BTN Newsbreak 4/07/2025
And finally, to a theatre shot unlike any you've seen before. Starring heavy machinery, buses, and cars, this is one Estonian theatre company's take on Romeo and Juliette. And it seems like the audience rather enjoyed it.
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News.com.au
a minute ago
- News.com.au
Melbourne Storm makeshift halves pair shine with Hughes to return before finals
Melbourne Storm will be without gun centre Jack Howarth for multiple weeks after suffering a groin injury in the lead-up to his team's stunning take down of the Brisbane Broncos as the Jahrome Hughes contingency plan went off without a hitch. With the availability of star Dally M-winning halfback Hughes up in the air due to a shoulder injury, the Storm have turned to utility Tyran Wishart and promising young half Jonah Pezet to fill the enormous void. Wishart producing an eye-catching performance at halfback for the first 50 minutes before Pezet was inserted for the last half-hour and excelled in Thursday night's 22-2 win at AAMI Park. Storm coach Craig Bellamy said there was no need to rush Hughes back due to the form of Wishart in particular, but would like him to have some match fitness before finals. 'I don't think we're any wiser than we were last week,' he said of the Hughes return date. 'He seems to be coming on pretty well and the physios are happy with the way he's coming on, so hopefully we'll get him back sooner rather than later. 'I'd just love to see him play a game before the finals to be quite honest, so we'll just see how that goes. 'We've got four weeks before the finals now, so we'll just see what happens. ''Wish' is doing a great job there and 'Pez' came on and did a solid job as well, so we're certainly not going to rush him.' Wishart capped a superb game with a try. The 25-year-old had 76 run metres, 243 kick metres and 33 tackles in 69 minutes, but more importantly looks in sync with five-eighth Cameron Munster. Bellamy loves the readiness of Wishart, who also spent time in the centres when Pezet had his stint at halfback. 'His versatility is unbelievable,' Bellamy said. 'He never lets you down, he always gets the job done. 'He's a great asset to have around … you just seem to be able to stick him anywhere and he gets the job done for us.' High flyer Xavier Coates played another starring role for the Storm with two tries. The 24-year-old was denied what would have been one of the tries of the season, a 95m intercept, by a few blades of grass and an unbelievable tackled by Broncos winger Selwyn Cobbo. 'He's been such a great addition to our team since he's come here,' Bellamy said. 'He just keeps really getting better and better to be quite honest. 'He's defending a lot better now, he's a lot more comfortable around the team and willing to give other players in the team advice, or a little rev when they need it. 'He had a great year last year and he's had a wonderful year this year so far, so hopefully he can keep it up.' Bellamy was thrilled with how the Storm's defence stood up, keeping a potent Broncos side to just two points after they posted 60 the week before. 'That was one of our better defensive efforts for the season I thought,' he said. 'There's still a few things attack wise we can improve a bit, but certainly it was a really good defensive effort and we're real happy with that.' Bellamy confirmed that young centre Jack Howarth will be out for multiple weeks with his groin injury.
News.com.au
a minute ago
- News.com.au
Craig McRae says Collingwood players refused to fight in Hawthorn thumping
Collingwood coach Craig McRae slammed his team's lack of fight and effort after their thumping 64-point loss to Hawthorn at the MCG on Thursday night as their late-season form slump reached alarming levels. McRae admitted his team was 'rocked' by Jeremy Howe's sickening concussion in the opening minutes, and while concerned at how disorganised the backline looked without Howe, he refused to use the star defender's absence as an excuse. The Magpies have now lost four of their past five matches and, concerningly, all of those defeats have been against top-eight teams. After sitting 10 points clear on top of the ladder a mere five weeks ago, and being in first place for 11 straight rounds, they could drop to fourth by Saturday. All of a sudden they're no guarantee of a double chance after being premiership favourites for the bulk of the season. The usually upbeat McRae couldn't hide his devastation after what he agreed was Collingwood's worst performance of the year. 'I apologise to our Magpie Army,' he said. 'That's a disappointing performance. You can't sugarcoat that. 'We're hurting. That one really hurt. Just a lack of system and then a lack of fight, lack of effort - sometimes at the same time, which leaves us really vulnerable. 'When we get behind, we want to chase. Six goals is not enough for me for our fans to watch at home. I don't know how many kept watching right through the end. 'Your 114,000 members expect a certain amount of effort and we didn't have it.' McRae said he needed to quickly 'glue' his team back together with just two games left before finals. 'We just had some really poor efforts at times,' he said. 'This is the reality of what we've got right now. Like I've always said to our players: nothing's permanent. 'For a long time I don't recall us having that poor of connection ... we got hurt really bad. 'We've got … 19 or 20 100-game players. They know how to play their role. 'We've got to back our system in. It's served us well and under pressure, under adversity, go back to what you know and go do your job and it's up to me to glue them together ... and we take responsibility for what we did tonight.' McRae was in 'no doubt' that his players have started thinking about outcomes rather than staying in the moment and focusing on the process. 'You can see it and I call it out when I see it,' he said. 'We come back to minutes and seconds. So we lost a few minutes and seconds tonight, but we've got to stay present to that. When you start to think outcome and expectation, then you're not doing, you're thinking. 'So you come to a stoppage and you're out of the position, we go, 'Hey, come on. What are you doing in that position?' So you start to think more than do.' The Collingwood coach also suspected his players have started going into their shells during games, and he had a simple solution for that. 'If you're quiet, talk,' he said. 'What do you do when you have confidence and have form? Just do that. 'Oh, I'm quiet when I've got no confidence' – well, then, be loud. 'I don't go for my marks' – well, go for your marks. 'I tackle when I've got confidence' – well, tackle. So they're actions, not thoughts. It's right in front of us.' McRae said the early loss of Howe couldn't be used as an excuse for defensive disorganisation. 'Three guys flying at the one ball, spoiling at the same time, is not system, and we've worked on that all pre-season,' McRae said. 'Those things we can fix. The effort stuff I'd like to think is an anomaly.' Despite the worrying trajectory his team is currently on, McRae remains supremely confident about what his team can achieve this year. 'There's still lots of minutes as far as I'm aware, and we'll make the most of those,' he said.
News.com.au
a minute ago
- News.com.au
Aussie whiz kid falls out of T20 team, X-factor is ‘batting too low'
Former Australian all-rounder Brendon Julian has backed Big Bash champion Mitch Owen to play a key part in Australia's T20 XI going forward, with Jake Fraser-McGurk set to fall out of the side. Australia defeated the West Indies 5-0 in the Caribbean, with Tim David's century Owen's maiden half century, Glenn Maxwell's athleticism and a well rounded bowling attack proving formidable. The Aussies head to north Queensland and Darwin for three T20s and three ODIs starting on Sunday against South Africa, who beat Australia in the World Test Championship final. Australia vs South Africa T20I & ODI Series | Watch every ball LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Owen was a breakout star of last summer, leading the Hobart Hurricanes to the Big Bash title, before carrying his blistering stroke play into the international arena. With the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka just over six months away, Owen has the chance to secure his spot in the Australian XI, most likely at Fraser-McGurk's expense. 'Mitch Owen and Matt Short are quality players,' Julian told 'They're two guys that'll keep Australia right in the hunt heading into the World Cup next year.' Fraser-McGurk is yet to make a score of significance for Australia, with his best T20 form coming in the Indian Premier League. The 23-year-old has 98 runs from seven ODI innings and 115 runs from eight T20 innings. Last summer Mark Waugh urged Fraser-McGurk to hit the ball along the ground early in his innings, before opening the shoulders and swinging for sixes. Fraser-McGurk and Cooper Connolly have been left out of the squad for the games against South Africa, with Australia bolstered by the return of Josh Hazlewood and Travis Head. Julian highlighted the flexibility of Australia's batting line-up as a strength, with Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Short, Owen, Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh and Cameron Green all capable of opening the batting if needed. 'I love the way that the selectors have sort of chopped and changed (the batting order),' Julian said. 'I love the way that they try to work out combinations. I think Marsh and Cam Green will stay at the top of the order, but what the selectors want to do is they want to make sure that they can have those guys in the middle order that is quite flexible. 'If they lose an early wicket, they might go Inglis at three, but if they don't lose an early wicket, they can slide anyone up the other. 'They're just gonna react to what's happening in the game. I don't think you can sort of predict who's gonna bat one to five. 'If something happens early in the overs, they'll go, right, you go in and then Tim David might go in, and then Maxwell might go. 'I love Maxwell probably in the middle rather than opening the batting, but the selectors are just looking more about combinations and they've got the right players to do it to adapt their games.' David has been a lock in Australia's T20 side since the 2022 World Cup, and but he has largely been relegated to middle order cameo roles for Hobart and the Aussies. 'I love how Tim David has been pushed up the order. He needs to spend more time at the crease. He's better than just 10 or 15 balls,' Julian said. 'I've been saying for a couple years in BBL cricket, I think Tim David bats way too low for the Hurricanes. 'He's good enough to be batting No. 3 or No. 4 in BBL cricket, I think he can do more than that and he deserves more opportunities.' The three-match T20 series begins on Sunday in Darwin, where a sold out crowd of 10,000 is expected at Marrara Stadium for the first international cricket fixture in the Northern Territory in 17 years. 'The key for us, which I'm looking forward to, especially in the T20s, is Mitch Owen and then you've got Matt Short back in the side as well, and Tim David. So I think 'That's going to be something exciting. Those power players could be the key. 'Then obviously you've got Mitch Marsh and Cam Green, who had a great West Indies tour, so. That's going to be pretty tough for South Africa. 'Australia's T20 squad at the moment looks really solid. They're looking to play win nine on the trot, which is a bit of a record as well. 'If there's a bit in the pitch, it will help the South Africans because they've got a quality bowling unit. But that Aussie squad looks very good and dangerous.'
