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Jimmy Bartel’s recently announced retirement from the Geelong Cats means that there are no longer an active players whose resumes can list playing more than 300 games, winning a Brownlow Medal, a Norm Smith Medal and winning three premierships. The only other was Simon Black, who retired in 2013 after 16 seasons with the Brisbane…

Just when the darkness seemed darkness, the light reappeared to illuminate the prospects of Benji Marshall when the former Dragon received an offer to join the Brisbane Broncos. The 31-year-old playmaker found himself in a self-imposed dilemma recently when he turned down a $300,000 contract with St. George Illawarra to test the waters in the…

The AFL trading period is in full swing and thus far, the most significant change of sides seems to be the defection of Sam Mitchell from the Hawthorn Hawks to the West Coast Eagles. Mitchell and pick 54 of the next draft go to West Coast in exchange for picks 52, 70 and 88. Observers…

The past several days have not been kind to carriers of Brisbane civic pride, so far as that pride has anything to do with the results of sporting contests. After being treated as unwelcome relatives squatting down for an extended visit by uncivil hosts Newcastle in A-League action, the Brisbane Roar mewed all the way…

“You Can’t Go Home Again,” according to legendary novelist Thomas Wolfe in his 1940 book of that name, suggesting that attempting to relive youthful memories by returning to the locale where the events occurred is not as satisfying as were the actual events. In other words, it is futile to try to relive the past….

No sooner had we expressed our regrets over our less than kind words of assessment regarding the professional maturity of tennis player Nick Kyrgios, congratulating him for his recent breakthrough in winning the Japan Open, than he reverted to his weak impersonation of vintage John McEnroe. Less than a week ago, we said, perhaps we…

For professional athletes, team success equals opportunity for players to gain lucrative deals with another team, the situation of North Queensland Cowboys utility Rory Kostjasyn being a case in point. Kostjasyn will labour in the next season for the Newcastle Knights, as well as the 2018 season, thanks to a two-year deal. The Knights considered…

Is there anything as too much rugby? We observers would say no, but there is a growing consensus in the NRL that enough is enough, with 11 of the 18 clubs vehemently opposed to participating in the 2017 World Club Series, rejecting a lucrative offer to play Super League runners-up in Warrington in England in…

South Africa’s cricketers administered another harsh defeat to the Australian squad on Sunday, handing the visiting Aussies a six-wicket defeat with 14 overs to spare and surpassing the modest 168 target set by the Australians with ease. Batting collapses led to the most recent debacle in the fourth one-day international between Australia and South Africa….

Anyone who thought the premiership drought of the Western Bulldogs (nee Footscray) was a prolonged dry spell should be grateful that they are not supporters of the Chicago Cubs. Anyone still alive since the last time the Cubs won it all in 1908 would be at least 109 years old, probably dead therefore. The Cubs…