No 38 Jarryd Hayne tries to avoid a tackle as he plays for the San Francisco 49ers against the Dallas Cowboys during his third preseason NFL game in the US.
EPA/John G Mabanglo
Three down, just one preseason game to go before Australian Jarryd Hayne will know if he’s made it play for the San Francisco 49ers in the competitive US NFL season.
The AFL does best in attracting young women to games and then maintaining their loyalty in later years.
AAP/David Mariuz
The AFL draws the biggest crowds in the country and its growth has been driven by female fans being drawn to the game and sticking with it as they get older.
Rugby union star Karmichael Hunt has been stood down by his club pending a court appearance on drug supply charges.
AAP/Dan Peled
There is a tension between views of players’ rights under employment contracts and their responsibilities – both ethically and contractually
The Bulldogs beat the Pathers in the preliminary final - but can the underdogs do it again in this weekend’s NRL Grand Final against the Rabbitohs?
AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville
When the final siren sounds at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday night either the South Sydney Rabbitohs or Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs will be crowned as 2014 National Rugby League (NRL) Premiers…
Was McKinnon’s spinal injury a freak accident?
AAP Image/Action Photographics, Brett Crockford
After Newcastle forward Alex McKinnon’s neck was broken in a lifting tackle in March, some commentators and parents have questioned whether rugby is just too dangerous for children, amateurs – and even…
The belief that rugby league is a ‘hard sport’ played by ‘hard men’ made by insiders does little to advance the image of the game.
AAP/Action Photographics
When his grandson was tragically killed while playing rugby league in April this year, former New South Wales and Australian halfback Tommy Raudonikis said: Everyone needs to understand that this was just…
Can on-field adulation translate to off-field trustworthiness?
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Darren Lockyer knows a thing or two about conversions, having banged hundreds between the posts and over the crossbar during his rugby league career. He retired on a high in 2011, having captained the…
A couple of contentious decisions on Friday night have thrust NRL referees into the spotlight.
AAP Image/Action Photographics/Grant Trouville
Referees in need of coaching for “emotional intelligence”? Controversy over crucial line decisions in major matches? Criticism raining from the heavens? That’s right: it’s finals time in Australian sport…
Interim Australian Rugby League Commission Chief Executive Shane Mattiske (left) shakes the hand of Nine CEO David Gyngell after a five-year broadcasting deal was struck between the NRL, Fox Sports and Nine.
AAP
The new broadcasting deal struck this week by the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) represents an outstanding result as well as a lost opportunity. The $1.025 billion that the Nine Network and…
Where should the NRL focus its attention this year?
AAP Image/Action Photographics, Charles Knight
Being a leap year, 2012 will see the staging of the Olympic Games, this time in London. For Australia’s domestic sporting competitions, this means vying for media coverage with other sports. But the National…
Former rugby league player and convicted match-fixer, Ryan Tandy will likely not play the game again, but who’s really to blame?
AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
I’m a relatively well-disciplined guy. In my brief time in this world, I’ve managed to complete a degree, quit smoking, and exercise thirty-odd kilos of self-indulgence away. But if there’s a TV on in…