
Izak Rankine is born to play to full houses as his talent ensures Adelaide stay on song
Rankine got his five goals when Adelaide needed them most and he got them in so many different ways. He got them by floating through the middle, by ducking into space in the pocket, by getting front and square, by banana bending them from set shots and by sharking ruck contests. He nearly had a career-high sixth after a wonderful lunging spoil and a bit of jujitsu hustling forced a free kick.
He has a remarkable ability to get down low and still move at high speed. But he's not just a lurker who kicks freak goals. He applies pressure and works hard at both ends of the ground. His field kicking and his ability to push up the ground and pinpoint a fellow forward are standouts. If he gets a clear run at it, he's capable of being one of the best players in the country. He is already one of the best to watch, one of the hardest to match up on and one of the most important to his team. He's a footballer born to play to full houses, and to ignite what was a pretty plain team prior to 2025.
Rankine missed about two months of footy last year and the Crows missed him desperately. It was such a frustrating year for the club. They were beaten by a wretched Richmond and allowed Joel Amartey to put nine goals on them. This year they have their swagger back. Their backline and midfield are honest but it's the forward line that packs out Adelaide Oval. Six of them have kicked more than 20 goals this year. It's a mix of the gargantuan, the canny, the flashy, the freakish, the unobtrusive and the selfless. When one is quiet, another will step up. Against the Demons, it was Rankine's turn.
Earlier in the day, Sydney kept their slim finals hopes alive by hanging on against Fremantle. The Dockers have excelled in close finishes recently, an area that cost them a finals spot last year. And with Shai Bolton springing to life, they looked as though they might run over the top of the Swans. But the home side had a bit too much class, and their stars were everywhere in the dying minutes. With a fairly soft draw and the faintest sniff of finals, they're exactly the sort of team you'd be keen to avoid in the next two months. GWS Giants, Brisbane and Geelong (at the SCG) wouldn't want to put a foot wrong against them on the run home.
Sam Powell-Pepper and his wife Brya welcomed their third daughter earlier this week. The Port Adelaide forward was like a man possessed in the first half against Brisbane, powering out the front of stoppages and kicking two goals. Port were more than holding their own in a high standard affair. In the third term, he led and marked on the wing, played on immediately and his left buckled. It's the opposite knee to the one he injured just over 12 months ago. He was as angry and as devastated as you see a footballer in that circumstance.
Powell-Pepper is one of those aggressive, high adrenalin, low possession, maximum impact footballers who gets the Power motoring and who coach Ken Hinkley adores. 'It gets a bit sadder for me because it's my last game of coaching Sam, and he's been such a great player for me,' Hinkley said.
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Earlier, Geelong had a walk in the park against a bunch of kids from Richmond, one of whom, No 1 pick Sam Lalor, tore his hamstring in the opening few minutes. Apart from Nick Vlastuin ironing out Patrick Dangerfield, it felt as far removed from the years of their great rivalry as you could get. Just to drum home the genius of the AFL fixture, the two teams meet again next month. But for all the hype over the Tigers' draftees – and the ones still in the shed might be the best of the bunch – the Cats rolled out yet another bargain pick who slotted in seamlessly.
George Stevens is a lantern-jawed ball magnet who was overlooked by every other club in the 2023 national draft. Maybe they were put off by the torn ACL, the lack of speed, and the fact he didn't go to one of the private school football factories. He did his year in the VFL, regularly amassing 25 or more touches. Like Tom Mitchell, he plays an uncomplicated game and gets a heap of the ball. He played his junior footy at South Warrnambool, home of Jonathan Brown, Hugh McCluggage and Wayne Schwass. These players are out there – in local leagues and on the fringes of the draft – and more often than not they're snapped up by Geelong.

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The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Playing loose with virtue wins no hearts, and Arsenal should know better
'We are courageous in the pursuit of progress.' 'We champion our community and each other.' 'We do the right thing (even when no one is looking).' The values and culture of Arsenal Football Club, as proclaimed on the club's careers website. Shall we generously call that half a point out of three? Certainly you would struggle to mark Arsenal too highly on courage or intrinsic goodliness right now. But the unhappy case of Thomas Partey illustrates the lengths to which they are willing to go to champion one of their own. You knew. I knew. Rival fans knew, even if their taunting of Partey was always delivered with the sort of gleeful relish that does not exactly scream concern for the alleged victims of sexual violence. And so of course did the staff and board of Arsenal; knew the man with whom they shared a workplace and a dressing room until last week, knew what he was accused of doing. Care, compassion and discretion are of course utterly vital at this point. The charging of Partey on 4 July means the accusations against him will finally be heard in court in early August: five counts of rape, and one of sexual assault, involving three separate women between 2021 and 2022. Partey's lawyer, Jenny Wiltshire of Hickman and Rose, referred in a statement to her client now 'welcoming the opportunity to finally clear his name'. And it is the word 'finally' that stands out here: an acknowledgment of the protracted and often painful three-year process that has brought us to this point, during which Partey was the word English football dared not speak. Wiltshire, of course, is deeply familiar with such matters. She was also employed by the Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy, who was cleared in 2023 of seven charges of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault. 'She has often achieved positive results for her clients long before the charge stage,' reads her corporate bio. 'This has caused her to be much in demand by high‑profile clients seeking a swift and discreet resolution to what, if made public, would be highly damaging allegations.' All of which is an acknowledgment that there is always a wider consideration to such cases: establishing a verdict and getting to the truth, but also managing the optics and reputations. Partey denies all the charges against him. There is no sense in prejudging the outcome of his case before all the facts come to light. The presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial are important legal principles in this country. But the presumption of shining personal virtue is not, and many of Arsenal's actions over the past three years give the impression of an organisation not simply content to employ Partey, but positively proud of doing so. Who seriously considered – at the urging of coach Mikel Arteta – offering a new contract and extending his stay at the Emirates Stadium beyond last Monday. Who regarded their talented central midfielder not as an alleged rapist but as a man to be lauded and celebrated, perhaps even a kind of victim himself. Three months after being arrested for the first time, and about a year after Arsenal were first made aware of a rape allegation against him, Partey scored a thumping goal against Tottenham in the north London derby. Afterwards, Arteta said: 'For what he's been through, and the injuries, and the effort that he put in this week, to be available for the team, I'm so happy for him. He deserves it.' Over the subsequent years Partey would play more than 100 times for Arsenal. His goals would earn them four points in the Premier League; his defensive work probably earned them many more. His collision with Rodri in which the Spaniard injured knee ligaments may well have had a decisive influence on the 2024‑25 title. Meanwhile Arteta would continually lionise Partey's importance to Arsenal on the pitch, and towards the end of last season reiterated that he wanted Partey to stay. Obviously it would have been legally complex for Arsenal to terminate Partey's contract before criminal charges had been laid. But of course there are steps that it is perfectly reasonable for a club to take against a player that do not require an absolute burden of criminal proof. Richly talented footballers such as Mesut Özil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were quietly moved towards the exit for perceived off-field failings. Last year a kit manager called Mark Bonnick was sacked for social media posts he wrote about Israel. And there were plenty of legally unproblematic options available to Arsenal here that might have offered a certain comfort to the fans now feeling a sense of betrayal at the actions of the club they love. You do not, for example, have to praise him on social media. You do not have to pay tribute to his character or resilience after 'what he's been through'. You do not have to play him 108 times or spend much of June deliberating over whether he is worth a new contract. Who at the club made these calls and why? Who knew what, when? Who spoke out and who did not? And in supporting him so unconditionally, was it in fact Arsenal who are guilty of prejudging Partey's case long before a jury would ever get the chance? Arsenal fans deserve answers, but it appears none are forthcoming for now. 'Due to ongoing legal proceedings the club is unable to comment on the case,' they said in a statement. And perhaps in terms of the PR, this is Arsenal's best strategy right now: say nothing, do nothing, and hope the whole storm passes. There is a new figurehead at the base of midfield, and quite apart from being a better and younger player Martín Zubimendi offers the sensation of renewal, of turning the page, perhaps even a kind of purgation. The women are champions of Europe and will play all their home league games at the Emirates next season. There are always happier, simpler stories to tell, and Arsenal will never get tired of telling those. Naturally we should be wary of singling out Arsenal here. There is, or should be, no room for tribal triumphalism. Many other clubs would have acted similarly in similar circumstances. In a sense Arsenal's business-as-usual stance over the past three years is simply one of the defining characteristics of end-stage capitalism, one in which big companies ruthlessly pursue the bottom line while trumpeting their virtue. We are courageous in the pursuit of progress. We champion our community and each other. We do the right thing (even when no one is looking). This is the moral creed of Arsenal. Their fans are still waiting for them to deliver on it.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Former Arsenal sporting director Edu joins Forest
Former Arsenal sporting director Edu has joined Nottingham Forest in a newly established global head of football role. Forest said the Brazilian will "oversee all football-related functions, including recruitment, performance, squad strategy and player development". Edu, 47, played for Arsenal between 2001 and 2005, winning two Premier League titles, and rejoined them in 2019 as technical director. He was promoted to sporting director in November 2022 but resigned in November 2024. "I'm truly excited about this new chapter and honoured by the trust placed in me," said Edu. "This project connects deeply with my values around innovation and long-term planning. I look forward to building a global football model that is competitive, sustainable, and aligned with our president's [Evangelos Marinakis] ambition."Forest owner Marinakis also controls Greek team Olympiakos as well as Portuguese club Rio Ave, and confirmed last December that he had been in talks to purchase Brazilian side Vasco da who also played for Valencia and had two spells at Corinthians, joined the latter as director of football in 2011 and served as Brazil national team's general coordinator from 2016 to 2019. At Arsenal, the former Brazil midfielder played a key role in recruiting manager Mikel Arteta, with the Gunners going on to win the FA Cup during the Spaniard's first major silverware has eluded them since, Edu was widely credited with helping transform the club into genuine title challengers once again.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'This project connects deeply with my values' - Edu joins Forest in new role
Edu Gaspar says he is "truly excited" after Nottingham Forest announced he will take up the club's newly established role of Global Head of Football, overseeing football retiring from his playing career in 2011, Edu has held senior roles at Corinthians, the Brazil national team and, most recently, 46-year-old resigned from his role as the Gunners' sporting director in November 2024, stating it was "time to pursue a different challenge".As a player, Edu played for Corinthians, Arsenal and Valencia as well as earning 15 caps for Brazil. His time in England brought two Premier League titles and two FA his time as firstly technical director and then sporting director in North London, he was heavily involved in bringing manager Mikel Arteta to Arsenal, with the club winning the FA Cup at the end of Arteta's first season in charge."I'm truly excited about this new chapter and honoured by the trust placed in me," he said on the move."This project connects deeply with my values around innovation and long-term planning. I look forward to building a global football model that is competitive, sustainable, and aligned with our President's ambition."In his new role, Forest say Edu will "oversee all football-related functions, including recruitment, performance, squad strategy, and player development".Forest president Evangelos Marinakis added: "We are extremely happy to welcome Edu to our football family. "His global experience, values, and winning mindset align perfectly with our objective to strengthen and expand our international football platform."