‘World class': Stars' big announcement
It's two more for Peter Moores.
The Melbourne Stars have locked the experienced coach in green for a further two years.
Moores took the Stars to their first BBL finals campaign in five attempts despite starting the season 0-5 last summer.
The Stars finished the season with five consecutive wins and were largely viewed as the championship favourite before they were eliminated in the first final.
Moores, 62, has a vast coaching portfolio, including two stints as head coach of England.
He is looking forward to pairing with captain Marcus Stoinis again and won't be 'putting a limit on' what they can accomplish in 2025-26.
'I'm absolutely thrilled to sign on for another two years,' Moores said.
'I've already experienced some incredible moments with the club and there was no better place to be last summer than the MCG when we got on a roll.
'It was a great reminder of what this club and our members and fans are capable of.
'I was so impressed with Marcus's leadership last year, and I expect he will only grow in that role again in BBL|15.
'Our list is in a really good place, and we've got a great opportunity to strengthen a couple of key areas in the upcoming draft.
'I'm not putting a limit on what we can all achieve together.'
Newly appointed general manager Max Abbott says Moores' ability to maintain belief in the group last season despite a poor start is proof of his leadership.
'The feedback from all parts of the organisation has been overwhelmingly positive in the way Peter led the group as coach over the last two seasons,' Abbott said.
'You don't come back from a 0-5 start to make the finals without leadership in the dressing room and that is a testament to the way Peter was able to maintain camaraderie and belief within the playing group to turn the season around.
'Peter is a world-class coach and by maintaining continuity, we're confident the club can build on the momentum generated in the back-half of the season to hit the ground running in BBL15.'
The Stars have a later pick in the draft this season and are set to be without Englishman Ben Duckett, who will be tied up on Ashes duties.

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Indianapolis Star
4 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Braylon Mullins helps Indiana All-Stars get best of Kentucky, AAU teammate Malachi Moreno
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It was a struggle. A good play here. A turnover there. It went like for the Indiana All-Stars for most of Friday's game against the Kentucky All-Stars at Lexington Catholic High School. The Kentucky All-Stars led by six points as the clock ticked under eight minutes. Enter Michael Cooper. The Jeffersonville senior guard drilled three consecutive 3-pointers, two on assists from Ben Davis guard Mark Zackery IV and other from Lawrence North's Azavier Robinson, to help the Indiana All-Stars breathe a little easier on their way to a 98-89 victory. 'It's just really being confident in the work I put in to just knock it down,' Cooper said. Indiana All-Stars & softball semistate? 'Just trying to be in both places and give my all' IndyStar Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins also had a big second half, scoring 13 of his game-high 24 points to lead the Indiana All-Stars its 44th victory in the past 51 games in the series. Indiana leads the all-time series, which dates to 1940, by a count of 106-46. Cooper sparked a much-needed run for Indiana. 'He's won a state championship, so he knows how to win,' Indiana All-Stars coach Marc Urban (Chesterton) said of Cooper. 'I thought we made the extra pass on those shots where he was stepping in and shooting wide-open 3s. And he made big-time plays. That's why he's an Indiana All-Star and why he's going to have a really successful career at Wright State.' Indiana had its hands full with Kentucky's highly touted Malachi Moreno, a 7-1 incoming Kentucky freshman who played AAU basketball with Mullins on Indiana Elite. Moreno, who will not play in the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots and played all but 54 seconds. 'I'm usually seeing him in the same uniform as me,' said Mullins, who will leave for UConn on Monday. 'But there's nothing personal. We were going up the court and chatting and laughing like we were doing in AAU. I'm excited to see what he does at Kentucky, but tonight was fun going against him.' Mullins helped spark the second-half run with a transition 3-pointer, though it seemed like every time Indiana would make a move, Kentucky would have a counter. Vince Dawson, a Morehead State recruit who finished with 21 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line, drilled a 3 put Kentucky up eight with 11 minutes left. When Jeffersonville's 6-9 Tre Singleton picked up his fourth foul with 10:26 left, it brought back memories of Mr. Basketball Flory Bidunga fouling out on a technical foul in last year's loss at Kentucky. But Indiana got hot at the right time. 'We had a brutal loss on Wednesday night (against the Junior All-Stars),' Mullins said of the 117-114 loss on his home floor at Greenfield-Central. 'But that run we had at the end of the game just sparked the bench, the players and coaches. We needed that. We made that run and we weren't looking back.' Cooper finished with 21 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the 3-point line. Singleton, his teammate on the Jeffersonville Class 4A state champions, went for 14 points and four rebounds, but was limited to 24 minutes because of foul trouble. His bucket with 3 minutes left pushed Indiana's lead to 86-80 and Kentucky never got any closer. Ben Davis' Zackery added 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals. Fishers' Justin Kirby had nine points and four rebounds and the Butler-bound Robinson had eight points, five rebounds and two assists. Mullins finished 10-for-18 from the floor and had six rebounds and two assists. 'He's incredibly talented, as a high IQ and he's a great kid,' Urban said of Mullins. 'It's been fun to get to know him. I know he was frustrated missing those first couple but he just kept sticking with it and that one he hit in transition was big. He made Mr. Basketball plays. He demands so much attention and he opens things up for other people, but he's still able to be efficient.' Indiana played without Cathedral's Brady Koehler. The Notre Dame recruit was on the bench but not in uniform. It was the first win in Kentucky since 2022 for Indiana, which lost 94-90 in Owensboro two years ago and 103-82 in Lexington last year. 'There's nowhere else you'd rather do it than Gainbridge Fieldhouse,' Mullins said. 'They are going to have a little bit different team without Malachi playing but we're not going to take anything for granted. We're going to come out and play like we did tonight and I think we'll be good tomorrow.'

Indianapolis Star
5 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana All-Stars and softball semistate? 'Just trying to be in both places and give my all'
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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Shouldn't be involved': Wayne Bennett hit with staggering ban by NRL
The Australian Rugby League Commission has effectively banned Wayne Bennett from becoming the next Kangaroos coach after insisting the job must go to someone without any ties to an NRL team. And it fires Brad Fittler and Cameron Smith into a battle for the prestigious role. Mal Meninga relinquished his duties as Kangaroos coach on Friday, stepping down after nine years in charge to take on the Perth Bears job. Meninga was unveiled as Perth's inaugural coach, and will set about compiling their roster with immediate effect before they enter the NRL competition in 2027. It means the NRL will have to appoint a new Kangaroos coach before the revamped Ashes series against England later this year. Meninga had previously expressed his hope that he would still be able to lead Australia in the Ashes, but the NRL wants his sole focus to be on the Bears. There had been speculation that South Sydney coach Bennett would put his hand up to lead the Kangaroos, after he previously coached Australia in 1998, 2004 and 2005. But NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said in Sydney on Friday that the ARL Commission wants the national team coach to be someone with no ties to club footy, and Bennett is under contract with Souths until the end of 2027. "The commission has a long-held policy that the Kangaroos coach shouldn't be involved in coaching clubs as well, and that policy is going to continue," Abdo said. "We are all very excited for the end-of-season tour, it's been a long time in waiting, and of course we have a World Cup next year. Today was about announcing Mal as the Perth Bears coach, and now with that secured the commission will turn its attention to the right candidate for the Kangaroos." Fittler, Smith and Kevin Walters have all been floated as the front-runners for the Kangaroos job. It puts Fittler and Smith in a somewhat awkward situation considering they're colleagues at Channel 9 and regularly appear on-air together. Smith has no experience as a head coach, but previously worked as an assistant to Billy Slater with the Queensland State of Origin team. The Melbourne Storm legend is regarded as one of the leading brains in the NRL, but has no desire to coach at club level. RELATED: Michael Maguire confirms axing of State of Origin player at Broncos Door ajar for Reece Walsh as Ponga on cusp of State of Origin ban Fittler coach the NSW team from 2018 to 2023, winning three out of six series in charge of the Blues. He returned to coaching last year to lead the Prime Minister's XIII team in the one-off Test match against PNG. The 53-year-old had an ill-fated stint as Sydney Roosters coach from 2007 to 2009, winning just 25 out of 58 games. As for Walters, he's the man with the most recent coaching experience after leading the Brisbane Broncos from 2021 to 2024. He helped the Broncos make the grand final in 2023, but was sacked at the end of last season after missing the finals. The 57-year-old also coached Queensland in Origin from 2016 to 2019 for a 50 per cent winning record. After formally accepting the Bears role on Friday, Meninga stressed that the Kangaroos coach is a "full-time job". He said: "It's not just coaching the team, there's a couple of other commitments. From a transition point of view I'll hopefully be a part of all that. "I have loved the opportunity to coach the Australian team and build the international program. I'm satisfied with the job I did with the national program, I'm really comfortable with the fact that I'm moving on." with AAP