🏐 Super Netball Gets Supercharged

Count down the hours, it's Friday, 17 June

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Lucy Watkin are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes. 

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching this weekend

🏀 Friday, 11.00am - NBA Finals Game 6 - Celtics v Warriors - TD Garden, Boston - Foxtel, Kayo

🏉 Friday, 7.55pm - NRL - Storm v Broncos - AAMI Park, Melbourne - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

🏁 Saturday, 4.00pm - V8 Supercars - Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin - Foxtel, Kayo

🏉 Saturday, 5.05pm - Super Rugby Pacific GF - Blues v Crusaders - Eden Park, Auckland - Stan Sport

🏐 Saturday, 7.00pm - Super Netball - Vixens v Fever - John Cain Arena, Melbourne - Foxtel, Kayo

🏏 Sunday, 7.00pm - ODI - Sri Lanka v Australia - R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo - Foxtel, Kayo

⛳ Monday, 2.00am - US Open Final Round - The Country Club, Brookline - Foxtel, Kayo

🏁 Monday, 4.00am - Formula One - Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal - Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEST

🏐 Netball getting ready for a finals frenzy 

There are only 4 games left in the Super Netball season. That’s bad. But they’re all finals matches. That’s good. And it all starts tomorrow. That’s great!

Golden points: We’re down to 4 teams after one of the closest seasons on record. Just ask the poor Swifts who missed out on percentages on a crazy final day.

• But we can’t look to the past. Tomorrow is all about the major semi-final between the Vixens and the Fever. Win this and you’re into the GF in Perth. 

• What a comeback by the Vixens. They finished last in 2021 but they’re the minor premiers. It won’t be easy stopping Jhaniele Fowler from scoring - she's the best in the comp.

• The season isn’t over for the loser. They’ll play the winner of the other semi between the Giants and the Magpies in Sydney.

• But there is some other big news in netball, and it’s not great for the sport. 

Key click: A News Corp report came out yesterday saying that Netball Australia is $11 million in debt and that it could fold within 12 months. 

What are the chances… that happens? The sport has been in trouble since it walked away from New Zealand in 2016. COVID hubs, wage increases and not enough revenue from broadcast deals have hurt the sport. Watch this space. 

Watch it: Let’s focus on the good times. Both semis are on Foxtel and Kayo this weekend. Here are all the details.

🏁 Melbourne beats Sydney for F1 bragging rights

Forget rugby league for a sec because there’s a new kind of State of Origin. Welcome to the party, Victoria.

Golden points: The Australian Grand Prix is staying in Melbourne. That’s a huge win for Formula 1 lovers in Victoria, but people up north aren’t happy. 

• This is a big deal. Albert Park has hosted the race since 1996 and you can add many more years because the new deal means it’ll keep the race until 2035.

• And it gets even bigger. Formula 2 and Formula 3 races will be added next year which will mean even more money. This year’s race weekend had more than 400,000 fans and added $92 million to the economy.

• You can see why NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is so upset.

They said it: “It’s going to be a really disappointing event for years to come until it comes to its rightful place in Sydney.” - The Premier sounds a bit salty.

What’s next: There’s still a long way to go before we can worry about next year’s race. In fact, there’s another Grand Prix coming up really early on Monday at 4.00am (AEST). That GP is in Canada and you can watch it on Foxtel and Kayo.

🏉 New name but rivalry is the same 

The name of the trophy may have changed but the stakes are still high when the Wallabies and England meet next month.

Golden points: The Cook Cup, named after Captain Cook, is no more. Rugby Australia and the English board decided they didn’t want to be associated with him anymore.

• So we’ve got a name change. It’s now called the Ella-Mobbs trophy.

• It’s named after Mark Ella. You might remember him. He was a really talented Indigenous man who played 25 Tests for Australia.

• The other half of the trophy honours Edgar Mobbs. He played for England in the early 1900s before he was killed in WWI.

What’s next: Call the engraver because the trophy goes on the line next month. England is coming to town for 3 Tests. The first match is in Perth on 2 July. 

🏏 Dream debut ends in defeat 

Strap yourselves in because we’ve got a series in Sri Lanka. Well, that was always going to be the case. But now it’s really close.

The score: Sri Lanka (9/220) defeated Australia (189).

Golden points: The ODI series is now locked at 1-1 but the highlight was an international debut for Matthew Kuhnemann.

• The spinner is in the team because of a few injuries and he did really well, picking up a couple of wickets.

• Pat Cummins was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-35, but a rain delay made the chase tricky.

• The top 7 all reached double digits but no one went big. That was a problem as they lost their last 5 wickets for just 19 runs. 

Watch it: Game 3 is on Sunday. If you didn’t stay up for the game, you can watch the highlights from overnight.

🏆 We're hiring!

The team at Sport Today is looking for a new member to join the team! The role will mainly focus on the podcast but will dabble in other aspects of the business. So if you love sports and sports news, have a passion for podcasting and sports media, and don't mind the sound of your own voice, get in touch! Email through your CV to [email protected], or if you know somebody that might be keen please let them now. 

👀 Quick singles

🏊‍♀️ Get ready to dive into the World Swimming Championships when they start tomorrow. Aussie Kaylee McKeown will be one to watch at the big event in Budapest. 

🏉 The Western Bulldogs will be without Bailey Smith until Round 18. The star midfielder was handed a 2-game ban by the AFL for using an illicit substance and was also given a strike under the code’s drugs policy. 

🎯 It could be a huge week of World Cup news for Australia. Forget the FIFA stuff because our first game at the World Cup of Darts is tomorrow against Lithuania. 

🏉 Rugby Australia is thinking about leaving Super Rugby in the next few years. The plan is to stop playing New Zealand teams and to set up a domestic comp to grow the game here. 

⚽ Get your calendars ready because the EPL draw came out last night. The opening game of the season sees Crystal Palace host Arsenal. 

🏉 The top-2 teams in Super Rugby Pacific play tomorrow for the title. The Blues have been the best team all year but the Crusaders are chasing an 11th title. 

🏉 The Penrith Panthers will again be without coach Ivan Cleary for Saturday’s game against the Warriors. Cleary spent time in an intensive care unit after a blood clot in his leg ended up in his lungs. 

🙃 Left of field...

Just for a second, it looked like Warriors star Klay Thompson had been kicked out of Chase Centre before game 5 of the NBA Finals. But then it all made sense. 

Golden points: We were fooled… again. And it’s easy to see why. There’s a guy called Dawson Gurley who looks exactly like Thomspon. It’s why people call him ‘Fake Klay’. 

• Poor old Fake Klay won’t be going to any Warriors game again. He’s been banned from the Chase Centre. 

• He rocked up to the stadium before game 5 in full Warriors kit. He even had Thompson’s customary headband and was rocking the goatee.

• He got past security and shot a few hoops on the court but then he got caught. It quickly went downhill and they gave him a letter that said he was banned.

Watch it: Check out how it all went down. Don’t worry Golden State fans, the real Thompson is playing today. If they win, the trophy is theirs.

📽 The highlight reel

The Stanley Cup started yesterday and all we can say is WOW. The Avalanche beat the Lightning in overtime and the crowd went nuts. 

📸 Photo finish

That's the look you give a teammate after you jump back into the AFL top 8. The Tigers are purring after they beat Carlton in the wet last night.

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc won the big race.