🏉 AFL Has Footy Fans MC-Geed

Bring on the AFL, it's Wednesday, 16 March

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Martin Gabor and Lucy Watkin are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching today

⚽ 7.00am - UEFA Champions League - Manchester United v Atlético Madrid - Old Trafford, Manchester - Stan Sport

🏏 4.00pm - Cricket - Pakistan v Australia - National Stadium, Karachi - Foxtel, Kayo

🏉 7.10pm - AFL - Demons v Bulldogs - MCG, Melbourne - Channel 7, Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEDT

🏉 Let's get the AFL party started

If you listen closely, you can probably hear someone yelling “Baaaalllllll”. That can mean only one thing. The AFL is back, and footy scarves are about to become the fashion trend of autumn.

Golden points: The AFL season usually starts with the Tigers playing the Blues. But this year it’s a grand final rematch when the Demons play the Bulldogs tonight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

• Plenty of people are picking those 2 teams to be there at the end of the year, but they could face some stiff opposition from the Brisbane Lions.

• There’s a lot happening in the first round, but all eyes will be on Sydney when the Swans play the Giants. Lance Franklin needs 5 goals to become just the 5th player in VFL/AFL history to kick 1000 goals.

• COVID has been a big factor for the past 2 seasons, but the new comp will start without any hubs or bubbles. 

Key click: Unless you’re an umpire, you might not know about the new rule interpretations. Here’s a breakdown of some of the adjustments this season. 

Watch it: It all gets underway tonight with the first bounce at 7.10pm (AEDT). You can catch the match on Channel 7, Foxtel and Kayo. 

🏉 Footy tipping is back!

AFL fans with footy returning so is footy tipping and have we got the podcast for you. Don't Forget Your Tips! is a weekly podcast for footy fans who are keen to get an edge in their footy tipping comp. There will be 2 episodes each week - one on NRL and the other AFL - all done in around 10 minutes by 6.00am (AEDT/AEST) on Thursdays. The first AFL episode lands today for Round 1 of the AFL season. Follow Don't Forget Your Tips! on Apple, Spotify and all podcast apps.

⛳ Super Smith is the man of steel 

On Monday it was all about Shane Lowry’s hole-in-one on the infamous 17th hole at the Players Championship. That was great, sure, but Aussie Cam Smith produced a shot on the same hole yesterday that will be talked about forever. 

Golden points: Smith’s tee shot on the 17th is being described as one of the gutsiest of all time. If he got it wrong, he would have landed in the water. Instead, he landed it right next to the hole and held his nerve to tap in a birdie. 

• His nerves of steel won him $5 million because he ended up winning the event by one stroke.

• This was the biggest win of Smith’s career because the Players Championship is considered the 5th major tournament. After all, all the big guns come out to play. 

• The win means Smith automatically qualifies for all the majors for the next 3 years, and it’ll probably lead to more mullets across the country with people keen to copy his style. 

Watch it: Okay we’ve talked enough about it, so here’s his tee shot on the 17th. 

🏏 We want wickets

It’s time to head to the shops to stock up on some coffee pods because it’s going to be another long night in front of the TV watching Australia push for victory in the 2nd Test. 

Golden points: The 2nd Test between Pakistan and Australia is going to day 5 after the hosts fought back from a shaky start to set up a thrilling finish.

• Pakistan is 2/192 chasing a world record target of 506, but they’ve given themselves a chance needing another 314 runs on the final day. 

• The Aussies had picked up a couple of quick wickets, including this one by Cameron Green that probably should have been reviewed by the batter.

• Steve Smith dropped a sitter in the slips and it's been all Pakistan since then.

Watch it: Check out the finish on Foxtel and Kayo from 4.00pm (AEDT). A win would cap off a great couple of days for the Aussies after the women's team beat the West Indies at the World Cup yesterday.

🏉 In a league of their own 

If you’re into history then you’ll know that 15 March is a day that lives in infamy. “Beware the ides of March”, Julius Caesar was warned. But there was no betrayal yesterday, with the NRL announcing some massive changes to the women’s game. 

Golden points: The NRLW season is in full swing, but it’s about to get a whole lot bigger starting next year.

• There are 6 teams in the current comp, but that will grow to 8 next year and then 10 in 2024. We’re still waiting to hear who the new teams will be, and some are pretty keen. 

• It’s time to buy a bigger wallet because a salary cap of $350,000 will come into play later this year. Clubs can pick 2 stars whose salaries won’t count towards the cap, and every player will get private health insurance.

• Rep footy is also set to change. Starting next year, State of Origin will now be a 2-game series, with match payments to go up to $6000.

They said it: “There's still a long way to go but this is another positive step in our growth journey for the NRLW.” - NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has big plans for the women’s game. 

🎾 Casper gets a Ruud shock 

Casper might be the friendly ghost, but a Norwegian tennis player got a Ruud shock after he copped a spray from Nick Kyrgios after a fiery tennis match at Indian Wells.

Golden points: Kyrgios knocked out Casper Ruud in straight sets, and it’s fair to say he let him know about it after the match. 

• “I hear no talking now,” the Aussie said as Ruud walked off. Now, this wasn’t a random outburst. This goes back to 2019 when Kyrgios erupted on court, threw a chair and then basically quit his match. 

• Ruud made some comments after that and said Kyrgios should be suspended for 6 months. He found out that you shouldn’t poke the bear.

What’s next: Kyrgios may not be a saint, but he takes on 10th seed Jannik Sinner in the 4th round. If he wins, he could play Rafael Nadal after that. In the women’s draw, Aussie Daria Saville is killing it. She’s through to the final 16 after a match that went for nearly 3 hours.

Watch it: There's some colourful language so you might want to earmuff it.

👀 Quick singles

🏏 The details have been confirmed for Rod Marsh’s funeral, with the service to be held at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. A live stream will also be available for people who can’t be there to pay their respects. 

🎾 Novak Djokovic will get his world #1 ranking back, and he didn’t even have to lift a finger. Djokovic will go back to the top of the charts after Daniil Medvedev lost to Gael Monfils at the Indian Wells tournament.

🏈 Now that Big Ben is retired, it's time for the Mitch Trubisky era to begin in Pittsburgh. The former Bears and Bills quarterback has joined the Steelers to replace legendary QB Ben Roethlisberger.

🏉 Rugby league great Arthur Beetson will have a stand named after him at the new Sydney Football Stadium. Beetson was initially snubbed, but pressure from fans turned that around pretty quickly.   

⚽ Christian Eriksen could be back in Denmark’s national team for the first time since he suffered a heart attack at the European Championship last year. Eriksen has been named in the Danish squad for a couple of friendlies later this month. 

🏀 Brooklyn coach Steve Nash is confident we'll see Ben Simmons back on the basketball court soon. Simmons hasn't played a game this year and is waiting to make his debut for the Nets. There are 14 games left in the regular season, but he's battling a back injury. 

🙃 Left of field…

Struggling to lock in your tips for the first week of the new AFL season? You’re not alone. Picking 9 games is tough. But that’s child’s play for Americans who are getting ready for the annual March Madness college basketball tournament. 

Golden points: Good luck trying to pick the winner of every game as 64 of the top college basketball teams compete in one-off elimination games until a winner is crowned.

• The way it works is the 64 teams are split into 4 quarters, and every school gets a seeding from 1-16. 

• This is a massive deal in the States. It’s estimated around $3.1 billion will be spent on gambling this year. Then there are the people who try to pick the entire bracket.

What are the odds… someone gets every game right? Well, it’s never happened. Someone got the first 49 games right, but the odds of picking every match correctly are one in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. So you're telling me there's a chance?

Key click: Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s tournament, which you can watch on Foxtel and Kayo. 

📽 The highlight reel

Sticking with basketball, Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns scored a season-high 60 points in the win over San Antonio yesterday. It was very much 🤌.

📸 Photo finish

Is there nothing Pat Cummins won't do? He took it upon himself to hammer out the footmarks yesterday in Karachi to make it easier for his bowlers. You're the captain, Pat - delegate! 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

That would be the Parramatta Eels, Gold Coast Titans and Newcastle Knights.