Latest from Shabiba
West Australian
11 minutes ago
- Sport
- West Australian
War of words over GST carve-up as states butt heads
opinion opinion Freo must refuse to play at SCG or risk going far in finals
Sydney Morning Herald
15 minutes ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
NRLW in consolidation period but expansion not off the cards in 2026
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has emphasised the need for 'sustainable growth' in the women's game as the newly expanded NRLW competition starts this week. The entrance of the Bulldogs and Warriors in 2025 has taken the total number of teams in the competition to 12, but while the Abdo said it was crucial to consolidate the current pool of players, he didn't rule out expansion in 2026. 'I think it's important to make sure that you're investing in grassroots and in talent development, and you're opening up age group competitions so that everyone can play the game, and then you're thinking about how you can harness talent from multiple ways,' Abdo said. 'New markets are really important for us. I've spoken about New Zealand, but ultimately thinking about how we can lure talent from other markets is also to the front of mind, but ultimately, it's making sure that our core nurseries are producing talent, and as long as that continues to grow we'll be in a situation where eventually all the clubs will have both a men's and women's team.' The NRLW's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) allows the NRL to expand to a maximum of 12 teams in the current cycle (2023-2027), however Abdo said the NRL could re-negotiate those terms with the players if they saw room for growth. 'We've done a collective bargaining agreement that contemplated growing from 10 to 12 teams in the current set up of the salary cap,' Abdo said. 'It doesn't preclude us from growing beyond that, but it obviously requires a renegotiation, and we're at a point now where we really want to focus on making sure this season is successful and then again we'll review and have a look at what the road map looks like over the next couple of years.'
West Australian
15 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Students can ‘appreciate Harry Potter a bit better' as schools offer Latin to Year 11 and 12 students
Students can 'appreciate Harry Potter a bit better' as schools offer Latin to Year 11 and 12 students
The Age
15 minutes ago
- Business
- The Age
NRLW in consolidation period but expansion not off the cards in 2026
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has emphasised the need for 'sustainable growth' in the women's game as the newly expanded NRLW competition starts this week. The entrance of the Bulldogs and Warriors in 2025 has taken the total number of teams in the competition to 12, but while the Abdo said it was crucial to consolidate the current pool of players, he didn't rule out expansion in 2026. 'I think it's important to make sure that you're investing in grassroots and in talent development, and you're opening up age group competitions so that everyone can play the game, and then you're thinking about how you can harness talent from multiple ways,' Abdo said. 'New markets are really important for us. I've spoken about New Zealand, but ultimately thinking about how we can lure talent from other markets is also to the front of mind, but ultimately, it's making sure that our core nurseries are producing talent, and as long as that continues to grow we'll be in a situation where eventually all the clubs will have both a men's and women's team.' The NRLW's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) allows the NRL to expand to a maximum of 12 teams in the current cycle (2023-2027), however Abdo said the NRL could re-negotiate those terms with the players if they saw room for growth. 'We've done a collective bargaining agreement that contemplated growing from 10 to 12 teams in the current set up of the salary cap,' Abdo said. 'It doesn't preclude us from growing beyond that, but it obviously requires a renegotiation, and we're at a point now where we really want to focus on making sure this season is successful and then again we'll review and have a look at what the road map looks like over the next couple of years.'
Sydney Morning Herald
15 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Opera House stairs will be out of action for weeks. Here's why
Despite the imposing size of the grand stairway, the steps are straightforward to remove. They sit on rubber packers, which will be hard-grouted to limit movement and reduce the need for further maintenance. Work was completed on other segments of the stairway in 2024 and earlier this year, but the current maintenance marks the biggest and most central part of the remediation. The work could take several weeks, with the official deadline for completion being the Sydney Marathon on August 31. Focus will then turn to the podium at the top of the stairs. While acting primarily as a functional, but dramatic, gateway to the podium level entry of the Sydney Opera House, the Monumental Steps are both a key aesthetic element and one of the many engineering feats of the building. The 100-metre-wide stairs drew inspiration from ancient Mayan temples. Architect Jorn Utzon called them a 'very important feature for the feeling of being in another world'. The cavernous concourse that runs below the stairs is supported by 49-metre-long concrete beams, a design innovation of engineer Ove Arup, who dismissed the need for vertical columns and instead proposed the beams. Those beams have held strong over the decades, supporting the weight of hundreds of thousands of people for events such as Crowded House's 1996 farewell show or Oprah Winfrey's 2010 broadcast from the forecourt. Comments below a popular TikTok showing the gutted stairs recall all the treasures lost to the narrow gaps along the stairway. 'Lost my house keys there at the Crowded House farewell concert in 1996,' one read. For those hoping to find lost items during the current round of maintenance, it's probably a little too late for your phone, thanks to the stormwater that runs off the sails. However, the removable nature of the steps means items can often be retrieved on the day. 'We can pull the stair treads out to do cleaning, and you pick up the odd phone that gets dropped underneath during a concert,' said general manager of building operations, Dean Jakubowski.
