⚽ Vicious Volley Gives Victory The Victory

Keep on going, it's Wednesday, 18 May

☝️ Before we get into it

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🔊 Sport Today Podcast

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

Today's listen time: 9.30 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching 

🏀 10.30am - NBA Eastern Conference Finals - Heat v Celtics - FTX Arena, Miami - Foxtel, Kayo

⚽ 7.05pm - A-League Men's Semi-Final - Adelaide United v Melbourne City - Coopers Stadium, Adelaide - 10 Bold, Paramount+

⚽ 5.00am (Thu) - UEFA Europa League Final - Eintracht Frankfurt v Rangers - Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Seville - 9 Gem, Stan Sport

All times are in AEST

⚽ Jake has Victory brimming with confidence

The Melbourne Victory have one foot in the A-League Men’s final, and that foot belongs to Jake Brimmer.

The score: Melbourne Victory defeated Western United 1-0.

Golden points: There have been some wicked goals scored this season, but none top Brimmer’s effort in terms of importance. 

• The Victory had one shot on target in last night’s semi-final first leg, but as they say, quality beats quantity. Brimmer made the most of it, volleying home from outside the box to show off his perfect technique.

• That was the only goal on the night, although Western United players thought they had an early penalty when Lachie Wales was knocked over in the box. There was no whistle.

• There’s no need to panic. United can bounce back on Saturday night in the 2nd leg. But this time they simply have to win. 

What are the chances… it’s an all Melbourne final? We know one team will be there, but you can’t write off Adelaide ahead of tonight’s other semi. They’ve won 6 in a row and haven’t lost to Melbourne City at home since 2018. 

What’s next: The defending champs haven’t beaten the other 3 semi-finalists this season, but that can end tonight. That game kicks off on 10 Bold and Paramount+ at 7.05pm (AEST).

Watch it: Here are the highlights from last night’s Melbourne derby.

🏉 It wasn't the right vibe at the AFL tribunal 

It was a good night for lawyers and a tough Tuesday for the players at the AFL tribunal.

Golden points: Marlion Pickett and James Rowbottom won’t play this weekend after they couldn’t get their one-game bans overturned last night.

• This is a big blow for Pickett because it means he’ll miss Richmond’s Dreamtime at the ‘G game against Essendon because of a high bump on Dylan Moore. 

• That’s always a big game, but it was even more special this year because Pickett and his partner designed the club’s indigenous jersey.

• Sydney will also be without Rowbottom for Friday’s game against Carlton. He was also charged for a high bump which the AFL said had the potential to cause serious injury. 

Key click: Here’s a breakdown of everything that happened at the tribunal last night. 

What’s next: You can check out all the info for this week’s matches as part of Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

🏉 Dogs hope Potter can bring the magic 

Team list Tuesday usually means checking to see which NRL players have been named. Yesterday, a lot of people were more interested in the coaches.

Golden points: That’s because Trent Barrett quit as Canterbury coach on Sunday night. It’s been a few days now and we still don’t know who the interim coach is.

• What we do know is that assistants David Furner and Craig Sandercock will lead the team on Friday against the Wests Tigers.

• There’s a good chance the club will today announce Mick Potter as caretaker coach for the rest of 2022. Not everyone at the club is happy that Barrett is gone.

• Whoever the new coach is won’t have to worry about picking Brent Naden. The outside back was released after 8 games with the Dogs. And get this, the Tigers have named him for this week’s game against Canterbury. That’s a quick reunion. 

Key click: Here are all the ins and outs for Round 11 of the NRL season.

🏐 Vixens outfox their rivals to move to the top 

Don’t let your blood boil, Fever fans. Everything is okay even if your team isn’t on top of the Super Netball ladder anymore.

The score: Vixens defeated Fever 70-64.

Golden points: The calendar says we’re a month away from the finals, but the big games came early in Perth last night. And the Vixens are now the team to beat after they knocked off the Fever on their home court.

• Winning in Perth is just about impossible, but nothing was gonna stop the Vixens last night. They raced out to a 23-14 lead at quarter-time and never looked back.

• They’re now one game clear of their main rivals after their 2nd win over the Fever this season thanks to 45/46 goals for Mwai Kumwenda. 

• There are only 4 rounds left so every win matters. Just look at the NSW Swifts who soared into the top 4 thanks to their one-point win over the Lightning.

Watch it: The action doesn’t stop. There are 2 more games on Foxtel and Kayo starting at 6.00pm (AEDT). First up it’s the Magpies and the Giants followed by the game between the Thunderbirds and Firebirds. 

🏊‍♀️ This isn't your average swimming carnival  

Take your marks and get ready to dive in because Australia’s National Swimming Championships start today in Adelaide.

Golden points: This is a chance to see some of your favourite swimmers from the Tokyo Games as they look to qualify for the World Champs in Budapest and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

• But not all your favourites will be there. Emma McKeon won 7 medals in Tokyo but she won’t be in the pool in Adelaide. She and a few others are skipping the trials but have been guaranteed spots on the team for Birmingham thanks to a new rule.

• Then there’s Ariarne Titmus who will compete in a couple of events, but she won’t head to Hungary.

• That means our next-gen swimmers have the chance to qualify, including Shayna Jack. This is her first big meet since she served a 2-year drug ban.

Watch it: You’re going to need Amazon Prime for this. The trials start today and finish on 22 May. 

Key click: Here's the schedule for the next few days.

👀 Quick singles

⚽ The English Premier League will be decided on Monday morning after Liverpool beat Southampton. The Reds were a goal down but came back to win 2-1 to move within one point of leaders Manchester City. 

🎾 Things didn’t go to plan for Daniil Medvedev in his first game back from injury. The Russian tennis star was knocked out by Richard Gasquet in straight sets at the Geneva Open in his first match since March.  

🏏 The Sydney Sixers have called on an English legend to help turn their WBBL fortunes around. Charlotte Edwards will be their coach this season as they look to shake off last year’s bottom-place finish. 

🚴‍♂️ Biniam Girmay made some history overnight when he won stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia. But the Eritrean rider was soon in hospital after he hit himself in the eye with a Prosecco cork on the podium. 

🏉 Make sure you renew your Disney+ subscription because a new AFLW documentary is coming. Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW will follow 4 teams and give fans access to what goes on behind closed doors. 

⛳️ The PGA Championship tee times and pairings have been released. There are some mega groups but none bigger than the trio of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.

🏉 The Wallabies have received a boost with Nic White shunning overseas offers to re-sign until the end of 2023. It follows reports that Japan-based trio Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete will be picked for the England series in July. 

🏀 NBA superstar LeBron James held an impromptu Twitter Q&A and spilled some tea. He says Mavericks star Luka Dončić is his favourite player, prefers Nintendo 64 over GameCube and wants to visit Australia!

🙃 Left of field...

Whatever you can do, I can Doerr better.

Golden points: That’s the unofficial motto we’ve given to Gold Coast sailor Xavier Doerr who wants to set a Guinness World Record.

• That would be the fastest non-stop solo circumnavigation of Australia. Oh, and just to make it harder, the 21yo can’t get any help or he’s disqualified. At least he’ll have a replica of Wilson from the movie Cast Away to keep him company. 

• The current record is 58 days but Doerr wants to get it done in 50 days. The trip is pretty much the equivalent of doing 12 Sydney to Hobart races. Luckily for him, he’s already done that twice. 

• This is gonna be brutal. He expects to lose about 20 kilos and will only sleep in 15-minute intervals so he doesn’t crash. 

Watch it: Here’s an interview Doerr did ahead of his journey on 29 May.

📽 The highlight reel

Willson Contreras will never forget his 100th home run in the MLB. The Chicago Cubs catcher brought up the milestone with a 4-run grand slam in his team's big win over the Pirates yesterday. 

📸 Photo finish

A couple of rugby league legends, including NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler, are taking part in Royce's Big Walk to raise money for dementia research. It's good to see everyone supporting Royce Simmons. 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

A fair bit has happened since the Bombers last beat the Tigers in 2014. 

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