Hale T Pole represents all Pacific Island rugby players these days
Will Hopoate talks us through some of the exciting finishes in the NRL this week, Sam Wykes casts his eye over Samoa's game vs Scotland and the latest news for the Pasifika First Nations game and Shellie Long sums up the underdog victories in the NRLW.
NB: Hear the Hale T Pole interview at 29:30
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The Australian
10 hours ago
- The Australian
Rugby Australia relaxes 'redundant' limit on foreign-based players
Rugby Australia has signalled that more overseas-based players will be allowed to represent the Wallabies, shifting away from a strict policy that has heavily favoured domestic players. The so-called "Giteau Law" -- named after former fly-half Matt Giteau -- has for years put restrictions on overseas-based players being selected for the Wallabies. But with Test stars such as lock Will Skelton, flanker Tom Hooper and prop Taniela Tupou all joining an exodus to Europe, Rugby Australia has indicated the Giteau Law has been dropped. That gives head coach Joe Schmidt a free selection hand when he names his squad for the Rugby Championship this week. "Joe's got no impediment to select whoever he wants," Rugby Australia head of high performance Peter Horne said. "The Giteau Law, it's kind of redundant right," Horne added in comments reported by Schmidt is due to name his squad Thursday for the Rugby Championship which begins this month. Scrapping the rule would also benefit incoming head coach Les Kiss, who takes over the Wallabies next year tasked with preparing for the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2027. The Giteau Law was adopted by the Wallabies in 2015, allowing overseas-based players to represent the side only if they had played 60 Tests for Australia and seven seasons of Super Rugby. It enabled players such as Matt Giteau, who was then starring for Toulon, to be picked for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Before then, Australia had a blanket ban on overseas-based players representing the Wallabies. sft/dh
The Advertiser
13 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Healy in form for low-key return on Cup runway
Australia's bowlers will be chuffed Alyssa Healy has some fresh targets when the fit-again captain launches her World Cup preparation in Mackay. Healy will feature for Australia A against India A in a multi-format series that begins with three T20s in central Queensland from Thursday. The matches will mark the Australian captain's first since the Ashes success at the start of the year, when she missed games with a stress fracture in her foot and did not keep wicket in others. She also missed the finals of last year's T20 World Cup with the foot injury and had a knee issue end her WBBL season early. The 35-year-old then sat out ODIs in New Zealand and the WPL in India as a result of her injuries, but said she has been fit and able to play since March. "It's unreal," Australia A teammate Tess Flintoff said of Healy's presence. "We've had a few camps in Brisbane and had to bowl to her and she's in form ... which is good, but not when I'm bowling to her. "But for these games it'll be awesome to see how she goes." Healy's firepower - memorably demonstrated in her blazing 75 from 39 balls at a packed MCG in the T20 World Cup final in 2020 - isn't all she wants to bring to the table. The skipper is determined to keep wicket at August's 50-over World Cup, tweaking her technique to become more sustainable as the team aims to be the tournament's first back-to-back winners in almost 40 years. Uncapped Flintoff will push her case for an Australia debut after winning a national contract, while vice-captain Tahlia McGrath will take part in the three one-day matches in Brisbane alongside Kim Garth and Darcie Brown. Destructive Indian batter Shafali Verma headlines the tourist's squad. Australia's bowlers will be chuffed Alyssa Healy has some fresh targets when the fit-again captain launches her World Cup preparation in Mackay. Healy will feature for Australia A against India A in a multi-format series that begins with three T20s in central Queensland from Thursday. The matches will mark the Australian captain's first since the Ashes success at the start of the year, when she missed games with a stress fracture in her foot and did not keep wicket in others. She also missed the finals of last year's T20 World Cup with the foot injury and had a knee issue end her WBBL season early. The 35-year-old then sat out ODIs in New Zealand and the WPL in India as a result of her injuries, but said she has been fit and able to play since March. "It's unreal," Australia A teammate Tess Flintoff said of Healy's presence. "We've had a few camps in Brisbane and had to bowl to her and she's in form ... which is good, but not when I'm bowling to her. "But for these games it'll be awesome to see how she goes." Healy's firepower - memorably demonstrated in her blazing 75 from 39 balls at a packed MCG in the T20 World Cup final in 2020 - isn't all she wants to bring to the table. The skipper is determined to keep wicket at August's 50-over World Cup, tweaking her technique to become more sustainable as the team aims to be the tournament's first back-to-back winners in almost 40 years. Uncapped Flintoff will push her case for an Australia debut after winning a national contract, while vice-captain Tahlia McGrath will take part in the three one-day matches in Brisbane alongside Kim Garth and Darcie Brown. Destructive Indian batter Shafali Verma headlines the tourist's squad. Australia's bowlers will be chuffed Alyssa Healy has some fresh targets when the fit-again captain launches her World Cup preparation in Mackay. Healy will feature for Australia A against India A in a multi-format series that begins with three T20s in central Queensland from Thursday. The matches will mark the Australian captain's first since the Ashes success at the start of the year, when she missed games with a stress fracture in her foot and did not keep wicket in others. She also missed the finals of last year's T20 World Cup with the foot injury and had a knee issue end her WBBL season early. The 35-year-old then sat out ODIs in New Zealand and the WPL in India as a result of her injuries, but said she has been fit and able to play since March. "It's unreal," Australia A teammate Tess Flintoff said of Healy's presence. "We've had a few camps in Brisbane and had to bowl to her and she's in form ... which is good, but not when I'm bowling to her. "But for these games it'll be awesome to see how she goes." Healy's firepower - memorably demonstrated in her blazing 75 from 39 balls at a packed MCG in the T20 World Cup final in 2020 - isn't all she wants to bring to the table. The skipper is determined to keep wicket at August's 50-over World Cup, tweaking her technique to become more sustainable as the team aims to be the tournament's first back-to-back winners in almost 40 years. Uncapped Flintoff will push her case for an Australia debut after winning a national contract, while vice-captain Tahlia McGrath will take part in the three one-day matches in Brisbane alongside Kim Garth and Darcie Brown. Destructive Indian batter Shafali Verma headlines the tourist's squad.
West Australian
13 hours ago
- West Australian
Ex-NBL star Paul Maley and daughter Anneli open up on breast cancer fears before AFL Pink Lady game
When former basketball star Paul Maley was diagnosed with breast cancer, his first question was 'how?' and then his thoughts turned to what it meant for his kids. A father of four, Maley was a NBL star, winning a championship with North Melbourne Giants. His daughter Anneli is also an elite basketballer, had just signed a WNBL injury replacement deal with Chicago Sky and was on the verge of a contract with Perth Lynx. Anneli was preparing to fly to Chicago from Vienna after representing Australia at the 2023 3x3 World Cup when Paul was diagnosed. She instantly withdrew from Training Camp and came home. Doctors explained to Paul that about one per cent of the 21,000 Australians who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year are men. Then they asked him to do a test to see if the cancer was genetic. 'Because it is rare, they wanted me to do a genetic test because a mutation to the BRCA gene could explain it,' Maley said. 'If I had that mutation, then all of my kids would have a 50 per cent chance of having the same thing which means they would have had to get tested. If Anneli was positive, she would have had to have a double mastectomy and that caused me huge anxiety. That really scared me. Fortunately that test came back negative.' Maley is the ambassador for Sunday's Pink Lady match between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at the MCG and Demons veteran Jake Melksham will have his name on his uniform. This will be the 21st year of the Pink Lady game and fans can purchase a virtual place on the pink lady symbol for $25 as Breast Cancer Network Australia aims to raise $150,000. While Paul was worrying about his kids, Anneli said her only concern was that her dad survived. 'My biggest fear wasn't for my future self or the boys' future self, it was for him,' she explained. 'Even when he was talking about getting the genetic testing done, I was saying that I didn't care because I wanted him to finish his chemo so he could be healthy. It wasn't until a few months later that I was able to process and it and realise that I am blessed that I didn't have to deal with carrying the BRCA gene. 'But it doesn't mean I will stop getting checked. I still go once a year like I'm supposed to. As a female and knowing the statistics, I am going to get checked.' And that's the biggest message Paul wants men to understand. As a man, and a former star athlete, he always avoided going to the doctor. But this time, he understood the urgency and said racing to the doctor may have saved his life. 'I was lucky,' he said. 'I was laying in bed and rolled over trying to get comfortable, put my right hand in my left arm pit and then I felt a lump. 'I've been waiting to get another clean out of my knees for 20 years. I don't usually go to the doctor. But that felt wrong, so I went to the doctor the next day. If I hadn't, it could have been a very different prognosis. If you're a bloke and notice anything different, get it checked.'
