Smith, Green pull Aussies out of strife

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ABC News
14 minutes ago
- ABC News
InZane Rugby League: John Lang - Kyle Flanagan plays his best football under Shane
On Inzane Rugby league on ABC Sport, Zane Bojack and former Raiders halfback Sam Williams spoke to 2003 Panthers premiership coach John Lang about the complexities of coaching son Martin in the NRL amid the continued criticism of Kyle Flanagan by social media. Lang also explained how inspirational Arthur Beetson was in the very first State of Origin game in 1980 as Josh Papalii tries to emulate big Artie in Wednesday's decider. He revealed he knocked back the Queensland coaching gig due to financial restraints at Cronulla-Sutherland when he was head coach. Sam Williams also gave his opinion about the criticism of Kyle and Shane Flanagan and suggested the Bulldogs are reaping what they sowed after disrupting their line up mid-season with the signing of Lachie Galvin.

News.com.au
27 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Matildas coach Joe Montemurro set to make more changes to Australia's team for return clash with Panama
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Teagan Micah won't be risked in the Matildas' clash in Perth on Tuesday night against a Panama side hoping to secure back-to-back wins over an experimental Australian outfit. Despite sitting 41 places lower than Australia in the world rankings, Panama beat a Matildas team missing a host of stars – including Steph Catley, Alanna Kennedy, Caitlin Foord, Ellie Carpenter, Clare Hunt, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Charlotte Grant and injured pair Mary Fowler and Sam Kerr – 1-0 in Bunbury on Saturday. More young talent is set to get an opportunity in game two of the series at HBF Park, with Alex Chidiac, Kaitlyn Torpey and Emily Gielnik having since departed camp, and free agent Micah, who was forced off in the defeat after a crunching second-half blow left her dazed, ruled out. 'We're not going to take any risks,' Matildas coach Joe Montemurro said. 'She (Micah) will be fine. It's just a little bit of whiplash, (but) we just don't want to take any risks. There's no need to.' Montemurro is happy to further experiment with players and combinations in just his fourth game in charge as he bids to build Australia's depth ahead of next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup. 'It's been great to be able to do it at this level because we can gauge exactly where we're at,' he said. 'I haven't really looked at (Saturday's result) as a loss. I've looked at it as more information for us to go forward. 'We're trying to lift the way, lift the style, lift the football, and we want to do it without negative results, but it's probably one where … when you make a lot of changes there's going to be a little bit of instability, but I still have belief in the process and still have belief in the way going forward. 'We've got a bank of information that will help us go forward.' Montemurro suggested the learning experience that the next generation of Matildas were being exposed to was priceless. 'It's like everything – you don't lose, you learn,' he said. 'You learn from these situations. It's a perfect opportunity to learn, because it's not a do-or-die game. It's not a game that we are going to lose points on, or lose our status in a competition situation. 'It's a game where it was always prescribed that we were going to make a lot of changes. 'The good thing about it is players, individually, who were given an opportunity, can look at themselves and learn and understand. 'We focused on the take-outs of (Saturday's) game because there were some good passages. 'It just wasn't continuous enough, and it probably wasn't, at times, football-intelligent enough. 'Understanding international football, understanding when a team does break up the game and tries to stop rhythms and so on … we have to be better mentally and even as a coaching staff, we have to be prepared for these opportunities. 'For me, the perfect way of learning these levels of international football is through an experience we had the other day.'

The Australian
32 minutes ago
- The Australian
NRL 2025: Harry Grant pays tribute to mourning Cameron Munster
Maroons hooker Harry Grant says the best way for the team to support Cameron Munster is 'with our performance and preparation' as the Queensland camp rallies around the skipper after his father died last week. The champion five-eighth is spending time with his family as they grieve Steven Munster's death, with the Storm star set to fly to Sydney to rejoin his teammates ahead of the State of Origin decider on Wednesday night. 'It is a tough time for Cam, his immediate family, extended family and everyone in camp,' Grant said. 'But I think the best way we can support him is throwing our arms around him, and ultimately the best way we can support him right now is with our performance and with our preparation. 'It hits everyone hard. You don't know what's around the corner, so you've got to be nice and present and take in the moments that you have. Maroons teammates have paid tribute to Cameron Munster's father Steven after he died last week. Picture: Instagram 'It's a beautiful family and I had plenty of moments with the family over the years. What we can control is our performance, and that's the best way to pay our respects to the family.' No one could have begrudged Munster if he'd chosen not to play in Sydney given what had happened, but the Maroons skipper has made it clear he wants to play as his side looks to win back the shield. 'When you think about it, Cameron Munster captaining Queensland brings so much pride to the whole of his family, and Steve would love to see him out there in the Maroon captaining his state,' Grant said. 'I think it's very brave the way he's handling the situation, but we have to respect the way he's handling it and respect the way he's doing things and give him the time and space to flick the mind back to the Queensland Maroons and Origin. 'It's a show of character to Cameron but also his family. We have to respect what he's going through, but we know he wants to lace the boots up and wear the Maroon and make his family proud.' Munster is expected to play in the Origin decider after a brilliant performance in Perth. Picture:Queensland will have their captain's run in Sydney on Tuesday, with Reece Walsh set to come into the side if Munster is unable to play. But Grant said he wasn't focusing on contingency plans ahead of the series decider. 'There are plenty of possibilities you could go through, but you could be wasting energy thinking about that,' he said. 'Putting that in place, the coaches will have their understanding and they'll have those conversations. But as a playing group, we don't need to put our heads there.'