Kiwis, NRL Rabbitohs hooker Brandon Smith questioned by police at Queensland airport ahead of 150th NRL game
Australian media have reported the 29-year-old was pulled aside and interviewed by police shortly after landing at Gold Coast Airport on Saturday ahead of the
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
2 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Rātana Rugby League Club expands programme after 2024 inception
In March this year, the junior programme was introduced with more than 200 children registering across the seven different age grades from Under-6 to U18. Several of the age-grade teams won their respective competitions in their first season. Herewini's parter, Maria Paul, said the club was made up from players from as far as Wellington, Auckland, Taihape, Waverley, Feilding and Whanganui. 'Rātana isn't just subjected to the people from here, I think a lot of people think you have to be from Rātana or have affiliations to Rātana but it is open to anyone of all ages,' Paul said. Paul said she has noticed a increase of girls that want to play rugby league. 'The age-grade category is a mean platform for them for building a foundation and understanding rugby league and moving into having a stronger senior team,' she said. Paul said Rātana has an abundance of sporting talent, with the women's team consisting of former Queensland Reds player Talia Lawrence, New Zealand Kiwis wider squad member Paris Porche while the men's side are stocked with former NRL contracted players such as Paulie Manuel and Brooklyn Herewini. Paul said the goal for the Premier teams this season is to go up another level with consistency and keep growing, as the Premiership teams have wider squads of 42 for the women and 32 for the men. Paul said funding was one of the biggest barriers to creating a successful rugby league club and said plenty of businesses had backed the club. 'With New Zealand rugby league, money isn't there as much as union and that's one of the biggest barriers we see at our club and in league,' she said. 'All the major businesses are really tapped into the clubs here so that was one of my biggest struggles last year was to find major sponsors to come on board to help ease that burden for our families. 'We've got so many great ideas and people who can execute them well but it's that money to back it up to help us achieve that.' The Premiership season kicked off on August 9, with the men's team losing 42-12 to the Linton Cobras and the women's team winning by default. Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
Otago Daily Times
11 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Cop who tasered grandmother ditches bid to get job back
Senior Constable Kristian White discharged his stun gun at Clare Nowland. File photos A former Australian police officer who fatally tasered a 95-year-old aged-care resident while on duty has dropped his bid to be reinstated to the force. Then-senior constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland after being called to Yallambee Lodge nursing home at Cooma in southern New South Wales on May 17, 2023. He avoided being jailed in March. He was given a two-year good behaviour bond and ordered to complete community service after a NSW Supreme Court jury found him guilty of manslaughter. White was suspended from his job with pay for about 18 months but was notified after an initial guilty verdict in November 2024 that he would be suspended without pay. Police Commissioner Karen Webb said in December she had removed White from the force because she had no confidence in his ability to continue his duties. That prompted him to take action at the Industrial Relations Commission against NSW Police. But on Monday he dropped his legal challenge, and the Supreme Court said the matter was closed. It comes nearly two weeks after White walked free in late July. His sentence was upheld after three judges from the NSW Court of Appeal dismissed a legal challenge by prosecutors seeking a prison term. The court considered that White had lost his job and was unwelcome in the small town of Cooma where he lived, chief judge Andrew Bell noted. The 35-year-old has been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, and has admitted to thoughts of self-harm since he was sentenced. During the two-minute and 40-second encounter at Yallambee Lodge, White drew his stun gun and pointed it at Mrs Nowland for a minute before saying "Nah, bugger it" and discharging the weapon at her chest. The 48kg great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia, fell and hit her head. She did not regain consciousness and died in hospital a week later after a brain bleed.
Otago Daily Times
17 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Stythe among strong Steel presence in Silver Ferns
Southern Steel defender Carys Stythe has joined the Heffernan twins and Kimiora Poi in this year's Silver Ferns squad. Stythe, who has been in the Ferns Development Squad, impressed on her move south from the Northern Mystics this year. She has been rewarded as one of six newcomers in the national squad for 2025/26. Other new faces were defenders Catherine Hall and Kate Burley, alongside shooting trio Filda Vui, Martina Salmon and Saviour Tui. Sisters Kate and Georgia Heffernan reprise their spots, Georgia getting a recall after missing out on the latter part of last year. Kimiora Poi, who was recalled to the Ferns last year and moved the Steel for this season, also features in the midcourt. Star shooter Grace Nweke headlines the team, having been given an exemption under the updated eligibility criteria. That makes her eligible to play for the Silver Ferns throughout 2025 and 2026, despite playing in the Australian league this year. She is joined in the shooting circle which includes Amelia Walmsley, Heffernan, Vui, Salmon and Tui. Shooters Maia Wilson, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, and Tiana Metuarau were all unavailable for selection for the 2025 season. In the defensive circle Stythe, Hall and Burley are joined by established trio Karin Burger, Kelly Jackson and Parris Mason. Jane Watson was unavailable. Midcourter Toeava has also earned a recall, having debuted in the black dress in 2018 and earning eight test caps. Toeava spent years feeding Nweke at the Mystics, the pair having an almost telepathic connection. Stars midcourter Mila Reuelu-Buchanan is also back in the Silver Ferns squad after 10 months out in 2024 with an ACL injury. Mystics midcourter Tayla Earle, who earned two test caps in January last year, has also been promoted from the development squad. Poi, Heffernan and Maddy Gordon round out the midcourt, while Whitney Souness and Claire O'Brien both miss out. Silver Ferns head coach Dame Noeline Taurua said it was exciting to finalise the squad, particularly ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games and the Netball World Cup the year after. "We have a number of experienced players who are unavailable for selection for the upcoming Silver Ferns' matches so this is an important time to build new connections and combinations ahead of two massive pinnacle event years," she said. "I was very pleased to see Grace apply for an exemption under the updated eligibility criteria and process and we are thrilled that the Netball New Zealand Board approved it so she can play for the Silver Ferns in 2025 and 2026." Taurua said Hall and Stythe both earned their places in the squad through their consistency on the ANZ Premiership court this year. "It's exciting to know most of these current squad members have the potential to be around for a few Netball World Cup cycles. These squads are demonstrating the new generation of players coming through and the depth we have been building over numerous years. This is our opportunity to bring them together to work towards a common goal." The Silver Ferns team to play in next month's Taini Jamison Trophy will be selected in early September. 2025/2026 Silver Ferns squad SHOOTERS Grace Nweke Amelia Walmsley Martina Salmon Georgia Heffernan Filda Vui Saviour Tui MIDCOURTERS Maddy Gordon Kate Heffernan Mila Reuelu-Buchanan Peta Toeava Tayla Earle Kimiora Poi DEFENDERS Karin Burger Kate Burley Kelly Jackson Catherine Hall Carys Stythe Parris Mason - Allied Media / RNZ
