Latest news with #Cockerill
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Trying to have the best of both worlds'
Aaron Cockerill was looking to take another big step forward this season on the heels of a breakthrough performance last year. But it's been anything but a walk in the park for Manitoba's top professional golfer, who has found himself battling an even tougher obstacle than sand traps, water hazards and tricky pin placements while competing on the DP World Tour. 'It was so painful,' Cockerill told the Free Press Monday of what doctors believe was a stubborn case of gout, which is a form of inflammatory arthritis that often radiates from the big toe on out. Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Stony Mountain's Aaron Cockerill has jumped to 103rd in the current tour rankings. 'I would get this pain, and it would bounce around my feet. I literally couldn't walk at times.' Cockerill, 33, finished a career-best 49th on the 2024 tour standings, with six top-20 showings and more than $1.4 million in earnings which made him this province's most accomplished golfer since Selkirk's Glen Hnatiuk was a PGA Tour regular more than two decades ago. However, 2025 began with the Stony Mountain product missing seven of the first 13 cuts and not cracking the top-20 at any point. 'The start of the year, my play sucked,' Cockerill said during the phone chat from Amsterdam. 'I played a few tournaments just hobbling around, which I probably shouldn't have. I was struggling to practice properly in between, too.' Cockerill said the cause of the medical issue is a bit of a mystery, since he hasn't had a sip of alcohol in more than six months and doesn't eat much red meat. Those are typically the two biggest contributors to gout. The good news is the worst appears to be behind him. Cockerill, who has seen four different doctors and a rheumatologist, said the last few weeks have been incident-free as some prescribed medication appears to be helping. It's likely not a coincidence that he's now strung together two solid tournaments in a row. 'I'm just trying to make sure that I stay healthy and can do what I want in terms of prep and practice. Hopefully the results will start coming.'– Aaron Cockerill Two weeks ago in Belgium, Cockerill started with a six-under 65 to sit among the early leaders, ultimately finishing the event tied for 31st. Last week in Austria, he strung together four straight rounds in the 60s to finish tied for 13th. 'To have a little bit of form here is nice. I'm just trying to make sure that I stay healthy and can do what I want in terms of prep and practice. Hopefully the results will start coming,' he said. 'A bit of a struggle so far, but hopefully a step in the right direction. It's felt like a long season already, but we still have a long way to go. I'm trying to focus on the day-to-day and just keep progressing.' Cockerill has now jumped to 103rd in the current tour rankings, which is significant as the top 110 at the end of the year will keep their full-time card. He's also close to $250,000 in earnings. He's not out of the woods yet, and simply maintaining his playing status isn't the ultimate goal. Cockerill is still looking for his first win, and he'd also like to get back inside the Top 70 which means getting into the year-end playoffs. To that end, Cockerill politely declined an invitation to play in this week's RBC Canadian Open in Ontario, where a sponsor's exemption for the PGA Tour event once again awaited him as it has for the previous few years. Instead, he's competing in the KLM Open in the Netherlands. 'With the slow start over here, I just wanted to have some better results before skipping an event,' said Cockerill. 'I would love to play my national open, but I just kind of have to focus on things over here.' 'It feels like the game's coming along. Hopefully these pills keep working and I don't have any more of those issues.'– Aaron Cockerill This is Cockerill's sixth full year playing in Europe. He only had temporary status in 2020 (118th-overall) and 2021 (152nd) before steadily climbing and getting his full card in 2022 (107th), 2023 (76th) and 2024 (49th). He currently sits 345th in the Official World Golf Ranking after reaching a high of 190th early last year. 'It feels like the game's coming along. Hopefully these pills keep working and I don't have any more of those issues,' said Cockerill. 'I know the results will come and hopefully get back to on track to kind of where it was last year.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Cockerill, his wife Chelsea and their two-year-old daughter Addison, are now based out of Dubai in order to make travel a lot easier. They still come home multiple times a year, with a two-week visit to Winnipeg beginning next Monday. He will head back to play events in Italy and Germany before an even longer break back in Manitoba, which includes renting a cottage in Lac du Bonnet. 'Just trying to have the best of both worlds, play 25 tournaments (overseas) a year and then balance off the time being able to see family and friends,' he said. 'I know this may not last forever. Our little girl is going to be in school in a a couple years and we're probably going to have to be a little more permanent by then. Just trying to do what we can now and make the best of it all.' X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg Mike McIntyreReporter Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike. Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
France 24
24-04-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Georgia's rugby dreams built on wild folk game
Held every Easter, the fierce contest pits the village's upper and lower halves against each other in a bruising effort to drive the ball into a river. Victory goes to the team that manages to hurl the ball -- stuffed with earth doused in locally made wine and weighing a hefty 16 kilograms (35 pounds) -- into the water. Known as Lelo, the game was first played in Shukhuti in western Georgia more than 150 years ago to commemorate a historic military victory against Ottoman Turkish invaders. Georgians see Lelo as a wild cousin of rugby, a game that has surged in popularity over the last few decades. Fittingly nicknamed the Lelos, Georgia's national rugby team has dominated the second-tier Rugby Europe Championship, clinching the title eight years in a row. "This is where Georgian rugby draws its passion for victory -- from the intense energy rooted in the ancient tradition of Lelo," said local mayor Alexandre Sarishvili. National team head coach Richard Cockerill shares that sentiment. "We're a small country with small numbers, but we're still able to put a team out that can compete with Fiji and Japan and Wales and Italy and win Rugby Europe every year," he told AFP at the squad's Tbilisi training ground. 'Jeopardy' With just 8,000 registered players -- a fraction of the numbers seen in Tier One nations -- Georgia have managed to beat the four sides mentioned above in recent years. Their Under-20s team defeated England ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Yet Georgia remain locked out of the Six Nations, a closed competition that hasn't welcomed a new team since Italy joined in 2000. Former England hooker Cockerill wants meritocracy to trump tradition when it comes to the Six Nations line-up. "We deserve an opportunity to play-off against the bottom team, to prove that we are good enough," he said, referring to Wales's ongoing dismal losing streak. "If a team's lost 17 Test matches on the bounce and is bottom of the Six Nations two years in succession, surely at some point there's got to be an opportunity for Georgia. "We're above Wales in the world rankings... But the gate's shut, isn't it?" Though he admits the push for inclusion is a long shot, Cockerill argues a promotion-relegation playoff would introduce both incentive and risk -- benefitting the sport. "There's a realistic chance that whoever wins Rugby Europe would actually put huge pressure on whoever finishes bottom of the Six Nations. If we're going to grow the game... then I think there should be some jeopardy." 'Containment' With enthusiastic public support and strong government backing, rugby is thriving on a grassroots level in the capital Tbilisi and beyond. But Cockerill warns growth will stall without greater competitive exposure. "We need to learn how to lose, and play as Italy have, as France did when they joined the Four Nations to make it Five Nations, as Fiji have done when they've joined Super Rugby." He envisions a similar trajectory for Georgia, and laments that all the country's best players move abroad to play in competitive club competitions. For now, Georgian rugby is stuck in a holding pattern. The new Nations Cup format, which groups them with other Tier Two sides, offers no path for promotion until at least 2030. "We're being told to wait five more years," Cockerill said. "That's not growth, that's containment." In Shukhuti on Sunday, after hours of punishing scrums, torn shirts, and battered bodies, the men of Upper Shukhuti finally broke through and claimed a hard-won victory. "Lelo captures the combative spirit of Georgians," said local doctor Nanuli Khalvashi, 64, who came to cheer for the Upper Shukhuti team.
BBC News
18-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Cockerill eyes Wales v Georgia Six Nations play-off
Georgia head coach Richard Cockerill believes his side have "earned the right" to face Wales in a play-off to decide which nation should be in the 2026 Six Nations former England hooker says Georgia are good enough to play at Europe's highest level after clinching an eighth successive second-tier Rugby Europe Championship Wales finished bottom of the 2025 Six Nations for the second year in a row and have not won a game since beating Georgia at the World Cup in 2023. They also lost to Georgia in Cardiff in autumn 2022."If you are finishing bottom of the Six Nations why do you just get free reign to turn up next year and play," said Cockerill."We want the opportunity to prove that we can compete, so surely that's logical that we get the opportunity to have a play-off."It would be the richest game in World Rugby, Georgia versus Wales at some point in the near future to see who plays in the Six Nations for the next tournament, now that's jeopardy isn't it? "That would be a game people would want to watch." Georgia have risen to 11th in World Rugby's global rankings - one place above Wales, who have dropped to their lowest-ever position after 17 consecutive Test east European side have now won 17 second-tier titles and Cockerill says they need a greater challenge."We feel that we are probably a little bit too strong for this tournament although the other teams are improving especially Spain and Romania, but for us to improve we need to play at a tougher level," the 54-year-old told the BBC Radio Wales Breakfast programme."We need to go and get challenged and we need to lose games. We need to lose games to know what it feels like to play at the level that the Six Nations is at, as Italy had that opportunity in the early 2000s."We feel that we've earned the right, not to be given that place, we want the opportunity to prove that potentially we're good enough to compete on a regular basis at that level."However, Cockerill admitted the prospect of a play-off for a Six Nations place in the near future is unlikely. "I don't think so. If you're in the Six Nations you wouldn't want to be voting for that type of play-off would you because it might be you and the ramifications of not being in the Six Nations, from a rugby point of view but also from a financial point of view, would be very, very difficult."We don't want to just be given a spot and then we turn up and we're not good enough. We want the opportunity to prove that we can compete, so surely that's logical that we get the opportunity to have a play-off."It's a bit like the Championship football club gets into the Premiership isn't it, you know it would be the richest game in world rugby, Georgia versus Wales at some point in the near future to see who plays in the Six Nations for the next tournament, now that's jeopardy isn't it? "That would be a game people would want to watch and the money involved and the profile involved for Georgian rugby would catapult us into a completely different sphere if we were good enough to be able to beat whoever finishes bottom."And if we lose, well hey fair and square we come back, we re-group, we keep developing and we fight for the opportunity to do that again. I don't see that as an unreasonable request in the world that we live in." 'Wales just don't seem to have the players' Cockerill was part of England's coaching staff under Eddie Jones and led the team on an interim basis when the Australian was sacked in in charge of both the Georgian national team and the country's leading club side Black Lion, the former Leicester forward says he is not interested in Welsh rugby Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) are looking for a new director of rugby as well as a full-time replacement for Warren Gatland, who left the Wales head coach role during the 2025 Six Nations."I think the Welsh job would be attractive for anybody," said Cockerill."It's a fantastic country with fantastic history, a country that loves its rugby. "But whoever comes in next has got to be given time from top to bottom to develop the players that Wales need to be competitive because I think you look at the moment at players available for Wales, are they really good enough to be competing and being competitive in the Six Nations?"I think honestly, and with all respect to everybody, I just think that they haven't quite got the quality at this point."They may grow into it with a lot of young players being in and around the squad, but they're not quite good enough at the moment so whoever comes in is going to need time - and we know in professional sport the one thing you don't get... is the opportunity to build a squad and settle in and build it from the ground up, which at the moment is probably where Wales is at."
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Telo Genomics Announces Expanded Partnership with Trusted Health Advisors
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 27, 2025) - Telo Genomics Corp. (TSXV: TELO) (OTCQB: TDSGF) (the "Company" or "Telo Genomics") announces that, further to its engagement with Trusted Health Advisors ("THA"), as disclosed in a news release dated January 30, 2024, the Company has expanded and extended its agreement (the "Agreement") with THA. Under the new Agreement, THA will further support the partnering and commercialization of Telo's diagnostic technologies over a six-month term. The THA Partners, who are experts in diagnostic development and commercialization, will provide support for a comprehensive clinical program, advancing multiple clinical and research initiatives. This includes supporting the marketing and implementation of the CLIA validated application of identifying patients with high risk smoldering multiple myeloma ("SMM"), identifying newly diagnosed multiple myeloma ("MM") patients that may relapse on first line therapy, the enumeration of the minimal residual disease ("MRD") cells in post-treated MM patients and the creation of genomic instability profiles of MRD detected cells in post-treated MM patients. The program also involves supporting the identification and program development opportunities with academic partners to collaborate on the clinical introduction of testing and implementation of science studies in relation to the clinical and economic impacts of testing. In addition, the program includes identifying and supporting discussions with a commercialization partner for the Myeloma program. The THA team will also help drive Telo's planned clinical expansion into prostate cancer ("PC"), for which Telo already has derived compelling data from previous clinical studies under Telo's founder, Dr. Sabine Mai. Their efforts will focus on establishing a clinical advisory board, developing programs for intermediate-risk and MRD patients with PC, and collaborating with reference labs; some of these activities are already under way. Key THA partners supporting the program: Dr. Bender has over 25 years of clinical practice experience, the majority spent serving as the Medical Director for Oncology / Hematology for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. Dr. Bender is the author or co-author of over 80 peer-reviewed scientific articles and numerous book chapters and has been invited to speak all over the world as an expert in oncology diagnostics. He continues in clinical practice as a member of the Oncology Institute. Dr. Cockerill has been a leader in development and commercialization of diagnostics and medical services across a number of disease areas and technologies. Dr. Cockerill was the Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, and President and CEO of Mayo Medical Laboratories. While at Mayo he also carried a named professorship, the Ann and Leo Markin Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the Mayo Medical School. Dr. Wohlgemuth has years of experience leading healthcare innovation efforts in diagnostic testing, medical devices, virtual care and digital health, pharmaceutical and companion diagnostics development. Dr. Wohlgemuth ran Quest's scientific and medical response to Covid-19 and received a C. Everett Koop Award for best population health program in 2020 for his work with Quest's employee health plan. Guido Baechler, Chairman of the Board, said "Our team at Telo is excited about the next stage of commercial development with THA by its side. The THA team are acknowledged as reputable innovators in the healthcare industry and with their breadth of experience, are a perfect fit for our team at Telo. We look forward to working even more closely with them over the next 6 months to advance our MM, PC and other TeloView programs." Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company has agreed to provide a portion of remuneration to THA in common shares of the Company (the "Shares"). The Company will issue the Shares in two equal tranches, each worth US $18,000, scheduled for March and June 2025. The deemed price per Share will be calculated using the closing market price of Telo's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V") on the trading day preceding each issuance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company will issue a maximum total of 500,000 Shares to THA. The Shares will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period, as well as a voluntary 12-month hold period from the date of issuance. The voluntary hold period may be shortened if THA achieves certain commercialization milestones. About Trusted Health Advisors Trusted Health Advisors consists of objective, experienced, and knowledgeable medical, scientific and business leaders with significant and long-standing accomplishments and capabilities in life sciences innovation. Its team provides world-class support for the development and implementation of innovation strategies across disease areas and segments of the life-sciences industry. THA works with partners to develop innovation programs, solution development, and implementation programs. Breakthrough innovation in healthcare requires an effective Implementation-Science and Population Health Strategy. Implementation science is at least as important as traditional discovery and development science in achieving impact. About Telo Genomics Telo Genomics is a biotech company pioneering the most comprehensive telomere platform in the industry with powerful applications and prognostic solutions. These include liquid biopsies and related technologies in oncology and neurological diseases. Liquid biopsy is a rapidly growing field of significant interest to the medical community for being less invasive and more easily replicated than traditional diagnostic approaches. By combining our team's considerable expertise in quantitative analysis of 3D telomeres with molecular biology and artificial intelligence to recognize disease associated genetic instability, Telo Genomics is developing simple and accurate products that improve day-to-day care for patients by serving the needs of pathologists, clinicians, academic researchers and drug developers. The benefits of our proprietary technology have been substantiated in 160+ peer reviewed publications and in30+ clinical studies involving more than 3,000 patients with multiple cancers and Alzheimer's disease. Our lead application, Telo-MM is being developed to provide important, actionable information to medical professionals in the treatment of Multiple Myeloma, a deadly form of blood cancer. For more information, please visit For further information, please contact: Guido BaechlerChairman416-673-8487 info@ MaRS Centre, South Tower101 College Street, Suite 200Toronto, ON, M5G 1L7 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the issuance of Shares to THA and the terms thereof, and the Company's receipt of TSXV acceptance, are based on the Company's estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including capital expenditures and other costs. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit Sign in to access your portfolio
BBC News
21-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How an Englishman saved England slayer Van der Merwe
Guinness Men's Six Nations: England v ScotlandVenue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 22 February Kick-off: 16:45 GMT Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Sounds, live text and highlights on BBC Sport website and app; watch on ITV1 Whether blasting over from six metres or thundering in from 60, Duhan van der Merwe has scored more times against England than any other player in the history of the Six battered Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola out of his road, he's eluded five defenders in one momentous play at Twickenham two years ago, and three more in another. He scored the only try in a five-point game in 2021, he scored the winning try in a six-point game in 2023, and his 44-minute hat-trick last year put Scotland into a lead they never looked like giving up. Six Calcutta Cup tries in total and five in his last two appearances in the game. And one stands out to pretty much everybody, not least a former coach. Richard Cockerill was on the England coaching ticket in 2023, a man with a special perspective on the dangers of Duhan, given it was he who signed the South Africa-born winger for Edinburgh in 2017."I told the boys 'don't kick long', but they kicked long and the freak ran it in from his own half," the former England hooker and ex-Edinburgh head coach will be Van der Merwe's return to the scene of one of his greatest moments, an odyssey that saw him speed and fend his way past Joe Marchant, Ollie Chessum, Freddie Steward, Jack van Poortvliet and Alex Dombrandt before touching down under the England posts."I said, 'if you kick loosely, he'll cause damage', but nobody listens to me," says Cockerill, laughing, kind of. 'He was very wooden; catching was a problem' Cockerill is a good man to talk to when assessing Scotland's colossus out wide, all 6ft 4in and 16st stone of him. Since he qualified on the residency rule in late 2020, Van der Merwe has become Scotland's record try-scorer with 31 in 46 - and for that Cockerill is owed a debt.A bit of back story first. Van der Merwe hails from George in the Western Cape. He played and scored for South Africa Under-18s against England in 2013, then played against England again in 2014 in the Junior World Cup final. He started on the bench - as did the now Scottish loosehead, Pierre Schoeman - against a team captained by Maro Itoje. England won by a point, but it was the last time the wing lost to them. He's four out of four in the blue of der Merwe should have been a Springbok, but life didn't work out that way. He joined the Blue Bulls, picked up some injuries, lost some form and then moved to Montpellier, where the same unhappy story unfolded. And that brings us back to Cockerill, head coach of Edinburgh at the time. "We signed him for not a lot of money, but he had this hip issue," he said. "There was a problem with the cartilage in his hip and he failed his medical. He needed surgery. He was going to be missing for three or four months."I'm thinking, 'Well, he's going to be good and he's not expensive, let's look after him and over time that breeds trust and loyalty'."Some members of the SRU said, 'He's not fit, he's failed his medical, so we shouldn't keep him. He's effectively in breach of contract'. "It was madness. Some at Murrayfield would not have had him because he was injured, but a little patience and he's turned out to be one of the best in the world."Cockerill saved the SRU from itself. Of course, the irony of an Englishman fighting for a player who's been the slayer of England is not lost on him. The whole thing appeals to his sense of devilment. But there was more to it than just signing Van der Merwe. There was developing him, too. And he needed some amount of developing. There are still aspects of his game that are far from world class - defence, work-rate, ability in the air. He seems to save his best stuff for Test rugby, which can be a bugbear of Edinburgh fans. But, when he's on, boy, he's unplayable."He understands the game better now than he did before," Cockerill said. "He's turned into more of a complete player, but back then it was just raw pace - and you can't coach speed, can you? "In the early stages with Edinburgh, he was very wooden. Finishing wasn't a problem, but understanding the game defensively needed improving, to say the least."Catching the ball was a problem. At the start, when the the ball was in the air, you were closing your eyes and hoping he'd catch it. "The boys used to take the mickey out of him because, you know, he's not going to win any crossword competitions. But put a rugby ball in his hands and watch out." 'With Duhan, one sniff and it's over' Can Cockerill remember how he felt when sitting with the England management at Twickenham as Van der Merwe received the ball in space in his own half just before that try in 2023? Oh he repeat his words here and now? Oh no. "Put it this way, I thought we were in a little bit of bother, but I might have used slightly different language at the time," he was the jaw-dropping nature of what Van der Merwe did, that great Hugh McIlvanney line about George Best came to mind. "What was the time of that goal?" asked a young reporter in the Manchester United press box. "Never mind the time, son," said an older voice beside him. "Just write down the date."Van der Merwe wasn't just content in scoring one remarkable try that day. He added a second late on, getting on the end of a lethal, multi-phased Scotland attack from deep in their own the solo run that people remember the most, though. "I knew he was capable of doing that," Cockerill says. "You look at some of the great wings, or the great strikers in football, they can do nothing all day, they can almost look disinterested. Then, one sniff and it's over. "That's the thing with Duhan, he has a fantastic ability to give you something from nothing. A fella drops off a tackle and he'll finish from 70. Somebody drops a ball on halfway and he's gone. There aren't many who can do that. "A lot of that is natural athleticism, but he's worked bloody hard on his game as well."And England, you fancy, have been working bloody hard, too. They'll have had enough of Van der Merwe and his tries from another planet, but how to keep him grounded is a question they have dismally failed to answer up to now.
