‘Get out of my way': how St Kilda's Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera entered AFL folklore
The 22-year-old has already shown he can do it all at both ends. But it is rare for a player to have a game-changing impact in all areas of the field in one game, let alone in a single breathtaking quarter that helped turn Sunday's contest. Wanganeen-Milera started the game taking on the Demons' decorated on-ball brigade, but with the Saints trailing by 46 points at the final change he was soon taking the kick ins, connecting play through the midfield and drifting forward to be a target in attack.
The defender-turned-allrounder gathered 10 disposals as the Saints came from the clouds to chase down the Demons in the final term. But it is Wanganeen-Milera's last minute of action at Marvel Stadium that will go down in folklore. It is a tale that even the humble Saints star struggled to explain.
'I don't know, I'm a bit speechless,' Wanganeen-Milera told Channel 7 immediately after the game. 'It just sort of happened, I flew for it. But my teammates did a great job in the last quarter, the pressure was unreal, we just kept fighting and fighting.'
The Demons led by a goal with less than a minute left on the clock when Saints midfielder Mason Wood received a handball after a boundary throw-in on the wing and bombed the ball into the forward 50. Wanganeen-Milera first made his name as a rebounding half-back and has shown plenty of promise since moving into the midfield, but with the game on the line he soared over Bailey Fritsch to pull down a screamer in front of Demons defender Judd McVee within sight of goal.
The exquisitely-skilled Wanganeen-Milera could hardly have split the middle better as he nailed the set shot to level the scores with only eight seconds remaining and leave the Saints looking like the only side thinking about victory. While the young St Kilda players were calm and composed amid the chaos that followed, even the most experienced Demons lost their heads as they turned the ball over with a 6-6-6 infringement for not having enough players set up in each area of the ground.
The Saints trio of Rowan Marshall, Marcus Windhager and Wanganeen-Milera quickly concocted a plan at the centre bounce for the ruck to take the free kick and pick out the man of the moment charging forward. A pinpoint pass from Marshall was enough to find Wanganeen-Milera just inside the 50m arc as he bravely marked while falling backwards. He and sprung back to his feet before the siren sounded. 'I just told the forwards, 'get out of my way', and then I told Rowan, 'just hit me on the left side', and it was lucky I got on the end of it,' Wanganeen-Milera said.
With the result resting on his young shoulders, Wanganeen-Milera only needed a point to clinch the greatest comeback from a three-quarter-time deficit in VFL/AFL history. It was no surprise to see his lethal right foot send the ball through the middle again for the icing on the cake of a stunning six-point triumph. Wanganeen-Milera finished with 34 disposals, nine score involvements, six clearances and a career-high four goals in just the latest display as his career keeps reaching for new heights.
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If only to add to the mythical performance, coach Ross Lyon revealed after the game that the Saints' hero of the day was on the brink of being a late withdrawal from the game due to a stye in his eye before getting the all-clear from the club doctor. '[The doctor] said 'Nas has come in, [we've] upped his antibiotics, given him an injection,' Lyon said. 'I mean, they can sound quite morbid at times, the doctors. I just said, 'how's Nas', he's pretty confident. Then I rang him, he goes, 'no, I'll be right'. But I just said, if you're not right, no pressure, we'll tap you out.' There will be a sense of relief as much as elation around the Saints' camp that Wanganeen-Milera was available to take on the Demons, but both will only grow if the speedster commits his long-term future to the club.
The step son of former St Kilda player Terry Milera and nephew of former Port Adelaide and Essendon great Gavin Wanganeen owns the most sought-after signature in the game, as he comes out of contract while being courted by both clubs in his home state of South Australia. Wanganeen-Milera has already ensured that St Kilda is etched in the record books for their fightback, but the club that drafted him at No 11 in 2021 AFL draft live in hope that his incredible performance against Melbourne was just one of many memorable moments to come in red, white and black.
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Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The 21 things I learnt on the Lions tour
Sunday's third test brought the curtain down on the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia after six weeks of brutal rugby, long flights and horrific weather. Andy Farrell's squad will return home with a first series victory in the bag for 13 years, although they fell short of tour expectations after setting themselves the target of a first 3-0 whitewash in nearly 100 years – instead losing the third Test in a 2-1 series victory. But the result doesn't tell us the full story of the tour – in fact far from it. So Telegraph Sport has documented the 21 things we have learnt along the way Down Under that made the Lions tour what it was. 1. I am (not) legend The Lions were determined to make themselves legends in Australia. They did not succeed. 3-0 was the only way they could have properly cemented their immortality and even that came with the caveat of the defeat by Argentina. As it was 2-1 makes them good but not great. In fact you could argue that given the standard of opposition – ranked sixth – taking a Test off the world champions and coming within a penalty of a drawn series against South Africa four years ago was the greater achievement. 2. Luck of the Irish (and British Lions) Obviously you can focus on the series defining clear-out by Jac Morgan on Carlo Tizzano, which was either perfectly legal or GBH depending on whether you are viewing the incident through a red or gold lens. In truth it was a 50-50 call that the Lions had go their way. Across the series, the majority of those breaks went their way such as Dan Sheehan escaping sanction for his own clear-out. Both sides suffered injuries but Australia's were more significant losing fly-half Noah Lolesio for the series and Rob Valetini for all but 40 minutes. Tom Lynagh flattened by elbow to the head. #AUSvBIL — Jobson Growthe (@electricBAU) August 2, 2025 3. Farrell got a few selections wrong… Andy Farrell got his biggest call right – picking Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry in the back row, trusting them to come good in the Tests despite their lack of form in the warm-up games. However that show of faith did not apply to Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Andrew Porter or Ronan Kelleher who never really came good. In retrospect, the team should definitely have been freshened up for the third Test when so many guys were running on empty. 4. …and so did Schmidt Again it is hindsight bias but Dylan Pietsch was awesome for the Western Force against the Lions but did not get a look in until the third Test when he was awesome once again. Tom Hooper, Taniela Tupou and Nic White were also overlooked until the third Test where they were all outstanding. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was a force of nature whenever the Lions faced him in the warm-up games but never featured for the Wallabies. Go figure. 5. But Farrell is a genius man manager Winning cures most team issues but usually you will hear one or two grumbles from the camp once the Test side is settled and there are guys on the outside who no longer get a look-in. No such whispers reached my ears in Australia. Here is Ben Earl, who was on the bench for two Tests and dropped from the 23 for the second. 'Every time he talks to the group, I'm like, I'll do anything for that man – I'm ready to play,' Earl said. 'Even when I'm not playing. Every time he spoke to the group, I'm like, God, when the time comes, I'm ready to play for this bloke.' 6. And also an underrated tactical brain Farrell's aura and his motivational abilities are well known. However, Scotland centre Huw Jones says Farrell's attention to detail is as good as he has ever come across. 'He sees everything so he's prepared to call you out in the middle of the session if something's not good enough. When we're training he's always on and he doesn't miss a beat,' Jones said. 'In real time, he will pick it up on the run if you have just missed the jump on something and you will know about it. It is that level of detail, precision and not accepting anything average or mediocre you may be able to get away with at your club.' 7. Skelton key to the series Skelton possesses the approximate dimensions of an Ikea wardrobe and plays with the rage of someone who has spent four hours assembling said wardrobe. Weirdly, he has never showed his best form in a Wallabies shirt until now. When he was on the field, Australia outscored the Lions 38-24. Had he played the first Test and more than 43 minutes of the second the outcome could have been very different. 8. Aussies got their mongrel back Not only did Skelton play magnificently but he brought the snarl back to a Wallabies pack that was far too passive in the first Test. Then there was Scrappy-Doo himself, Nic White, who was barking at anything that moved, not that he saw it that way. 'I certainly don't see anything wrong if someone gets in your face and wants to give it to you, just stand your ground,' White said. 'I am proud of how we played. We can play with some really good skill... I am proud of the boys' commitment to get the job done. It definitely is [a line in the sand]. No more going back. Exactly that. 9. Australians hate the TMO Even before the tour officially kicked off in Perth, I was being lectured by a taxi driver how the television match official was everything that was wrong with rugby. Given how they missed Dan Sheehan's reckless clear-out of Tom Lynagh but on other occasions wanted to check whether a butterfly had flapped its wing three or four times, you can see their point. 10. Garry Ringrose = hero I I do not mind repeating myself for about the 27th time but Ringrose costing himself a Lions Test cap by self-declaring his own concussion symptoms might just be the most significant act of the entire series. 11. Charlie Gamble = hero II For entirely different reasons, Gamble was my favourite player of the tour both for his work at the breakdown and the most magnificent moustache I have ever seen in the flesh. 12. Pierre the poet My favourite interviewee on the trip referenced bison gladiators and Vikings. What's not to like? He even cracked out a poem. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The British & Irish Lions (@britishandirishlions) 13. Aussie Rules OK? At first glance, it looks like an oxymoron in that it seems more like Gaelic football and there appear to be no laws governing the bunfight for possession. But an underrated highlight of the trip was being given a tutorial by a lovely couple sat behind us at the Essendon Bulldogs v Western Bulldogs match. Slowly, I started to appreciate the science behind the madness. They also produce some lovely tracksuits. 14. Quote of the tour 1 'See the weather on Tuesday, that f------ sucked,' Wararahs captain Hugh Sinclair said in response to the Lions accusations that the pitch had been deliberately watered pre-match. Even those words don't do justice to the magnificence of the delivery with the Aussie twang 15. Quote of the tour 2 'No, look, credit to my wife,' Bundee Aki on the small matter of his wife giving birth in a car. Got to love sportsmen. Wonder if he'll also ask her to take the 'learnings' from her waters breaking on the way to hospital. 16. Ireland's succession problem Ireland dominated every part of this Lions tour from the coaching staff to the squad to their journalists' ability to locate a pub serving after 3am following a match. However not everything is rosy in the green garden. This tour showed that Bundee Aki and James Lowe are on the downward slope. Props Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter might not be far behind. Farrell will need to speed up his succession planning for the 2027 World Cup. 17. And England's fly-half issue More of a 'good' problem that coaches claim to welcome but you suspect they dread. Steve Borthwick had his No1 fly-half in Fin Smith with Marcus Smith his deputy. But then both players had mixed tours while George Ford played lights out rugby in Argentina. And then Owen Farrell enters the chat. Good luck sorting out that pecking order, Steve! 18. Aussie coffee is overrated There I said it. 19. But their beer might be better Their hazy IPAs are a different class. Stone Wood and Four Pines especially. 20. And their airports are magnificent Imagine breezing through security in five minutes and coming into a relaxed environment with restaurants you want to eat in and shops you want to buy stuff from. Returning to Luton is going to be a shock to the system. 21. Low performance padel
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Surfing with Dan Biggar, scaling the Sydney Harbour Bridge... and Roar and Uncut sits down for lunch with an ex-Man United goalkeeper
Nik and Kev's once-in-a-lifetime adventures around Australia reached their finale as the guys arrived in Sydney for the third Test. They have spent the last six weeks travelling around the country – planes, trains and automobiles – seeing old friends and making new ones, too. There have been a few bumps along the way but all was well as they reached Bondi Beach, which gets its name from the Aboriginal word for 'the sound of waves breaking over rocks'. Here is what the guys got up to in the sixth episode of Roar & Uncut, in association with Dr Squatch. MONDAY We booked in for an early morning surf lesson with Marty at Let's Go Surfing down at Bondi. Always up for some adventure, former Lions No 10 Dan Biggar came along as we donned our wetsuit and hit the waves. Dan grew up in the Gower in Wales, one of the UK's best surf spots, and it's fair to say he had the edge over myself and Kevin. TUESDAY We took in the spectacular views from our terrace at the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay. IHG are the official tour partners so we rubbed shoulders with a few Wallabies, who were also staying in the hotel that overlooks one of Sydney's most picturesque bays. After the Wallaby press conference at our hotel, we caught the short ferry around to the Lions press conference in Circular Quay, enjoying views of the Sydney Opera House on the way. WEDNESDAY This was the rest day from media operations before the final Test, so there was a chance to go out and explore the area. Kev booked in to scale the skyline on the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, where he was partnered up with former England prop Paul Doran Jones. I opted for a whale watching trip, although the waters were stormy and I saw more people being sick than whales! THURSDAY The guys in charge of the exhibition match between the Lions and Wallaby legends invited us down to go behind the scenes. We watched up close in the dressing rooms as the likes of Leigh Halfpenny and Shane Williams laced up their boots once more. But it was Finn Russell's younger brother, Archie, who scored the try of the night. Finn was in the crowd with the rest of his family, sharing some light-hearted jokes about Archie scoring the most tries on Australian soil. FRIDAY A few weeks ago, we crossed paths with former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich. Bosnich invited us to his favourite Italian restaurant in the city, so we splashed on some Dr Squatch cologne and headed out for a slap-up lunch. Bosnich is a big fan of rugby, comparing Finn Russell to Andrea Pirlo. He has settled back home in Sydney now, where he will be heading up the Stan Sports coverage of the Premier League next season. SATURDAY Storms lashed down on the city so we donned our raincoats and made tracks to the match. There was a lightning interruption during the match that resulted in a 40-minute delay during the second half. After the game we caught up with the retiring Nic White, our moustachioed Australian friend, and he was the perfect final guest, bringing the tour full-circle after he welcomed us to Perth back in June. Roar & Uncut comes to you in association with Dr Squatch, ensuring Nik and Kev are the best-smelling guys on tour.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Lions had special moments but lacked consistency needed to be ranked among greats
How best to describe the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour? Even before the final Test was interrupted by lightning, it was a strange old series. To the Lions the spoils but it was Australia who led for all but 60 seconds of the last two Tests. Just a solitary point divided the teams over three games and it was only courtesy of Will Stuart's late consolation that the visitors collected 10 tries compared to the Wallabies' nine. What would have happened had Joe Schmidt's side had an extra warmup fixture or made a faster start in Brisbane? Had Will Skelton been fit for the pivotal opening game, or Rob Valetini and Taniela Tupou featured for more than 40 and 60 minutes in the series respectively? If Australia had not lost their first-choice fly-half on the eve of the series, or protected their 23-5 lead in Melbourne? Not forgetting, of course, the hairline margins in the final minute of the second Test as the match officials sought to establish whether or not Jac Morgan's clearout on Carlo Tizzano was permissible. As they sip their winners' champagne on the long flight home the Lions will be aware their 2-1 series victory was way too close for comfort. At which point there are two schools of thought. The first is that winning is the only currency worth discussing, particularly on this kind of tour. This is only the second victorious Lions series since 1997, which makes it a pretty rare achievement. Losing a dead rubber at the end of another absurdly long season should not overshadow everything that has gone before. The evidence of the past two months, however, has been rather less black and white. When you publicly set your stall out to smash your hosts by a whopping 3-0 margin it subsequently becomes difficult to claim sporting immortality if you scrape over the line against a team recently ranked eighth in the world. The Lions have still not won a series in South Africa or New Zealand this century. There can also be no glossing over one or two other uncomfortable facts. Remember the pre-departure Argentina game in Dublin when the Pumas fully deserved their 28-24 victory? Give or take the sheeting rain on Saturday night, there were similarities in the way the Wallabies expertly seized their opportunities and also looked the more energetic side. And how often, as Andy Farrell himself has acknowledged, did his squad really click into top gear, even against weakened Super Rugby opposition? The honest answer is not often enough given the resources, financial and personnel-wise, at their disposal. Aside from the estimable Morgan and Tadhg Beirne, how many Lions finished the tour visibly in better form than they started it? Part of that could simply be individuals easing off slightly with the series already decided. But Farrell and Maro Itoje had repeatedly stressed that their players remained highly motivated by the possibility of a clean sweep. More pertinent was the excessive amount of rugby played by several of these Lions this season and, consequently, the accumulated wear and tear. The Wallabies' sharp improvement also has to be taken into account. They are a particular threat with turnover ball in hand, never took a backward step and appear to be turning a corner under Schmidt. That said, the acid test of their resurrection still awaits. Their next two Tests against the world champions, South Africa, in Johannesburg and Cape Town this month will be instructive, particularly if they can get all their best players on the pitch at the same time. And maybe that caveat also sums up the slightly contradictory 2025 Lions? When Itoje, Dan Sheehan, Beirne, Jamison Gibson‑Park and the supreme Finn Russell were all out on the field together, with Tom Curry and Morgan riding shotgun, they looked a serious team. Beirne won the medal for player of the series and Russell picked up the prize awarded by the tour sponsor Howden. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion In the final analysis, however, they perhaps needed a couple more world-class performers to elevate the squad to the pantheon. While Farrell's Lions had their special moments they did not ultimately show the consistency to demand inclusion among the truly great British & Irish squads of yesteryear. What was never in dispute, though, was the touring team's collective bond. Elliot Daly and Tomos Williams may have left early with injuries but both still loved the experience. Itoje was a respected leader while Farrell Sr's man management continues to be a strength. The only sadness was that, media access-wise, the Lions comms strategy made the Kremlin press office look relaxed and open-minded. Such blinkered thinking grows even more self-defeating as rugby desperately seeks to market itself more effectively. The good news is that this tour should have helped to boost the sport's profile across Australia before the 2027 Rugby World Cup. As the tour manager Ieuan Evans rightly put it: 'If you weren't captured by the drama of that second Test at the MCG then, quite frankly, you haven't got a soul.' Plenty of good work is also going on behind the scenes at Rugby Australia, although Schmidt is still due to depart his post next year. It will be fascinating to see how the Wallabies fare when they go to Europe to play England, Italy, Ireland and France in November, by which time Farrell will be back in an Ireland tracksuit and Itoje will be wearing white again. Being part of a winning Lions series, however, remains a privilege and the shared dressing room memories will live for ever.
