Mal Meninga has made his big Kangaroos halfback call at the Rugby League World Cup. Check out CODE’s Best of Sport for today’s sporting news.
Here is CODE Sports’ Best of Sport line-up for November 3, 2022.
Parker: The truth about Cleary v Cherry-Evans
Nathan Cleary has taken the Kangaroos halfback spot from Daly Cherry-Evans. COREY PARKER breaks down the decision and some nagging misconceptions about DCE.
Daly Cherry-Evans is a friend, on top of being a wonderful player. He’s done a great job for Manly, Queensland and Australia over the years.
But everyone’s time comes to an end. With someone like Nathan Cleary, you have to pick him. He just cannot be left out. Cleary’s form has demanded the Kangaroos halfback position at this World Cup, rather than a decline from DCE.
You then can’t carry Daly on the bench, moving forward, given how effective Ben Hunt and Harry Grant are as rotating hookers. I don’t see DCE playing again in the tournament after Hunt returns from taking a rest for the quarter-final against Lebanon.
It’s unfortunate for Daly, but Cleary is by far the pick of the bunch when it comes to current halfbacks. And moving forward, he could be the Kangaroos halfback for the next decade, at just 24 years of age. It’s a great opportunity for both him and Australia.
Swans grieve the loss of two club stalwarts
The Swans are in mourning after the passing of club legends, John Payne and Kenny Williams. ROB FORSAITH speaks to John Longmire and Jude Bolton about the legacy Payne and Williams leave behind.
John Longmire likens them to “unofficial welfare” managers. Jude Bolton’s 21st birthday is one of countless examples that will be remembered fondly in a sad week for the Sydney Swans.
Longmire, Bolton and pretty much everyone who played for – or worked for – the Swans during the past 25 years is grieving the death of much-loved stalwarts John Payne and Kenny Williams.
Payne and Williams’ contribution to the club was immense and selfless.
Fervent and fair-weather fans alike recognised Williams, who died at age 93, as the red-and-white face of the Swans. He was a regular at training sessions since the Ron Barassi days, supplying water to players, then performing the role of team-song maestro with gusto after being appointed by Rodney Eade.
Payne lacked Williams’ profile, but the self-effacing force of nature left an indelible mark on the club as team manager.
Why Lauren Jackson couldn’t just walk away
Lauren Jackson was very tempted to make a triumphant exit after her unforgettable Opals comeback. The basketball icon tells LINDA PEARCE why she didn’t and what’s next.
Lauren Jackson remembers little beyond the bottle of bubbly her mum, Maree, brought to the Opals’ hotel to celebrate the World Cup bronze medal. She does, however, recall a thought that entered her mind earlier on that unforgettable October afternoon.
It was the idea that she might just slip straight back into retirement.
Which would mean abandoning her planned WNBL return.
That was Saturday. By the time Jackson awoke in Sydney on the Monday, she was ready to get her battered 41-year-old body back on the court. Australia’s greatest-ever player confirmed as much in a don’t-worry-I’ll-be-right text message to relieved Southside Flyers head coach — and Opals assistant — Cheryl Chambers.
But it had been tempting. Very.
Afghanistan’s Olympic flag bearer finds refuge in Sydney
A week after the Tokyo Olympics, the Taliban seized Kabul. The nation‘s flag bearer tells NEIL CORDY about her new life in Australia.
Of all the athletes in Australia preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics, few are taking a road as arduous as Kimia Yousofi.
A year ago, the 100 metres sprinter carried the Afghanistan flag into Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony. It should have been a lifetime highlight for the two-time Olympian particularly when, days later, she set a national record and personal best time in her heat. The feat was reported around the sporting world.
But while these events were taking place in Japan, the Taliban was advancing across Afghanistan. After the withdrawal of American troops then-president Ashraf Ghani, in a quick and unexpected move, fled Afghanistan seven days after the closing ceremony in Tokyo. The Taliban had once more seized power, 20 years after the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom had forced them into exile.
Yousofi’s life changed in an instant.
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Tim Elbra is the deputy editor of CODE. He started out as a reporter at The Daily Telegraph in 2003 and has also worked for mX, NRL.com, Fox Sports, AthletesVoice and Nine’s Wide World of Sports. Tim was one of those kids who played every sport he possibly could while growing up and you’ll find him writing about a broad range of sports on this site. He’s never met a sport he doesn’t like and outside of footy, cricket and tennis, has a passion for snowboarding, bodyboarding, scuba diving and hiking. He’s still waiting, impatiently, for the Parramatta Eels to win another premiership.