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Perth Now
37 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Finals beckon, but Suns keep their Witts about them
Jarrod Witts' rucking wares are being heralded as All-Australian worthy, while Gold Coast, in reach of a top-four finish, keep their feet in new AFL territory. The Suns' historic 66-point QClash victory on Saturday gave them, with five regular-season games to play, a club-best 12th win this season. Four of those games come against teams not in finals contention, leaving the Suns in the hunt for a top-four finish in what would be their maiden post-season foray. Witts, two games shy of his 200th AFL game, has been critical in that run. The 32-year-old helped turn the screws against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday as the Suns' midfield upstaged the Lions' for their biggest QClash win. Unprompted, Hardwick launched a campaign for the ruckman post-game. "Can I make a statement about Jarrod Witts? Can we start having a conversation?" he posed when asked about the performance of Witts' star on-ballers Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson. "I watched TV the other day, they had a list of ruckmen that are in the mix. Go and have a look at what our guy's done to all those guys." Before Saturday, Witts had collected the seventh-most coaches' votes of all ruckmen, his 26 dwarfed by leaders Brodie Grundy (65) and Max Gawn (59). "Have the conversation about how good this guy's become,": Hardwick said. "These guys (Suns midfielders) should be buying him coffee every day. Unbelievable. "I'd love to have him as All-Australian … I wouldn't pick another one." The Suns play Richmond, Carlton, GWS, Essendon and Port Adelaide in the run to a potential first finals campaign. Only the Giants are a shot of joining them, although emotion will be high when the Power play their final game under long-time mentor Ken Hinkley. "It is every side's challenge, isn't it," Hardwick said. "The sides we are talking about, they are going to have their moments and they are going to play well. "At various stages we haven't beaten those sides we should have beaten and that is going to be our next challenge. "If we concentrate firmly on the next shift, where our feet are right now, we are going to be OK."
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Piastri rues 'disappointing' error as Norris takes pole
Australia's Oscar Piastri has been left regretting a qualifying slip that has helped put McLaren teammate and world championship arch-rival Lando Norris on pole for the Belgian Grand Prix. The pair are gearing up for another classic wet weather battle after the dominating qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps. Norris set the fastest time early on in the final session on Saturday to grab pole position for Sunday's race. Piastri could not quite beat it on his final run, finishing 0.085 seconds behind his British teammate. Piastri has a nine-point lead at the top of the world championship standings but is under increasingly intense pressure from in-form Norris, who is aiming for his third straight grand prix race victory. Piastri had been quickest in Friday practice and sprint qualifying but found Norris had stepped things up the following day. Piastri said: "The second lap was coming together really well and I just made a little mistake in (turn) 14. It is fine margins out there. "Not a bad place to be starting, but there was more in it so that is disappointing." Norris said: "The car has been been flying all weekend, Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend, so we're pushing each other a lot. "It's tough because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are easily and you learn from each other quickly. It's a good but tough battle that we have at the minute." Rain is forecast for Sunday, raising the prospect of another wet-weather shoot-out between the two McLarens after Norris came out on top in a thriller at his home race at Silverstone last time out. Norris said it could be a "Silverstone-esque" race, hinting at difficult driving conditions and possible chaos if parts of the circuit, the longest on the F1 calendar, get a drenching while other sections remain dry. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third fastest and Dutchman Max Verstappen, who won the sprint race a few hours before qualifying, passing Piastri on the straight of the first lap, was fourth in the Red Bull. Alex Albon was fifth quickest in the Williams ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell. Lewis Hamilton's disappointing weekend continued with 16th place in qualifying after his best lap time was ruled out because he'd strayed off track. The day before, the Ferrari driver was 18th in qualifying for the sprint race following a spin. Piastri took seven points and Norris six from the sprint, meaning the Australian extended his overall lead from eight to nine points over his team-mate heading into Sunday. But Norris's race pole - and the weather - could change all that. With agencies
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
I've shown them: Groves completes grand set of wins
Australia's Kaden Groves has completed his set of grand tour stage wins after traversing the slippery roads to triumph on the penultimate day of the Tour de France. His late solo breakaway left the big two of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard trailing in the pouring rain of northern France. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider surged ahead 16 kilometres from home and held on for his first Tour stage win and 10th at major races. The 26-year-old from the Sunshine Coast has claimed two at the Giro d'Italia and seven at the Spanish Vuelta. His bike-handling skills in the wet were to the fore as he negotiated a sodden descent 21km from the finish while two other rivals skidded out of control. He finished 54 seconds ahead of Frank van den Broek and 59 clear of Pascal Eenkhoorn, bursting into tears as he crossed the finish line in Pontarlier. He said: "There's so much pressure at the Tour, and having won in the Giro, having won in the Vuelta, all I ever get asked is am I good enough to win in the Tour? And now I show them. "It's my first time winning, so it's pretty incredible." Earlier in the stage, another Australian, Harrison Sweeny, had made his mark. When the front group tackled the 3.6km Côte de Thésy, Frenchman Jordan Jegat launched a solo attack, but he was then overtaken by Sweeny. As rain fell heavily again after 40km, Sweeny opened up a 50-second lead, only to be quickly reeled in. Aside from the Australian cameos, Pogačar kept things safe to maintain his healthy lead over arch-rival Vingegard and set the stage for a triumphant finale into Paris on Sunday. The Slovenian ace has a 4 minutes 24 seconds advantage over two-time Tour winner Vingegaard with Germany's Florian Lipowitz 11:03 behind Pogačar in third overall. Barring a dramatic misadventure, Pogačar should complete the job on Sunday and move level with British rider Chris Froome on four Tour titles. Victory would also give Pogačar a fifth Grand Tour after winning the Giro d'Italia in dominant fashion last year. However, Sunday's final stage is not a processional one, as is usually the case, and could potentially prove troublesome toward the end with three consecutive climbs. Saturday's 184.2km route from Nantua through eastern France featured three small climbs and a moderately difficult one up Côte de Thésy. The wet roads were treacherous at high speeds, with France's Romain Grégoire and Spaniard Iván Romeo both crashing as they attempted to navigate tight turns. Both were able to continue. The final stage is a 132.3km ride from Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris, where the peloton will cycle up the famous Butte Montmartre three times before the final laps on the Champs-Elysees. With agencies
