Category:

Other Sports

Dive into a world of diverse sports with our comprehensive coverage. From basketball and soccer to tennis, golf, and beyond, we’ve got the latest scores, thrilling highlights, and in-depth analyses. Explore the achievements of your favorite athletes, the drama of intense competitions, and the heartwarming stories that make sports so captivating. Stay connected to the excitement of various sports, all in one place. Whether you’re a fan of the pitch, court, or fairway, our content brings you closer to the action.

Top 5 sports items this week 24/4/25: Rodney Childers’ shock departure at Spire, Scott Parker’s links with Tottenham after PL promotion with Burnley, Super Rugby Round 11/16, Max Verstappen and Western Bears in NRL

by Sports Benches April 24, 2025

Bummer Rodney Childers won’t be back in the No.7 pit box but Spire ain’t backing down nonetheless with all three cars in & out of Top 16 to 20 drivers’ points.

There’s always time with the win and Playoffs still a possibility as long as it’s before September where Spire has the full backing of three talented and experienced drivers in McDowell, Haley and Hocevar.

Parker back to Tottenham?

While Burnley now back to the PL, Scott Parker might not be there because of Tottenham who could get rid of Aussie Ange even if he wins the Europa final.

Maybe it’s best if Scott helps Burnley win it all and see Leeds bottle it at the same time, then he can go considering he hasn’t been successful so far at this top level.

There’s even talk about Leeds wanting to sack Farke in order to avoid his curse record at PL level – looks like it will be advantage Parker for the title then.

Super Rugby: another golden week from the Aussie sides v NZ?

Super Rugby back for another week going the Australian teams away we hope after a few brilliant games including one that ended in a draw, although not so much for the Waratahs unfortunately v Fijian Drua away in Suva.

Yet, things could get even better if Reds, Brumbies and Force all beat their respective NZ teams in Blues, Hurricanes and Chiefs this weekend.

Perfect timing (mark that down) and as of Week 11 out of 16, still no NZ side win recorded yet at least on Australian soil.

Max Verstappen wants out of Red Bull?

Also, Max frustrated behind the scenes being the cut lone figure at Red Bull when McLaren in a Mercedes customer engine are leading the way via Oscar and Lando.

Would love to see him end up at Aston Martin with Honda engines + Adrian Newey again & Franco C. be the ideal one when RB have no other choice post-Max.

NRL finally has a Perth team with assistance of the North Sydney Bears

And last but not least, Perth will finally get a NRL team in a long time with credit to the North Sydney Bears.

That means, the Bears will be expected to play top-level Rugby League once again but looks like half of the games will be played at in Perth with other still going to be at the spiritual North Sydney Oval.

National footprint is important for all of our Aussie sports including rugby despite losing a team in Melbourne but gotta accept it’s the best fight right now in the bid for championships and series trophies.

The big weekend other than the off-weekend of F1 starts tomorrow on ANZAC day Friday before the second last round’s matches is on a bright Saturday night at 9pm and we round it off with the shuffling decks of Talladega come Monday AM.

April 24, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Football

2024-25 EFL Championship Round 44 of 46: Leeds United and Burnley now back in the PL with the top prize still up for grabs

by Sports Benches April 22, 2025

Going to be a Super Bowl race to the finish line as if it’s the big final being decided today with Leeds & Burnley now back in the PL for the 2025-26 season.

Now time will tell with their own managers in Daniel Farke (Leeds) and Scott Parker (Burnley) later this year since they were unable to make any meaningful impact so far the top level of English Soccer.

But still, it’s a season that is a lot closer than ever before from four teams down to three by mid-season and then two lately and now only one will win it all for the Championship trophy by Saturday, May 3.

All of the final round’s matches will play at the same time of 9.30pm AEST, so better be prepared for that one unless one of the Top 2 loses the next crucial game.

For Burnley, glad they will be able to keep their star assets including James Trafford and Maxime Esteve + hopefully star player of the day Josh Brownhill following their 2-1 win over Sheffield United when Tom Cannon scored the equaliser midway in the first half- a rival that they could no longer see as a threat for now unless Blades win the Play-Offs.

All Burnley can hope now is for them to not just win the last two games but also see Leeds lose either to outside Play-Off contender Bristol City and/or even survival candidate Plymouth Argyle.

Plymouth won too earlier this morning over Coventry 3-1 and looks like they’re not losing hope just yet, although not so much for Cardiff City even with another change of manager but too little, too late sadly.

Also, look out for Derby v Luton where Derby are just hanging on the slightest of margins in a race to beat the drop as well.

But at the end of the day, Leeds would have to be the one to beat considering they’ve been scoring goals quite a lot, including today’s match of their own following a whopping 6-0 win over Stoke City.

So up to Bristol and Plymouth to help Burnley out while Burnley would need to go all in even though they should not down their tools just yet v QPR and Millwall.

Because their previous games against these two sides weren’t the best unfortunately with one draw and loss but Scott Parker would love nothing more than a 100-point season and a Championship trophy that he hasn’t touched one before – at least as head coach other than as a player back in 2000 with Charlton Athletic.

It would mean the world to JJ Watt also so he can beat the 49ers in the disguise of Leeds as a Burnley investor but in the Championship, having had a decorated career as a defensive end in the NFL with the Houston Texans & Arizona Cardinals.

April 22, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Football

EFL Championship Round 43 of 46: Burnley rebound v Watford 2-1 courtesy of a late Josh Brownhill strike but Leeds still holds the cards after a 1-0 win v Oxford

by Sports Benches April 18, 2025

Looks like the Championship race is getting closer and closer with only three games to go but probably assume Sheffield United to be the outsider now away from the Top 2 bubble with just Leeds v Burnley despite their win over the relegation threatened Cardiff City 2-0.

Wonder if Cardiff is going to give Neil Warnock a ring in a bid to save themselves from dropping to League One (3rd tier) before it’s too late? They may have a history of promoting first-time coaches as managers but nowhere near as anything great unfortunately.

The Blades do have Burnley next up on Easter Monday, again it’s up to Burnley who do need to shuffle their No.9 a bit more off the back of their poor start at the same time v Watford – only for them to bounce back with a 2-1 win at full-time.

Yes, Zian Flemming helps being the No.10 into a No.9 but sure the team dynamic play would hopefully be enough to get past one bit of difficulty as long as Josh Brownhill continues doing deep just behind Flemming or Foster – if Scott Parker is more than brave enough to put the South African back to play with the pain up front.

If that’s not enough to maybe at least win the Championship title, Leeds kept on winning as of late with credit to their one and only first-half goal by Manor Solomon + Oxford’s toothless fight to collect goals in attack. The current leaders have three good games including Stoke, Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle much like Burnley’s last two in QPR & Millwall after Blades.

So if Leeds draw or even lose one of the next three and Burnley win all next three, it would be amazing to see Scott Parker collect all three Championship to PL promotion honours from being Play-Off winners, 2nd place (runner-up) but no 1st place trophy though…for the time being.

Yes, would revisit Scott Parker’s PL plans later on since his record isn’t great and so does the Leeds coach Daniel Farke too when he was managing Norwich in the past but it’s all about crossing the line first ahead of everyone. So up to the players to help Scott get past that winning points edge and not both lose or draw either way.

Their players are crucial to this with PL quality price tags including keeper James Trafford despite his early 1st half mistake against Watford when he should be the one as the best shot blocker but he probably needs to calm down a bit having saw JJ Watt unable to get back on the field after James lost the season-ending bet there.

If anything was to go JJ Watt’s way, then he could probably be the one to finally taste Super Bowl victory unlike his NFL career but in the Championship over San Fran 49ers-owned Leeds – up to Scott and the Burnley players to gift that trophy for him to celebrate as an minority investor.

April 18, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports

2025 Super Netball Round 2: Vixens dynamic on-court play beats down the Giants first quarter fast start by 61-55

by Sports Benches April 13, 2025

Tough afternoon for the Giants to keep it up with the score but Vixens though have been superior right from the first centre pass by a five goal gap, 61-55.

It was a mere two-horse race when it comes to both teams’ front two shooters alone – no doubt about that, especially when the two-shot opportunities come around every last five mins of each Qtr.

Vixens have two experienced Diamonds of Kiera Austin (a former Giants product) and Sophie Garbin (also spent some time with the NSW Swifts in the past) while Giants got a few seasoned Internationals of their own like Sophie Dwyer (a Diamond), Jo Harten (played a lot for England) and first-team goal shooter Matisse Letherbarrow.

1-2 things that Giants struggled to match though was their defense which they couldn’t find a way to trap Austin and Garbin and their mid-court engine room seems to be a hit and miss sometimes.

Jo Weston who reached 150 National League caps and mid-court captain at Centre Kate Moloney were key to giving both Austin & Garbin with the best shooting supply feeds & there was no stopping that. For the Giants, Sophie Dwyer would be the safe pick at Goal Attack where she did all the hard yards on her own except when there were a lot of hesitancy + hit & misses right around her.

That’s my two cents there for the Giants to go to the drawing board before they will be back at John Cain Arena once again next Sunday. But this time it will be against another Melbourne-based team in the Mavericks as Mavericks also lost to Swifts too away at Ken Rosewall Arena last night and they’ve (Giants and Mavs) both yet to win a game going into Week 3 out of 15.

Plus, Vixens get the week-long off next week before they return in two weeks time against the West Coast Fever (also winless so far thanks to Firebirds earlier last night).

And Queensland Firebirds making a huge statement too following a tough off-field 2024 as former Northern Stars coach Kiri Wills is sending a message right there to her rivals including former Mystics star Grace Nweke in that red Swifts dress.

They’ve both been at it before many times in the ANZ Premiership including the 2023 grand final at World Cup year when Wills was at Stars as coach and Nweke being the star Mystics shooter where Mystics won but sure Wills will want to have the last laugh this time but only in Australia.

You never know what’s best for Auckland but again, that can make New Zealand Netball better. So the board need to help out star assets like Nweke continue holding eligibility for the Silver Ferns while getting tested at the highest level of comp which is by far with SSN and not ANZP.

April 13, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports

2025 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifying Round Group D: Australia finish 2nd in their group having just missed out the Top 8 Finals after being too good for Colombia

by Sports Benches April 12, 2025

The Aussie women’s team may not be first but they ain’t the last either when they were simply too good for Colombia this afternoon at Brisbane’s Pat Rafter Arena.

They’re happy to take away with the 3-0 series clean sweep where we began the day of 18-year-old adopted Aussie from the USA Maya Joint, whose team debut was a bitter pill to swallow the other day v her Kazakh opponent, and she had no issues this time at all against Yuliana Monroy in straight sets by 6-1, 6-0.

Then there’s a bit of rain going on for a few minutes ahead of the next singles match and yes, this next one was a bit more difficult on the competitive speed dial, particularly in the 2nd set when the other Yuliana in Lizarazo began to make up some lost time and then took some medical time out. But again, Kim Birrell delivered what she wanted for the Aussies and there goes the joy following another straight sets Aussie team win – 6-1, 6-3.

And last but not least, how good was Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez together?

They just crushed the Colombian doubles pair fair and square to sign off with a fantastic finish to the qualifying round – again another too good one of 6-0, 6-1.

What’s even better is that Hunter and Perez will be playing together more often when it comes to the upcoming clay court matches including the next grand slam at Roland Garros late next month which is good news indeed. Not only that, glad Birrell made her home front proud when she received some unwavering support from her team-mates and family.

Plus, Maya should be proud of herself in the way she responded today with a class of her own. I’m sure she will kick on from there to make up more amazing moments when it comes to future grand slams at senior level that can help boost her profile with experience in the years to come.

Ahh…wished they did better where at least one singles win v the Kazakh would probably still put us in a fighting spot but then Kazakhstan were also too good yesterday v the Colombians as well.

So no can do unfortunately as the Kazakhs will now go to Shenzhen mid-September to have a crack at the prestigious BJK Cup crown while the Aussies will at least have to keep their starting qualifying spot for 2026 with the 2nd-tier Playoffs sometime this November.

For now, I’m glad our doubles stronghold will continue to be at its absolute best.

However, we just need a singles leader figure that can help the Aussies go all the way with titles next time, and they need to find that ideal Ash Barty replacement ASAP for at least the next few years.

April 12, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports

2025 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifying Round Group D: Australia’s doubles match win just not enough to cover their singles’ ties disappointment v Kazakhstan

by Sports Benches April 10, 2025

Good finish to a tough afternoon we say from the Australian Women’s team following their doubles win especially at the expense of the robust Kazakhstan in both of the women’s singles matches.

Don’t know what to say but this was Maya Joint’s first BJK Cup appearance at only 18-years-old against someone who has 2-3 times the experience than her, even though she was born in the US at Grosse Point, Michigan.

Didn’t know the town was mentioned worldwide because NBC made the drama show there earlier this year.

But still, she’s come a long way as everyone in Australia is delighted for Maya to represent the green and gold.

Let’s hope she can someday fulfil her full potential much like Ash Barty who is from Brisbane and Maya’s first team game with Team Australia was also there at Pat Rafter Arena too – glad to hear that Tennis venue will be getting much-needed upgrades ahead of Brisbane 2032.

Then we saw Gold Coast resident Kim Birrell take on 2022 Wimbledon ladies’ singles champ Elena Rybakina having seen Kim go off on a flying start. She got away with some brilliant moments that kept her fighting to the very edge but was unable to write off the finishing touches unfortunately that forced Rybakina’s hand in straight sets & that was an early first group stage series win for Kazakhstan.

At the end of the day though, we’re so fortunate and grateful of our stronghold doubles team both men and women and yet the women were able to strike one back – despite the poor singles performances prior to this one v the Kazakh duo in straight sets once more.

All we have to wait now is for Colombia to give us a fighting chance tomorrow when they take on the Kazakh themselves. Now that may be highly unlikely but at least a 3-0 series target for Australia’s next game this Saturday v Colombia would hopefully put us another way when it comes to plotting a winning path later this year.

Whether if it’s Top 8 or second tier Play-Off finals towards the back end of 2025 I don’t know, but we clearly don’t have an Ash Barty like calibre at the moment.

Yes, Russian-born Daria Kasatkina has just became eligible to represent Australia recently but only at grand slams at this stage. Although it’s possible she could get a special exception for Daria to play team tournaments again at some point this time for Australia so she can feel comfortable with her adopted country than Russia.

For now, we are just hoping for the best for Colombia to represent on behalf of us tomorrow, and then we could still be in a fighting chance by beating them on our own backyard come this Saturday.

April 10, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports

2025 Super Netball Round 1: West Coast Fever v NSW Swifts, Nweke and Housby are the stars of the Swifts 49-67 win in Perth

by Sports Benches April 6, 2025

So there you have it, it was great to see the NSW Swifts begin their 2025 season with the win, especially when they went up against last year’s Preliminary Finalists West Coast Fever at Perth’s RAC Arena.

First of all, things may have been shaky off the back of a flying Fever start, especially when the Swifts back two seems to be a hit and miss at times.

Although they got away with some good deflections/rebounds based on the Fever’s poor attacking output through luck.

What kept the Swifts marching above their weight was the world-class goal shooting duo they’ve built of England’s Helen Housby (Goal Attack) and new recruit from New Zealand via the Mystics & Silver Ferns in Grace Nweke (Goal Shooter).

They both shot flawlessly into the net like rockets including restarts every time Fever struggle to put those pieces together and the progress was there to see.

Now it’s up to the mid-court engine room to keep up the ante in which they weren’t bad coupled with the added help of temporary replacement signing Verity Simmons who knows Perth all two well after Grace Whyte fell down when she was trying to mark the ball at Wing Attack.

They got a few days of homework on their flight home at Netball Central before Swifts first home game of the year is on Saturday night at 7pm v Melbourne Mavericks.

And on Fever, it wasn’t the afternoon they wanted when their defense was rinsed by both Nweke & Housby while the shooters of their own had to do the heavy lifting.

One highlight though the Fever will always remember is the return of Mwai Kumwenda, who just got back on the court following some time away due to pregnancy, and she too now just racked up over 100 Super Netball Super Spots.

They need to keep their head up especially when the opponents they face this season will be new-look squads and the Kiri Willis-led Queensland Firebirds is up next also next Saturday to Brisbane from 5pm. QLD also got away with the win too against the Giants earlier this afternoon here in Sydney where Kiri will want to make the most out of her time in Australia having recently been the coach of fellow Auckland ANZ Premiership side Northern Stars up until the end of 2024.

All in all, the Ferns players may not be able to leave home that could compromise their eligibility status with selection for the foreseeable future. But getting tested at the highest level is something no one else could provide that springboard other than Super Netball – only available in Australia.

April 6, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Football

2024-25 EFL Championship Round 40 of 46: Burnley now back on top of the table with six more games to go following their 2-1 comeback win over Coventry City

by Sports Benches April 6, 2025

Look who is first on the English Championship table with six games to go?

It’s none other than Burnley thanks to their 2-1 rebound win over fellow Play-Off contenders Coventry City thanks to a Jaidon Anthony double goal on the left wing.

Not only that, their weekend has gone to an all-time high because Oxford United defeated Sheffield United 1-0 while Leeds United were stranded by relegation battlers Luton Town with a 1-1 draw.

All Burnley has to do now is win all next six games and not boring draws or even losing it out if they possibly can since they are a point ahead of The Blades (Sheffield United) and two clear up against Leeds.

That way, they could regain Premier League status straight up as the first team to do so ahead of anyone else.

Scrambled defense being led by the starting goalkeeper James Trafford?

Yes, but making the most out of attack?

It has to stay that way & Scott Parker could win all of Championship’s finest of promotions from Play-Off winners to runner-up but has yet to win a Championship trophy from 1st place.

That’s something he should be looking at right this minute and then time will tell if he is able to prove himself at the top flight.

For now, they got another game v another relegation battled side Derby County on Wednesday Morning from 4.45am AEST.

They’ve been winning quite a few games up until today where Derby lost 1-0 to Swansea but there’s a good head coach out there in John Eustace, who wants to keep this club at bay away from the bottom three, having made the sacrifice to leave top-half Blackburn following a difficult January transfer activity.

But no doubt Burnley will have to fire it up like they’ve done over these past few games if they really want to keep their top players as going back to the PL helps than having to spend another year in the 2nd tier. Also, Scott Parker has yet to have last beyond his 2nd season so far as head coach from Fulham to Bournemouth – both stable PL clubs without him for years now.

Not even the 67 days he spent in Belgium that was unfortunately cut short at Club Brugge back in early 2023 & they’re sitting third in the Champions Play-Off fight.

So up to Scott now to make things count starting next week.

April 6, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports

Thoughts on swimming for Brisbane 2032 to be held at a legacy venue instead of Brisbane Live but only if they add retractable hard floor system on top of a permanent pool

by Sports Benches March 22, 2025

Over the past 1-2 days, it seems the Queensland Government wants to axe the prolonged proposal of building the multi-use Brisbane Live arena so they can allocate federal funding of a new stadium at Victoria Park, even though the latest independent review report recommends this to be built on a vacant GoPrint site next to The Gabba.

Now the best foot forward for them is to build a National Aquatics Centre next to the existing Centenary Pool in Spring Hill – also next to a proposed 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium venue in Victoria Park.

That way, the aquatics centre can be cheaper to build in the region of just $650 million than the inner-city arena itself which is currently set at $2.5 billion thanks to support from the Federal Government.

Okay, as someone who follows swimming here from time to time, particularly with the Dolphins – yeah, wouldn’t mind a world-class swimming venue for the state that can set up the next golden crop of swimmers for years & decades to come.

But only if they insert a retractable flooring system to be built on top of a permanent swimming pool so indoor sports and concerts can be played there on top of everyday swimming use to maximise revenue potential for the best of both worlds – Swimming Australia + Brisbane Bullets (NBL) and also top-tier Netball.

They can do this for around $200 million either before or even after the games when the existing Boondall arena and even the current Swimming Centre in Chandler are both approaching “end of life” post-games and they can use the funds from their own suggested relocation sales and insert that world-class retractable flooring system at a legacy swimming venue in Spring Hill.

Then the seating layout is a bit of another concern when it’s a dedicated swimming venue and not a multi-use arena, especially with the front-tier layout.

Perhaps, they could also add some retractable front-tier seating by turning it into a proper indoor vibe and back for netball & basketball + combat sports like WWE or AWE wrestling when they’re not swimming for laps at the main pool.

All of this can be achieved while Swimming Australia can continue to use the main pool everyday including future Swimming Championships at all levels including a potential Worlds event (regardless if it’s 50m or 25m) someday.

While it’s kinda disappointing that the current state government leadership is unable to get the best out of an inner-city Brisbane Live arena, they can solve that issue by adding a retractable flooring system that makes this legacy swimming place so unique on its own when there should be room for other indoor sports.

And last thing, call it the National Centenary Centre when it comes to the main swimming section but use this to replace the “Aquatics” wording and make it a retractable swimming and indoor main venue post-games.

March 22, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Football

2024-25 League Cup Final: Newcastle United break their 70 year wait for a Domestic Cup trophy following their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium

by Sports Benches March 16, 2025

It’s been 70 years since Newcastle United won a domestic trophy that went way back as the 1954-55 FA Cup season and now that long wait has now finally come to a close thanks to their 2-1 win over Premier League leaders Liverpool in the League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

They’ve been so dominant all along with two goals coming from centre-half Dan Burn and star No.9 Aleksandar Isak, although Liverpool scored one back but then that was a consolation one towards the final whistle by Federico Chiesa.

Don’t get me wrong, they are a mega rich club indeed under Saudi Arabia ownership since late 2021. But still, they have all the money and power to get back to where they want to be – and that is by regularly competing at Top 4-6 every season while they look to make a statement in Europe.

Well, they are going back to the UEFA comp after all with Conference League qualification now guaranteed. However, they are currently flying high though in 6th on the ladder & if they finish 6th and above at season’s end, they too could play in the Europa League instead or even Champions League again like it was two seasons ago back in 2023-24.

That means, the 7th best PL team would take Newcastle’s spot for Europe’s 3rd tier competition in their place.

Don’t forget they’ve previously been at Wembley with the same League Cup Final a little over two years ago – that didn’t go well v Man Utd 2-0 but now they’ve gone one better as congrats once again including to one of England’s finest head coach/managers in the country in Eddie Howe.

Plus, shoutout to Toon supporter Adam Peacock too and he’s currently the host of Stan Sport’s UEFA club competition coverage with Craig Foster & Mark Bosnich.

Sure we will see him on the screens of Nine soon when each of the Grand Finals from Champions League to Europa and Conference level will be around sometime in late May.

And on Liverpool, not their day today as Arne Slot still doesn’t have a trophy yet as this is his first season in the hot seat following the departure of long-time manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield. Although that can wait since they are leading the PL but with Cup competitions, not so much until at least next season….for now.

One thing Liverpool could’ve pulled off there is if they had at least a few more of their own kids from the academy on the biggest stage at least in men’s soccer like they did in last year’s League Cup Final v Chelsea.

Shame it wasn’t worth the risk to go a bit braver this time when Newcastle’s starting XI was full of more established stars instead and they were the team to beat unfortunately at the end of the day.

March 16, 2025 0 comment