🏉 Rugby League's Legal Ruling

No fighting it, it's Tuesday, 29 March

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Martin Gabor are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching 

🥅 10.00am - NHL - Capitals v Hurricanes - Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C. - Foxtel, Kayo

🏏 9.00pm - ODI - Pakistan v Australia - Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore - Foxtel, Kayo

⚽ 5.00am (Wed) - World Cup Qualifier - Saudi Arabia v Australia - King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Jeddah - Channel 10, Paramount+

All times are in AEDT

🏉 NRL allows Burgess to play, for now 

NRL player George Burgess is available for selection after the NRL decided to not use its own no-fault stand down policy on the Dragons forward.

Golden points: Burgess was charged with sexually touching another person without consent and will appear in court on 13 April. But he can keep playing for now if the Dragons pick him.

• The no-fault stand down policy was brought in back in 2019. To put it simply, it gives the NRL the power to stop someone from playing if they are facing a criminal charge with a jail sentence of 11 years or more. 

• The maximum penalty in Burgess’ case is 5 years, and the NRL says they won’t make any decision until the case is finished.

• Another player facing a potential ban is Newcastle’s Mitch Barnett. He’s off to the NRL judiciary tonight after he was sent off for elbowing Chris Smith in the throat.

What are the chances… Barnett avoids suspension? Well, practically none. He says he's going to plead guilty but will argue that the hit on Smith was careless and not intentional, which would mean a lighter punishment. 

Key click: Here's some more info on the no-fault stand down policy. 

⛳ Scottie doesn't know how to live as #1

Move over Hansel because that Scheffler is so hot right now. If you hadn’t heard of Scottie Scheffler before then that’s about to change because he’s golf’s new top dog.

Golden points: The PGA Tour has a new men’s #1 after Scheffler won the Match Play tournament in Texas.

• One win is good, but 3 in 6 weeks is even better. That’s a freakish run by anyone’s standard, but it’s out of this world considering he’d never won a tournament heading into 2022.

• The American won about $8 million for winning those 3 events and replaced Tiger Woods for the shortest time between his first win and the #1 ranking.

• Scheffler, 25, is the 6th-youngest man to reach #1 since official rankings started in 1986. 

They said it: “I don't feel like #1 in the world. I feel like the same guy I was 4 months ago, and I hope that doesn't change.” - Scheffler is keeping it real.

Watch it: Here are the highlights from Scheffler's win over Kevin Kisner in Austin.

🎾 Azarenka explains her abrupt ending 

Tennis could have a new rising star after 16yo Linda Fruhvirtova advanced to the Round of 16 at the Miami Open. The kid can play, but all the focus after the match has been on her opponent. 

Golden points: Fruhvirtova was up 6-2 3-0 when Victoria Azarenka suddenly picked up her bag and quit the match.

• Critics initially thought the former world #1 was being a sore loser, but Azarenka says she should never have played the match.

• Azarenka is Belarussian which means she’s playing under a neutral flag because of her country’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.

• She says the past few weeks have been stressful, and the signs were there earlier this month when she started crying after a loss at Indian Wells.

They said it: “I shouldn't have gone on the court today. The last few weeks have been extremely stressful in my personal life.” Azarenka will take some time away from tennis.

⛵ Aussies have a whale of a time

Call me Ishmael. Or don’t, it’s fine. There was no Captain Ahab in San Francisco but there was a whale in the water as Australia won the Sail GP title and a whole lot of money. 

Golden points: Look away if you get seasick easily. The final day on the San Francisco Bay saw big crashes, a couple of race restarts and even a whale. But none of that could stop the Aussies from winning the final.

• The Aussie team beat Japan and the USA in the final to take out their 2nd title in a row to go with $1.4 million.

• The crew is led by Tom Slingsby, who is very good at sailing. I mean, really good. Olympic gold medalist good. 

What’s next: The sea shanties will last long into the night but the Aussies have to get ready for the next season which starts in Bermuda on 14 May. 

🏀 College basketball's awesome foursome 

And then there were 4. March Madness has been so hectic that we’re almost in April, and we’re going to have to wait until next month to find out which college basketball team is the best in the States.

Golden points: The top 64 teams have been cut to 4 with Kansas, Duke, Villanova and North Carolina the last teams standing.

• The tournament is broken up into 4 sections of 16 teams who are all seeded 1-16. Kansas is the last #1 seed left and they’ll take on Villanova.

• These 4 teams are some of the biggest in America and they’ve combined for 7 of the past 14 National Championships.

• The other game is Duke against North Carolina. That’s a biggie because Mike Krzyzewski has been Duke coach for 42 years and he wants revenge on the Tar Heels after they won in his final home game a few weeks ago.

Key click: Here’s a detailed look at the final 4 teams and their chances of winning it all, with both games to be played on Sunday.

👀 Quick singles

⚽ The Socceroos say there’s still plenty to play for in tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia. The Aussies have missed out on automatic qualification to Qatar but defender Trent Sainsbury believes the game will be good preparation for June’s must-win game against whoever comes 3rd in Group A.

🏀 The LA Lakers have suffered another injury blow as they struggle to secure a spot in the NBA playoffs. Superstar LeBron James is in doubt for their next match after he rolled his ankle in a game that saw his side blow a 23-point lead to the Pelicans. 

🏏 Allrounder Mitch Marsh could miss the entire ODI series against Pakistan after he injured his hip at training. Cam Green will join the team that is also missing wicketkeeper Josh Inglis, who tested positive to COVID. 

🏈 NFL legend Peyton Manning wants Tom Brady to return a present and letter he sent him after Brady decided to un-retire from the league. Manning was probably joking, but these guys are long-time rivals and the wine was most likely very expensive.

🚴‍♂️ Biniam Girmay is a national hero after he became the first Eritrean to win a major cycling race. Girmay won the Gent-Wevelgem in Belgium and is now getting ready for the Giro d’Italia later this year. 

⚽ Breakfast has to be pancakes with a heap of maple syrup because Canada is through to the FIFA men’s World Cup for the first time since 1986. They secured their their spot in Qatar with a 4-0 win over Jamaica. 

🙃 Left of field…

Everyone was pretty confused by last weekend’s Wordle words. And then yesterday happened. Not Wordle, but the Oscars. It’s been a crazy 2022 and this is another thing we can tick off the bizarre bingo card.

Golden points: You don’t need a recap about what Will Smith did to Chris Rock unless you’ve been living under a… rock. In short, there was a slap. And some certain words. But there was a link to sport in there!

• Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams. He’s the father of tennis legends Serena and Venus, and they were both there.

• There were even a couple of actual athletes who won Oscars. NBA icons Steph Curry and Shaquille O’Neal were executive producers on the film Queen of Basketball, which won Best Short Documentary. 

Key click: If you want to know more about the movie and Lusia Harris - the first woman drafted in the NBA - then click here. 

Watch it: Here's the moment that gave new meaning to a box office hit. 

📽 The highlight reel

Matildas star Sam Kerr has now scored against every team in the Women’s Super League after she scored 2 goals against Leicester City. The 9-0 win means Chelsea is on top of the table and Kerr is the leading goal-scorer with 14. 

📸 Photo finish

He didn't get to keep the ball, but Alex Wheeler still had a pretty good day after he handed back the Sherrin that Lance Franklin kicked for his 1000th AFL goal.

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

Spain's Jon Rahm was #1 before Scheffler's hot run.