Brisbane and Hobart stadium challenges go beyond building it so they can come
Yet the Wallabies coming so close to levelling the series with the touring Lions was still a morale-boosting achievement.
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Sydney Morning Herald
15 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Bring it in quickly': The story behind the speech that inspired one of Australian netball's greatest comebacks
At three-quarter-time of the Super Netball preliminary final, Melbourne Vixens coach Simone McKinnis crouched to her knees and beckoned her players to huddle up. 'Bring it in quickly,' she said, and they leaned in, eyes on the 59-year-old. The 35 seconds that followed will go down as one of the most rousing rev-ups in Australian sport, inspiring the Vixens to an astonishing comeback victory and a place in Saturday night's grand final against West Coast Fever at Rod Laver Arena. The story behind her speech is even more remarkable. The Vixens were in a dire position against the NSW Swifts in the prelim– down 51-41 at the last break. But that was nothing compared with the team's position after six rounds of the season, with only two wins on the board and upheaval behind the scenes. McKinnis stunned the netball world in May by announcing that she would resign at the end of the season, and now admits that her own issues were affecting the team. 'To be honest those weeks, I don't think I was at my best because of everything going on in the background,' McKinnis told this masthead. 'The girls were playing how I was feeling.' McKinnis, who represented Australia 63 times and is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and dual world champion, declined to elaborate on the reasons for her resignation, other than to say it came down to a combination of factors. With her contract expiring at season's end, it felt like the right time to hand over the reins. Her decision to step down after 13 years at the helm proved a turning point for the Vixens. McKinnis says it allowed the team to focus, and they won eight of their next 10 games to reach back-to-back grand finals.
The Age
15 minutes ago
- The Age
‘Bring it in quickly': The story behind the speech that inspired one of Australian netball's greatest comebacks
At three-quarter-time of the Super Netball preliminary final, Melbourne Vixens coach Simone McKinnis crouched to her knees and beckoned her players to huddle up. 'Bring it in quickly,' she said, and they leaned in, eyes on the 59-year-old. The 35 seconds that followed will go down as one of the most rousing rev-ups in Australian sport, inspiring the Vixens to an astonishing comeback victory and a place in Saturday night's grand final against West Coast Fever at Rod Laver Arena. The story behind her speech is even more remarkable. The Vixens were in a dire position against the NSW Swifts in the prelim– down 51-41 at the last break. But that was nothing compared with the team's position after six rounds of the season, with only two wins on the board and upheaval behind the scenes. McKinnis stunned the netball world in May by announcing that she would resign at the end of the season, and now admits that her own issues were affecting the team. 'To be honest those weeks, I don't think I was at my best because of everything going on in the background,' McKinnis told this masthead. 'The girls were playing how I was feeling.' McKinnis, who represented Australia 63 times and is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and dual world champion, declined to elaborate on the reasons for her resignation, other than to say it came down to a combination of factors. With her contract expiring at season's end, it felt like the right time to hand over the reins. Her decision to step down after 13 years at the helm proved a turning point for the Vixens. McKinnis says it allowed the team to focus, and they won eight of their next 10 games to reach back-to-back grand finals.
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
McKeown, McEvoy hold the hope of an Aussie gold rush
Backstroke star Kaylee McKeown and freestyle sprinter Cameron McEvoy will lead the charge as Australia attempt to claw their way back above the US at the swimming world championships in Singapore. A silver and bronze medal on Friday night dropped Australia (five gold, two silver, six bronze) into second spot on the medal tally behind the US (five gold, 10 silver, five bronze). Mollie O'Callaghan started as the hot favourite in the women's 100m freestyle final, but her late charge wasn't enough to beat Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen, who prevailed by 0.12 of a second. It means O'Callaghan's bid to surpass Ian Thorpe's Australian record of 11 world championship gold medals will have to wait for another day. The only other medal for Australia on Friday night was a bronze to the men's 4x200m freestyle relay team of Flynn Southam, Charlie Hawke, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani. The quartet entered their final as big underdogs, but they came within a whisker of nabbing silver. Great Britain won gold in a time of 6:59.84, with China (7:00.91) just edging Australia (7:00.98). While day six didn't result in a gold rush for Australia, things could be different on Saturday night. McKeown is a two-time Olympic champion in both the 100m and 200m backstroke. The 24-year-old won the 100m world championship backstroke final ahead of arch rival Regan Smith on Wednesday. And McKeown will have the chance to add the 200m crown to her name on Saturday night when she goes up against the likes of Smith, Xuwei Peng, Anastasiya Shkurdai and Claire Curzan in the final. McEvoy qualified fastest with a time of 21.30 seconds for the men's 50m freestyle final, and the Olympic champion is hoping to come up trumps on Saturday night. "I can't complain, it's only 0.05 off what I did to win Paris," McEvoy said of his Friday night semi-final swim. "It's good, but the job's not done. I've got one more tomorrow. "I need to let the finals atmosphere kind of lift me up a bit. Don't think about the end time. Don't go down that rabbit hole. Let the body speak for itself and see where I end up." Australians Alexandria Perkins and Lily Price both qualified for the women's 50m butterfly final, while Matt Temple qualified sixth fastest for the men's 100m butterfly final. During the daytime heats on Saturday, Isaac Cooper will feature in the men's 50m backstroke, Meg Harris and Olivia Wunsch are in the women's 50m freestyle, while Sam Short will be hoping to overcome illness to compete in the men's 1500m freestyle. O'Callaghan said tiredness from a busy schedule meant she wasn't at her best in Friday night's 100m freestyle final. Thorpe is sure it's just a matter of time before the 21-year-old surpasses his record mark of 11 world championship gold medals - possibly even in Saturday night's 4x100m mixed freestyle relay final. "I'm certain and I can't wait to see Mollie surpass that," Thorpe told the Nine Network. "What she has the opportunity to do is create her own legacy in swimming, which will continue to inspire people in future generations … leading into the Brisbane Olympics in 2032."
