🥊 Fight Night Tonight

Howdy, it's Thursday, 15 September. The saying goes 2 heads are better than one. That saying mainly applies to decision-making, two-up at a pinch, but tonight we'll see it in the boxing ring when one former rugby league player tries to punch the heads of 2 former rugby league players. We don't know who wins but we do know that tails never fails in New South Wales. Or is it tails always fails in New South Wales? We'll look into it, as we do, enjoy the newsletter.

⏱ 1,424 words = 6 minutes

👀 What is this sorcery?

THE MAIN GAME

🥊 Let's get ready to (Origin) Rummmmmble!

Paul Gallen famously said Queenslanders have 2 heads and tonight he's got 2 Queenslanders coming at him head-on in the boxing ring.

Golden points: Former NRL premiership-winning captain and NSW Blues State of Origin legend Paul Gallen will fight not once but twice tonight against old Origin foes Justin Hodges and Ben Hannant in the Origin Rumble event in Brisbane.

• This could very well be Gallen's last night as a professional boxer, so he decided to go out with a bang by punching on with a couple of Queenslanders.

• Like any boxing match, the build-up has been focused around the trash talk between the fighters, mainly Gallen and Hodges, who haven't held back.

• Hodges called out Gallen's record as Blues skipper (lost 5/6 series as captain) while Gallen suggested Hodges makes sure he kisses his kids goodnight tonight in case he doesn't wake up after the fight.

• Hodges didn't much like that sledge and grabbed Gallen by the throat at yesterday's weigh-in, but there was no early beef - the boys are saving it for in the ring tonight.

• The way it works is each bout will be 4 2-minute rounds an hour apart. The twist is Gallen won't know who he's fighting 1st until his opponent walks to the ring.

• There's a $1 million rematch clause in the fight contract to the fighter who beats Gallen (if that happens), so do you wanna go 1st and get 1st crack or fight him 2nd when he's a bit tired? It's a tough one.

• This might be a bit of a gimmick but Gallen has been a serious force in Australian heavyweight boxing considering he only fully focused on fighting when he retired from footy in 2019. He pushed Australian heavyweight champion Justis Huni in their fight last year and went the distance against Kris Terzievski in May.

• And he's made millions from boxing, so it's been a handy hobby in his rugby league retirement.

They said it: "I'm gonna knock both these bums out pretty quick," - fair to say Gallen is pretty confident.

What's next: The night starts at around 7pm but Gallen's 1st fight is expected to be close to 9pm, with his 2nd fight an hour later. Order this one on Main Event or Kayo.

QUICK SINGLES

🏉 AFL: Hird is the word again at Essendon. Last night we found out Bombers legend and former coach James Hird was one of 4 candidates interviewed for the vacant head coaching role at Essendon. Hird did it all and then some as a player for the Bombers and took over as coach in 2011. But he was at the centre of the Essendon supplements saga and was banned from coaching in 2014. The saga took on a toll on him - he's admitted to contemplating suicide and overdosed on prescription drugs in 2017 - but he's since returned to coaching with the GWS Giants and is now putting his hat in the ring for the Bombers gig. Reports say Essendon want to announce a new coach shortly after the AFL grand final, so not long now to wait.

⚽️ Football: The Socceroos are gonna blood some players before jetting off to Qatar for the World Cup. Socceroos coach Graham Arnold named a super-sized squad of 31 players for the 2 matches against New Zealand with the intention of giving everyone a run before the World Cup squad of 26 is selected. Among the 31 are 7 uncapped players and none are more exciting than Central Coast rookie Garang Kuol. It's his 18th birthday today (happy birthday, Garang!) and if he gets picked he'll be the youngest Socceroo debutant since a 17yo Harry Kewell in 1996.

🏏 Cricket: Australia lose 3 players to minor injuries 5 weeks out from a major tournament. Mitch Starc (knee), Marcus Stoinis (side) and Mitch Marsh (ankle) all have minor injury complaints, according to Cricket Australia, so they won't be risked for the 3-match T20 tour of India that starts next week. The timing isn't great with the T20 World Cup starting next month but CA is taking a cautious approach given the India tour is 3 matches in 3 different cities in 6 days.

🏏 Cricket: Pucovski piles on the runs. Victorian young gun Will Pucovski scored 193no in a 2nd XI game against NSW in Coffs Harbour this week. He faced 405 balls and batted for more than 11 hours without any serious issue (he did cop a nasty blow to the box). It's a great sign for Pucovski - he's battled concussion, injury and mental health issues in his short career but if he keeps this form up he'll be pushing for a Test recall this summer.

LEFT OF FIELD

🏉 Rugby: Big game of rugby tonight. Bledisloe 1. Wallabies. All Blacks. Marvel Stadium, Melbourne. 7:45pm AEST. New Zealand will be in full voice performing the haka before kick-off but it turns out it might give the All Blacks a bit of an edge on the field and we're not talking about scaring the bejesus out of their opponents. The All Blacks have been performing the haka - which is a Maori traditional war dance - since 1905 but only at both home and away Tests since 1986. A study has shown the haka gets the heart rate pumping of the All Blacks players while their opponents cool down as they watch on, so when the match starts a few moments later the All Blacks are already in 3rd gear. New Zealand have won 76 per cent of Tests they've played so there might be something to it. If you're the Wallabies, maybe take a few extra moments before kick-off so the All Blacks calm down a bit.

📽 Highlight reel: This Erik Haaland guy is some kind of goal-scoring wizard. This goal for Man City in this morning's UEFA Champions League is pure magic.

📸 Photo finish: Check out the First Nations kit Australia's men's cricket team will wear at the upcoming T20 World Cup starting next month.

THE POLLING BOOTH

Wednesday's result: 32.67% reckon the Paris 2024 Olympics are too far away just yet to start thinking about visiting.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• 🥊 07:00pm - Boxing - Origin Rumble: Gallen v Hodges/Hannant - Nissan Arena, Brisbane - Main Event

• 🏉 07:45pm - Rugby - Wallabies v All Blacks - Marvel Stadium, Channel 9, Stan Sport

• 🎾 10:00pm - Tennis - Davis Cup: Australia v France - Hamburg, Germany - 9Gem, Foxtel, Kayo

All times AEST

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