Dangerfield getting better ahead of 350
AFL: Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield spoke on his ability to continue improving ahead of his 350th game against the Lions.
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
‘Disgusting': NRL world up in arms over ugly Jarome Luai ‘eye gouge'
NSW star Jarome Luai has come under fire for a suspected eye gouge on Queensland enforcer Reuben Cotter in State of Origin Game 2 on Wednesday night. Midway through the first half, Luai put his hands all over the face of the Maroons back-rower, with his fingers appearing to rake across his eyes. FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. The act landed the Blues playmaker on report but no further action was taken. The Channel 9 commentary team also breezed past it. But those watching on at home were up in arms, questioning how Luai wasn't at least sin-binned as they called out the nasty act. 'Disgusting eye gouge from Jarome Luai. No place in the game for that. Commentators should be calling that out instead of going silent,' one fan commented on X. 'So none of the commentators are gonna mention the blatant eye gouge by Luai?' asked another. You can watch the suspected Jarome Luai eye gouge in the player above. 'Well, Luai won't be playing for the Wests Tigers for a few weeks. That's our season done,' a Tigers fan wrote, hinting at the likely long ban the half could receive if it was found to be an eye gouge. While a fourth added: 'I'm absolutely shocked that Luai didn't get 10 for the blatant eye gouge. Gobsmacked.' The 28-year-old's act wasn't the only incident to be called out by Maroons fans either, with Blues winger Zac Lomax placed on report shortly after Luai for lashing out with his elbow after a tackle from Trent Loiero. 'On report. You lashed out and hit him in the head,' referee Ashley Klein was heard saying. Safe to say the Blues' extra aggression drew the ire of fans, particularly those wearing Maroon. 'Can someone explain why Lomax doesn't go to the bin for elbowing Loiero in the face?' one fan wrote. 'That is terrible. Luai eye gouge and then that from Lomax. I thought Queensland was the team meant to be feeling the pressure,' another added. 'Absolutely shocking from Lomax,' a third said.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
State of Origin five quick hits: NSW Blues goal kicking woes continue, as Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow shines for Maroons
Queensland survived a ferocious comeback from NSW to level the State of Origin series and force a decider in Sydney. The Maroons had a 20-point lead at half-time as the Blues imploded. By the time the full-time whistle sounded, it was only the Blues' poor kicking that denied them victory. Here are the five quick hits from State of Origin II at Perth Stadium. Queensland needed to make a bright start in Perth to put the demons of game one to bed. The Maroons managed the exact opposite, with new captain Cam Munster kicking his first grubber dead, giving away a six-again restart on the last tackle — then after surviving that, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui turned the ball over in the defensive half. It put the Blues in the ascendancy, and they converted the early dominance with the game's opening try after seven minutes. The try was credited to Penrith winger Brian To'o, but the four-pointer was created by two excellent kicks. Jarome Luai, called in following an injury to game one five-eighth Mitchell Moses, played a deft grubber kick for chasing second-rower Angus Crichton. The star forward then showed off some foot skills that would not look out of place in the A-League. Seeing To'o unmarked, Crichton put in a little soccer pass to the in-goal for his winger to chase and touch down. Queensland's ability to score in recent times has been a massive struggle. The Maroons had not scored a try in the first half of an Origin match since the first game of the 2024 series. After going down early, the Queenslanders needed to lift — and they did. Queensland scored on their first set with the ball after conceding, helped by a trio of six-again restarts as the Blues suffered from poor discipline. The weight of possession and pressure led to Queensland's first try, as Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow went over in the right corner untouched at the end of a nice Queensland move. That was the Hammer's 10th try in his ninth Origin, the fastest any player has managed to get to 10 State of Origin tries. Seven minutes later, The Hammer had his 11th try in Origin football. An excellent kick from halfback Tom Dearden to the corner was met by a leaping Tabuai-Fidow, who beat To'o in an aerial contest, to snatch the ball out of the air and score to give Queensland the lead. The Blues were near faultless in game one at Lang Park to take a 1-0 series lead. But in Perth, with a chance to win the series and head to Sydney with dreams of a whitewash, the Blues lost their cool in the first half. They gave up eight penalties in the first half, while the Maroons were not penalised once. In fairness, the Blues were lucky not to have at least one player sent to the sin bin. Jarome Luai was put on report in the 24th minute for putting his fingers in the eyes of Queensland forward Reuben Cotter. The footage captured on the Nine Network broadcast was not flattering for the NSW five-eighth, who appeared to have his fingers dug into Cotter's eyes. NSW winger Zac Lomax was the next to be placed on report, after throwing an elbow into the head of Queensland lock Trent Loiero. Lomax had the ball and was getting ready to stand to his feet and play the ball. He then, inexplicably, threw his elbow back and connected with the side of Loiero. That penalty was directly linked to points for the Maroons, as Valentine Holmes kicked a goal off that penalty. NSW had got themselves back into the contest with a second try to To'o, then a terrific individual effort from Stephen Crichton to run over Valentine Holmes for a score. With momentum with the Blues, the Queenslanders needed to find some spark — and for a moment, they did. A magnificent defensive effort pinned the Blues deep in their own end. Luai kicked the ball away from inside his own 20m line. But Queensland's effort was all in vain as Tabuai-Fidow attempted to stop the bouncing ball with his foot. The ball instead bounced up and hit The Hammer on the arm for a knock-on. Off the next set, To'o barged over for his third try in the match, to have NSW believing in a famous win. The goal kicking in the first match at Lang Park was poor. NSW scored four tries in their 18-6 win, but none of those tries were converted. The only successful kick was a penalty goal for Nathan Cleary. Zac Lomax was given goal kicking duties in game two as Cleary appeared to have an issue with his kicking leg. Unfortunately for Lomax, all of the Blues' five tries on Wednesday night were scored near the sideline. In miserable conditions, they were never going to be easy. Lomax was able to convert just two of his five attempts — leaving six points out there. NSW scored five tries to four and were irresistible in the second half. But the poor goal kicking denied NSW a historic win, and wrapping up the series in two matches.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Bloody hell – those Queenslanders have done it again
Those bloody Queenslanders! Honestly. You could poison them, drive a stake through their heart, put them in a coffin, bury them six foot under, be dancing on their graves ... and they'd still be a chance of winning anyway. For that was precisely the situation in this Origin II match in Perth, and it has bloody well happened again. In Origin I, as you'll recall, NSW won at Suncorp 18-6 and were unlucky not to have won by 30 points. On the strength of that, 10 of the 11 Sydney Morning Herald experts, quite rightly predicted a Queensland loss, by as much as 28 points. How could they do anything else, on the facts available? What is more, after the first 10 minutes of this Origin II match, when the old firm of Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Brian To'o again combined to put To'o over in the corner, it was obvious that Queensland was done and dusted. Of course this was going to be another NSW win, and the series secured! And yet, what did we see? From that point on, for the rest of the half, it was all Queensland, all the time, to the point they went into half-time leading 26-6, and looked like they were just warming up! The whole cavalcade was helped by a desperately disappointing NSW side. There was some irony in the fact that because of a sponsorship arrangement, every NSW player had 'The Star' printed on their back in large letters when – in truth – none of the Blues stars truly shone in that first half. Cleary, even hampered by a leg injury, had his moments, as did Luai and Liam Martin, but no-one truly emerged to turn the Maroon tide. The fact that in the second half NSW came back into it in such stunning fashion was great for the spectacle, and their four successive tries actually made you think that the Blues might pull off a miracle and win anyway.
