Smith aiming to stop former team as Thunder target Final
Smith made a summer switch to Manchester Thunder and now faces her old side in this season's Preliminary Final, with a place in the Grand Final against London Pulse on the line when they meet on Sunday.
But the defender insists she doesn't have the inside scoop on her opponents and knows a typically tough game is in the offing.
'It's not going to be an easy game. We've been training really hard, and I am excited to see what is going to happen,' she said.
'When I come up against Loughborough, I have treated it as just another game, it's just another team.
'Loughborough are doing things differently this year so I can't go back on what I knew from last year; I don't have any inside information.'
Smith's transition from one high-flying franchise to another has not been without its difficulties.
The South African started the season injured after breaking her arm playing for her country in January.
She subsequently missed the entirety of pre-season and made her return to court with the league already in full swing.
"When we found out the Grand Final was at @TheO2 Arena, it gave us that extra bit of fight." 💗
🏟️ @Pulse_Netball captain @ZaraJaelE talks about what it means to have the opportunity to play at the 2025 Grand Final in her 'home' city on Sunday 6 July.
Buy your tickets now ⬇️ — Netball Super League (@NetballSL) June 22, 2025
Smith proved to be the least of Thunder's injury problems, with shooters Lois Pearson and Paige Reed both missing the majority of the season through hamstring and foot injuries respectively.
It has meant there have been rocky moments at times in Smith's debut season in the yellow dress, as Thunder got to grips with an ever-changing cast of temporary replacements and NXT Gen players.
But with their full squad now available to them for the play-off campaign, Smith hopes it will play in their favour having shown little of their hand to their opponents earlier in the campaign.
'A move is never easy to make. At the start of the season, I had an injury so I didn't have any pre-season games and my first game was in the league,' reflected Smith.
'We have had a lot of injuries, particularly losing our shooters but we were able to get through the season. It's something we can be really proud of, hopefully this weekend we show what we can do as a team.
'Having your full team at the end of the season is hopefully great timing. It's really nice having everyone back, it is a real boost. I think it is an advantage for us because there won't be a lot of footage available of our full team.'
Thunder travel to Lightning off the back of victory over London Mavericks in the minor semi-final, having secured third place in the regular season table.
Manchester Thunder are yet to beat Loughborough Lightning in the NSL this season (Image: Ben Lumley)
Victory will punch their ticket to the O2 Arena on Sunday 6 July, where they will face London Pulse in the first Grand Final held at the iconic venue.
A win there would seal back-to-back Super League titles for Smith, joining an elite club of players to win consecutive titles with different clubs, but she knows it will be no easy feat.
'It was a privilege coming to the league last year and having the opportunity to playing in the final and win,' she said. 'It's not an easy thing to do, it's not a given.
'Not being from this country, I didn't actually know how big the O2 was. I had to ask the girls 'is it really that big?'
'I am really excited to go there, it is a bigger venue than last year and the atmosphere is going to be great.'
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Huge losses, player exodus and fans' 'optimism drained' - inside Salford's crisis
It is almost six years since Salford Red Devils, under the tutelage of Ian Watson, reached the Super League Grand trip to Old Trafford could have been a fairytale for the ages - but they were beaten by a St Helens side that began to surf the crest of one of the most dominant waves Super League has ever seen, winning four successive side had been written off as relegation candidates going into the 2019 campaign and looked a million miles away from play-off spot his side dared to dream and, having surprised their critics as well as nurturing that season's Man of Steel Jackson Hastings into one of the league's top performers, things looked pretty good for least because 12 months later, during a Covid-interrupted season, the club reached the Challenge Cup final but ultimately lost to Leeds Rhinos at an empty forward to 2024 and having navigated their way through Covid, current boss Paul Rowley guided the club to an impressive fourth-placed finish in Super League and a play-off you knew nothing else about Salford other than these three respective moments over a five-year period, then you would be forgiven for thinking that this was a club on an upward the wheels have well and truly fallen off in what has happened to a club whose history goes back 152 years, and why is their situation so bleak? A season of financial uncertainty and big defeats Just over a month after the end of the 2024 campaign, the true pressures of Salford's financial situation began to club called a meeting of all Super League clubs in November to request an advance payment of money they were set to receive during this season to cover holes in their gaps were caused, the club said, by uncertainty over the ownership of their Salford Community Stadium home, and a few days later they were granted advanced funds. Their plight continued into the new year and overshadowed their preparations for the 2025 season, with the Rugby Football League (RFL) ordering them to sell players shortly before a takeover by a consortium led by businessman Dario Berta was agreed on the eve of the campaign got off to the worst possible start as they fielded mostly reserve players in a record-breaking 15-try 82-0 defeat at St Helens, with the RFL later putting their team selection under investigation.A sustainability cap imposed by the RFL at the beginning of the season because of financial uncertainty at the club was lifted but then applied again in March as monetary issues continued to bite despite the takeover going have continued to get worse as senior players have gradually left the club, resulting in a patchwork team filled with loanees suffering a demoralising 80-6 loss to Hull FC on a statement issued late on Monday evening, the Red Devils' owners said the club would not close and that bridge funding would be "available and settled" by the end of August, adding that they remained "fully committed" to supporting the club Sport has contacted Salford Red Devils for comment. Salford's lengthy list of exits Of the 17-man squad that were selected for Salford's Super League play-off defeat by Leigh Leopards at the end of last season, just five half-back Marc Sneyd's move to Warrington Wolves was the first in a lengthy list of departures which began in Brad Singleton was next, joining fellow strugglers Castleford Tigers, while Tim Lafai and Kallum Watkins Bullock left on a loan move to Barrow Raiders, half-back Chris Atkin joined Singleton at Castleford, while Nene Macdonald, who was at the core of Salford's impressive 2024 side, left to take unpaid leave in Stone moved to Warrington on loan shortly after being accused of "downing tools" by Rowley, who said he was unaware of rumours the players would eventually go on exodus continued last week as Chris Hankinson signed for Leeds, Chris Hill joined Bradford Bulls, while Jack Ormondroyd and hometown hero Ryan Brierley left for the end, five debutants turned out for Salford against Hull FC, with squad numbers going up to 63, and some players only meeting their team-mates on the coach journey to the stadium."It's felt like a line in the sand moment," Rowley told BBC Sport shortly before kick-off."Losing Ryan and Jack in particular, they were the last two of the originals so to speak."It's now officially not my team. It's been mental to be honest. I met some players on the bus, that's how it's been." Brierley's loss was a major blow but his decision, he said, was motivated by the worsening situation Salford are in."I never wanted to leave, that wasn't my intention," Brierley told BBC Radio Manchester. "I was pretty adamant I would finish my career there. "I didn't want to be part of the demise. I never wanted to be at fault for it. I know it never would have been that way, but my gut instinct made me think that Salford would be the beneficiary of me going to Oldham."I've not felt like it's been the Salford I fell in love with. It's been ripped out in one way or another with the team and morale."Brierley said the tipping point for him was their 74-12 defeat by Hull KR in July."I just feel so sorry for the people still there - and Paul Rowley in particular - who, more than anyone, doesn't deserve this," he added."But for me and couple of others, we took it to the final depths of how much we could hold on for and, ultimately, the deterioration took a turn for me [against Hull KR]."I'm glad I could help the club in the short term fix the issues that arose to get the [Hull FC] game to go ahead." 'My optimism is now drained' - what the fans think The fact that Salford have even been able to compete so far into the season is in no small part down to their reserve squad, with several young players stepping up to first-team action through necessity rather than that reliance on youth has only increased with the sustainability cap continuing to affect team selection, in addition to players departing."Six months ago I was so optimistic," Shirley Bradshaw, chair of the supporters' trust, told BBC Radio Manchester."My optimism has been drained now to the point where I've never felt so depressed going to a game."These lads that are playing for us and giving us their all, we know what's expected of all of them and we know there's no way they're going to be able to go up against all these seasoned Super League players, as people can see by the scores that have been turning out. "We can't do anything more but applaud these lads for what they're doing, even though they shouldn't be there for this."Little is known about the club's new owners and they have not spoken to the media since their arrival earlier this things stand, it is unclear whether Salford will be able to return to Super League in 2026 and how their current situation will impact on their IMG grading for next June, a winding-up petition filed against the club was adjourned until September amid reports that £500,000 was owed to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Salford's situation comes at the same time as football clubs Morecambe and Sheffield Wednesday go through stark financial problems of their own under the shadow of the Football Governance Bill being passed into has written to culture secretary Lisa Nandy and Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle - a rugby league fan - about the club's plight."We had a fabulous team and week-by-week we've lost all these players, which is the nucleus of the first team," Bradshaw said."These kids are coming in and they're doing a fantastic job... they're putting their bodies on the line for the club."And I don't think they're getting any respect from these owners and it needs to change."Meanwhile, a supporters' group - The 1873 - has called out the club's owners, external, and is planning a "peaceful protest march" to the ground before Salford's fixture with Wakefield Trinity on 17 August. 'The owners are working hard' - Inu Assistant coach and former player Krisnan Inu said that criticism of the club - including the roles of consortium members Saia Kailahi and Curtiz Brown - from fans and the media has had a negative his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Inu said that had the consortium not come in, the club "would have fallen apart a long time ago"."Obviously, there's a lot of frustration and people are in different positions, but at the same time when the media keep throwing punches at our club, it hurts everyone and not just the players," Inu told BBC Radio Manchester."They're two humans as well. Everyone keeps naming them and tries to put their heads on sticks. I see them working hard but, honestly, the fans don't see it."What I see that they're trying to do for the club is massive, and patience might be the word, but at the same time there is a lot of frustration and when people start talking about people getting paid late, we're all part of that and I'm no different."Asked about Sunday's fan protest, Inu added that there could be positive news between now and kick-off."As a staff member and assistant coach I feel for them. But at the same time there are some answers that need to be presented to them which I think will be happening before Sunday, so I can't say if the protest is right or wrong." Rowley 'crumbling like everyone else' Salford were planning for the long-term future before this season began, having tied down Rowley to a director of rugby role from 2026 with the intention of appointing Kurt Haggerty as head the current head coach is more concerned about the impact the club's difficulties are having on non-playing Sport learned that last Sunday's fixture against Hull FC had been in doubt as the club owed money for coach travel and to a launderette which had washed their to the game, Rowley said that he was under the impression that the RFL had paid both bills in order to get the game on."I know everyone wants to drag us through until the end of the year, and they'll bend and break every rule to allow us to do that, but it's what happens after that. That's what's my concern [is] for all the staff," he told BBC Sport."They know that they will be the forgotten people and that concerns me."It's a persona when I'm at work and I'm in front of people - I've got to have a positive attitude and a body language that says that we want to win. "I coach to win, whatever it looks like and whoever I'm coaching. I'm crumbling like everybody else."As for the owners, Rowley said that he does speak to them but he is unclear on what the future holds."I have an amount of dialogue with them and they remain positive and on task," he added. "That gives me some hope."I don't think they would ever be able to have true empathy about what we're truly going through as a sporting organisation. They're business people and we're sportsmen."
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Ex-Collingwood runner reveals the 'crazy' response he gave to vile online trolls who sent him death wishes following his controversial 2018 Grand Final blunder
The man at the centre of a controversial moment during the 2018 AFL Grand Final has opened up about the surprising way he dealt with death wishes from some social media users in the aftermath of his unfortunate on-field moment. Alex Woodward, aged 32, played two matches for the Hawthorn Football Club during his professional footy career. His time in the top flight was hampered by injuries, with the promising Hawks star agonisingly rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament five times between 2012 and 2019. He was delisted by the Hawks in 2016 and went on to play for Collingwood in the VFL, but the string of knee injuries caught up with him, ultimately culminating in his decision to hang up the boots. However, he continued to play a role at the Magpies, with the 32-year-old going on to become a water runner. He would notably be embroiled in a highly controversial moment during the third quarter of Collingwood's 2018 Grand Final defeat by the West Coast. Nathan Buckley's side were leading the Eagles by four points with seven minutes left to go before three-quarter time. While the West Coast pressed forward, Taylor Adams would recover the footy inside the Eagles' forward 50. He looked to steady things by chipping out to Jaidyn Stephenson, who got free to collect a mark on the edge of the D. But the Pies utility was blocked off from claiming the mark by Woodward, who had inadvertently ran directly across Stephenson's line to the footy. The ball would instead be claimed by West Coast roaming midfielder Elliot Yeo, who gratefully took the mark and prodded his set shot straight between the middle sticks. It would be a vital score as the West Coast went on to secure a five-point victory thanks to Dom Sheed's last-gasp kick. For Woodward, the game is a difficult subject. During an episode of Channel 7's What Could've Been podcast, the former footy player opened up about the barrage of horrendous abuse that he received in the wake of the match. 'It was probably the onslaught afterwards that I wasn't really prepared for, and nothing that I'd really been exposed to at that point of my life,' he told the What Could've Been Podcast, speaking on the 2018 Grand Final. 'Keyboard warriors and these people online, where there's no real filter, can say what they like and there's no real consequence. 'The worst of it was enough to bother me. 'It was sort of before a time when it was getting called out as well. If someone says something now, it gets put on X or put on Instagram, and it's shared everywhere, and it sort of cancels them straight away. I was fighting my own battles for a while.' While he was not prepared for some of the comments, he revealed how he brilliantly kept his cool to 'disarm' the disgraceful trolls. 'My best action was to own it; I made a mistake, so I'm going to own it, take it in my stride,' he said. 'I wouldn't say it was pleasant knowing there were messages in my DMs and emails and stuff saying I should unalive myself, that type of stuff. Multiple hundreds of people — it was in the hundreds. 'You might think I'm a bit crazy, but some of them I just replied to. I just replied to them, saying, and this is as simple as it was, but I said: 'I'm sorry that you feel that way, I'll try to be better', and that was basically the gist of it. Almost like disarming them again.' In fact, his responses even led to some of the trolls performing a U-turn on their vile messages. 'A lot of them actually came back with an apology, which is not what I was asking for; I just wanted it to stop. 'That was my approach — I wouldn't really recommend it to everyone, because it is a little bit different, but that's how I handled it.' After being delisted by Hawthorn he would go on to join up with Collingwood's VFL side Woodward even revealed that he copped abuse from some people he knew. 'The frustrating part was that some of those messages were from people I knew. Whether I met through work or school, or social stuff. So those ones I wasn't as kind with the response.' Seven years later, Woodward is still recognised by many Collingwood fans for the controversial Grand Final moment. And he admits he still deploys the same tactic to 'disarm' fans and open up a conversation with them about the matter. 'Every now and then, if I'm at a Collingwood game, people might recognise me for the wrong thing,' he explained. My personality is I'll have a chat with them. Rather than say something behind my back, tell me how you feel. 'I'll try and have a chat with them and have a conversation around it. (It) disarms them.' Reflecting on the incident itself, Woodward, who was 26 at the time, owned the mistake, admitting that he needed to be more alert in the moment. Woodward opened up on the horrific abuse he received following the Grand Final The former Hawthorn player explained that runners are taught to 'commit to the direction you're running in' in order to get out of the way of the footy. 'I just put my head down and ran to the other forward pocket. I was just trying to get out of the way but I didn't know Jaidyn was behind me,' he explained. 'I didn't really know what else I could've done in that moment.' A heartbreaking moment was caught on tape in the changing rooms after the match as a teary-eyed Woodward was seen being embraced by Pies coach Buckley in the changing rooms at the MCG. 'On the way off I started getting pretty upset about it and I went straight to one of the locker rooms in the MCG where they keep all the food, and I just locked myself in there with one of my mates who came down,' he explained. 'Bucks came in, credit to him, he put his arms around me really quickly, and there's footage of that as well, because that was just before I went into the little cabinet area. 'I just went straight back in there, and he got around me again and just took all the blame off me.'
The Herald Scotland
10 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
DeMaurice Smith talks NFLPA direction under David White, new CBA fight
And with so many questions linked to a lack of transparency, particularly involving the election process and information from arbitration rulings not shared with the membership, the players union is mired in a big mess as David White begins as interim executive director. Smith's book, "Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game" (Random House, 368 pages, $32), was released on Aug. 5 as quite the coincidence. Leadership is a key theme. "In no small way, we saw that play out over the last two months, in an unfortunate way," Smith told USA TODAY Sports. "My hope is that the players learn from it and spend time with what I'd call 'ruthless introspection' of how did they get here? And with the hope they turn it around. But it has to start and end with the players. It has much less to do with who their leader is." NFLPA CONTROVERSIES: Everything to know about scandals that rocked union That last point is debatable, given turmoil stemming from the damning revelations exposed by Pablo Torre on his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out." Torre published a 61-page ruling from independent arbitrator Christopher Downey from a 2022 lawsuit filed by the NFLPA alleging collusion by team owners that was kept secret from the union. He revealed that another ruling determined Tretter encouraged players to fake injuries while engaged in contract talks. And he revealed that Howell was a part-time consultant for The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm approved by the NFL to invest in NFL teams, an apparent conflict of interest. Then ESPN reported that Howell's expense reports for visits to strip clubs ignited further scrutiny into his actions as union chief. Smith, citing a non-disparagement clause in his separation from the union, wouldn't specifically address the cases that blew up for the NFLPA, but he shared perspective on the role that White (the runner-up when Howell was elected) steps into on an interim basis while the search begins for a permanent executive director. White, formerly executive director and chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), was elected by a vote of player representatives from all 32 teams on Aug. 3. Key issues for White? "First of all, 2030 is not as far off as you'd want to think," Smith said, alluding to the expiration of the 11-year collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA. "The changing media landscape is interesting. But I think the most pressing issue is how do you come in and take a group of players who haven't been in a fight and teach them about what a labor union is supposed to do." When Smith replaced the late Gene Upshaw and began his 14-year tenure in 2009, surely there was no acclimation period. The fight was already on as NFL owners, on the short end of the last CBA that Upshaw negotiated, had already declared that it would opt out of the labor pact and lock out the players in 2011. "It made teaching and the role of getting players ready for a war a little bit easier, because one was on the horizon," Smith said. Ultimately, Smith led the NFLPA into two long labor pacts, the last one struck in 2020 during the pandemic, which was passed by players by a razor-thin margin, with the key pushback involving the 17th game the union agreed to. Now, the league is going full-steam ahead on desires to eventually expand the schedule to 18 games, which would need to be negotiated as part of the CBA - and perhaps before the current labor pact expires. FREEMAN: Will there ever be such a thing as too much NFL? That the NFLPA's leadership is in flux undoubtedly looms as an advantage for the NFL in ramping up for the next CBA. The current labor pact allows players to receive 48% of NFL revenues, which fuels the record $279.2 million salary cap for 2025. "The biggest job for a labor leader is teaching, and how important it is to focus on the right issues," Smith said. "Understand you are in labor-management paradigm. That's always a battle." Reflecting on his tenure - which included the COVID-19 crisis, the Colin Kaepernick-ignited player protests and the evolving concussion protocols - Smith said that one of his regrets is that he got away from the hard-core teaching that he stressed from 2009 to 2017. "Now is that opportunity for players to go back to their roots," said Smith, mindful of the turnover in membership that comes when the average player career span is roughly three years. He cites key figures from the timeline over several decades on the NFL front and beyond. "Even the players who are not going to be there for 2030, if they don't know who Bill Radovich is, if they don't know who Freeman McNeil is, if they don't know who Reggie White was, if they don't understand the significance of Curt Flood or Oscar Robertson, man, you won't get it right. "Whether the issues are Commissioner discipline, an 18th game or practice time, if players don't understand the history and necessity of fighting, you won't get it right." Shortly after the resignations of Howell and Tretter, I reached out and asked Smith if he would consider returning to his former role on an interim basis to help the NFLPA navigate through its adversity. He scoffed. "Absolutely not," he said. "This is a challenge the players need to resolve for themselves." DRAGON: What's next for the NFLPA after stunning resignation of Lloyd Howell? In his book, Smith recalls a frosty exchange with Howell during the transition. Smith said that he wrote a letter for his successor and planned to leave it in his old desk - in the tradition of U.S. presidents - but had second thoughts after his single interaction with Howell. He folded up the letter and stuffed it in his pocket. "I wrote that letter in the hope that it would help frame what the job is, if someone were truly curious about getting it right," Smith said last weekend. He wanted to be a resource. Especially having never met Upshaw, who died on Aug. 20, 2008, three days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. "There wasn't a day on the job where I didn't wake up and wish that I could talk to Gene," Smith said. "I kid you not. There wasn't a frickin' day." He pledged that he's available for White. It's unclear how much White might tap that resource. Smith would certainly share thoughts about how players need to absorb how they are impacted by changing NFL business dynamics. The deal announced last week, with the NFL acquiring 10% equity in ESPN, resonated. "It reminds you of the scale of this business," Smith said. "They're going to do what, $25 billion in revenue next year? This is the competition, and the ruthlessness of this business is far more intense off the field than it is on the field. And it's pretty intense on the field. "You would want to know if there's a change in the rights fee (for ESPN)," he added. "Those are the things the union needs to figure out. But most importantly, once you understand it, you're going to have to decide how do you fight it for your fair share? If anybody thinks that was just an idle, off-the-cuff comment from Roger (Goodell) - I forget when he said it, maybe a couple months ago - that he thought the players share was too high, you know that's what they do. They start messaging early." Which means NFL players are pressed to reset their union priorities in a hurry and buckle up early for the next labor war that is surely coming. Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@ or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell. On Bluesky:
