeling of disappointment that they had, and it was deep, you almost had to let that run its course." Schmidt revealed injured tighthead prop Allan Alaalatoa had given a passionate address to the squad ahead of the third Test. Alaalatoa sustained a shoulder injury in the second Test, ruling him out of the Sydney leg of the series. Schmidt said Alaalatoa had lifted the mood of his teammates. "I think it was a little bit of the inspiration the players needed," he said. "We were flat early in the week and we got a little bit of an upswing, but I really think Allan helped." Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said Alaalatoa's message resonated with those who took the field against the Lions. "The thing with Allan is what he says, he delivers," Wilson said. "He has spoken to us quite a bit about being willing to put your body on the line for the team and do whatever it takes to win. "He's probably the most integral part of our squad. He's a leader in every facet of it, so when he came and spoke to us the day before the game about what we needed to be doing for each other to win a game, it really did hit home. " The Lions had been bullish about their ambitions in Australia throughout the tour, publicly stating they were chasing a 3-0 series win. Their cause in Sydney was not helped when captain Maro Itoje and winger Tommy Freeman failed their respective HIA, while lock James Ryan was knocked out in the second half. While disappointed, Lions coach Andy Farrell offered no excuses for his team's loss in the third Test. "There's obviously going to be frustration because we've said all along we wanted to win every game and rightly so," Farrell said. "But the best team won on the night today." The weather delay in the second half caused disruption to both teams, but the Wallabies — who led 8-0 at the time — controlled proceedings once play resumed. They established a 15-0 advantage through an opportunist try scored by Max Jorgensen, which was converted by Ben Donaldson, and it proved too big a gap on the scoreboard for the Lions to make up. Schmidt said the Wallabies benefited from having a contingency plan in place, knowing play could be halted due to lightning. "We had been warned that there might be lightning," he said. "So we had a little bit of a plan and with that plan we wanted to make sure players kept moving." The Wallabies will now turn their attention to the Rugby Championship, kicking off with back-to-back matches against two-time defending World Cup winners South Africa. They play the Springboks in Johannesburg on August 17, before the two teams face off again a week later in Cape Town.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
What time does the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix start? How can I watch it?
Oscar Piastri is chasing a seventh grand prix win in 2025, and a second consecutive Hungarian Grand Prix triumph. The Australian will start tonight from second on the grid after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc nabbed pole position on the final lap of Q3. Piastri's teammate Lando Norris is in third, George Russell put his Mercedes fourth, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri holds a 16-point lead over Norris heading into Sunday night's race. Here is what you need to know about the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix will be held on Sunday, August 3. Here is when the race will begin in each of Australia's states and territories. Fox Sports and its streaming platform Kayo will be broadcasting the Hungarian Grand Prix. Those watching on Foxtel can watch the race on Fox Sports, channel 506. You can also follow all the action with the ABC Sport live blog, from pre-race drama to the post-race synopsis. The Hungaroring is a track that rewards the very best drivers because it is a tricky and technical circuit. Much like Monaco, qualifying is very important around the Hungaroring as overtaking opportunities are scarce. The two best opportunities for a driver to overtake are at turns 1 and 2, both at the end of DRS zones. After the second turn, the track is very technical and requires a driver to be inch-perfect at every corner. The sequence of corners that come in rapid succession leads to teams often electing for high-downforce packages on their cars.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Australian rugby looks for pride and soul in the mud and the rain of a Lions dead rubber
Before the final Test of the Lions tour a cynic might suggest it doesn't matter how this chapter in Australian rugby ends, given the ultimate result was decided a week ago, but when the end is all that's left it matters a great deal. The easy cliché for a dead rubber is to say the side down 2-0 is playing for pride but Australian rugby could use a little pride and the Wallabies fought hard for it in their 22-12 win on Saturday night. As the rain fell so heavy on Stadium Australia the place rattled as though it had an old tin roof, the atmosphere before the match felt like the final day of school before the summer holidays. The last battle wasn't over but the war had been won and you could sense just how long a tour it's been for everyone. The wind and the rain kept the red and gold masses huddled close. A few Lions fans made a show of wearing shorts in defiance of the conditions, walking around with chests out and fine spirits and given the series was wrapped up, it's hard to begrudge them a little peacocking. "Is this what you Aussies call cold? Is this what you call winter?" one asked with a beer in each hand and two more half-finished ones in his jacket pockets, as another man strode past one of the precinct's few pubs blasting a tune on the bagpipes. The stakes on the field still felt high to the last, even accounting for the Lions' earlier victories in Brisbane and Perth, and there were heroes to be found all through the mud and the grime. In his final Test match Nic White marshalled and fought and chipped like Snidely Whiplash if he knew how to box kick and the retiring halfback deserved the standing ovation he received on exit. Taniela Tupou, whose best football has been so hard to come by in recent times, played with a spirit that was clear from the moment the tears fell from his eyes during the national anthem and Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i, of whom so much is always expected and demanded, had his best game of the series. Will Skelton was as powerful as the lightning that forced the delay in the second half and man of the match Tom Hooper would have fought a starving dog for the last bone if that's what it took to win. It was not the highest-quality Test of the series, but it was the meanest and the Lions were not poor, but they weren't as sharp as they'd been in Brisbane and Melbourne. That's to be expected — as dearly as they wanted the clean-sweep, that motivation pales in comparison to the Wallabies' fear of being swept which, properly channelled, is as powerful a force as exists in sport. But to the Wallabies' credit they didn't win on desperation alone — they were smarter than they were in the first two Tests, and steadier with the lead. There's a slight bitter aftertaste to the win, because if Australia played like that the whole way through — and especially if they had Skelton for all three Tests — so many things could have been different but what's already happened can't change and all the Wallabies have now is the future. What that future looks like is harder to parse. This win will not save Australian rugby, just like the series defeat will not condemn it. Australian rugby's glory days were never going to come again based on the result of one game, or one series or one moment of brilliance or brutality. The game's weaknesses are too complex and deep-seated to vanish overnight. But by the same token, losing one game, or one series, even one as big as this Lions tour has felt, will never be enough to condemn the sport. Even after the difficult decade it's endured there are too many diehards, too much love for the game at a grassroots and community level for that to happen and that's come to the fore at all three Tests where the crowd has been thick with local club jerseys on children and adults alike. What this series has done is make rugby feel prominent and important in Australia's crowded sporting scene again. It has made the game vital in a way it hasn't been in years and the sense of occasion has been enormous. People were invested. Pubs and stadiums were filled, as were column word counts and television segments and podcast hours. It's reactivated old fans, who remember the glorious times, and in a world addicted to nostalgia that's a powerful force. It might inspire a few new ones as well, which can still happen in defeat — just ask Max Jorgensen, one of rugby's brightest stars, who might not have been here at all had he not attended the 2015 World Cup final as an 11-year-old. This series and the Wallabies' prospects and performances felt important in a way that cut through the malaise that has too often enveloped the game in recent years. The magnitude of the events over the past three weeks, the sense of panache, would make any young athlete dream of being a part of a series like this. But eventually, the confetti is swept away and the fans wander off into the night in search of one last beer together before it's all over and the wait starts for 2037 and the Stadium Australia precinct grows cold and quiet again. A 2-1 loss can have plenty of upside, but it's still a 2-1 loss and pride alone can't run a game forever. There are silver linings to be found, not manna from heaven — but silver can still take you a long way. Australian rugby needed that win in Sydney but not as badly as it needed this as a whole experience to both fill the coffers and win a few hearts and minds. It's done plenty of the former, perhaps some of the latter and while the Lions series can't be a miracle cure it can be a shot in the arm. That sense of vitality that has been so present through this tour must be found again wherever it can be. A Lions tour serves it up on a platter but forging it anew is far harder. How that can be done remains to be seen but winning and looking good doing it in a way that felt true and real and red-blooded, will go a long way towards that goal. You can't manufacture this kind of prestige, but you can make the most of what you've got until you get a little bit more and this game was proof that the Wallabies have plenty about them. With a Rugby Championship and a spring tour to come this year and a home World Cup on the horizon, there will be no shortage of chances to use it. Australian rugby needs more of the soul it found in Sydney amid the rain and the blood and the joy. To do that it needs to keep some of the spotlight the Wallabies have found. It won't be as bright, not until the World Cup, but it can still light the way. A dead rubber is only a dead rubber, but this one showed there was talent in this side and great spirit, enough to be dangerous and dashing and exciting, enough to feel a future filled with brilliant tomorrows is possible. Given the doom and gloom that's enveloped the sport for so long, that's worth plenty and while this Test was the end of something, it can be the start of something else.
