From the long runs of survival NASCAR racing at Talladega to the short and sharp playing arenas in between Netball and the National Hockey League, we got everything for you from the weekend’s post of sports news this week Australia.
We also have some soapy drama with GH as always once every weekend here.
Sports News This Week Australia feature line: NASCAR from Talladega starting with the Cup Series
Sports News This Week Australia – Couldn’t believe there was a few mid-pack drivers wanting to steal the spotlight of Talladega’s Fall race when it was all about Chase Briscoe at the end of the day.
He’s just joined his Gibbs team-mate Denny Hamlin (last week’s Vegas winner) on the Championship 4 entrée for Phoenix with the remaining two spots to add next weekend for Semi-Final 3 of 3 at Martinsville.
No wonder Chase wanted this so bad since he, Denny and Christopher Bell all wanted to be the best No.1 Toyota and NASCAR Cup Series driver in the world.
The Camrys are blistering fast, no doubt – just don’t know which one is going to pull off by the end of Sunday Nov. 2 for sure.
In the meantime, the best picks from this race starts with Front Row Motorsports, who was best placed at superspeedways with two drivers finishing Top 5-10.
Todd Gilliland worked so hard all the way to 2nd while Zane Smith had a few late glimpses as the lead lap driver on top of a good start in 9th.
Wish these Front Row Fords can be SVG worthy for victory lane but on superspeedways than road courses.
Still a top day though.
Bubba Wallace also almost had his moment until he was drifted out wide but 4th ain’t bad for the 23 in the 23XI.
And how about Cole Custer again out of nowhere? He came home 5th for Haas.
Going to miss them as part of the Blue Oval but good luck wearing with the bow-tie.
Yes, there’s Carson Hocevar in 6th in the 77 as the best mid-pack Chevy for Spire Motorsports, who showed great speed that sets him up for a shot at the box seat.
Although his driving style can be debatable but he is also not afraid to post good results.
Truck Series
Sports News This Week Australia – It was a day to remember for 19-year-old Gio Ruggiero who just knicked his first Truck Series win over his Tricon team-mate Corey Heim.
Even though Heim had to give Gio a good push there since they are currently team-mates as we’re not in Championship 4 mode just yet until the 1st week of November at Phoenix Raceway.
Can’t get enough of his long-run patience where strategy came into play along with a fast #1 Toyota Tundra to both conquer and hold off defensively.
Sure there will be more winning feelings like this going into Gio’s sophomore Trucks year if he build on from his first ovals win other than the restrictor-plate tracks for 2026.
Ty Majeski overcame early race issues in 3rd for ThorSport Racing while Dawson Sutton got away with a nice 4th from a good start to playing survival mode.
2nd Sports News This Week Australia headline Netball: Aussie Diamonds v Silver Ferns, Game 1
Sports News This Week Australia – Sophie Garbin struck lightning every time every time she shoots buckets including off rebounds at Goal Shoot.
No wonder she continues to shine with the Melbourne Vixens ever since Sophie and Kiera Austin became a dangerous shooting combo for two years now.
Meanwhile, Kate Moloney kept that passage of passes and feeds in check with cohesion being the name of Game 1 at Centre. Another Vixens star who never lets her guard down always both club and country right in front of her home fans which was an extra special feeling too.
You just cannot underestimate Australia’s brilliant tactics right from centre pass without having to concede the lead — despite that shared 13-13 all score following the opening 15 mins of play.
There were less handling/unforced errors with their flow state by connecting the dots for the shooters to keep and even stretch Australia’s lead.
Credit to these formidable defensive and mid-court pairings along with the use of their depth options from the bench, well played coach Stacey Marinkovich.
What went wrong for Silver Ferns?
Sports News This Week Australia – We didn’t see much of that going on from New Zealand unfortunately where they were also not far behind for the most part.
What frustrates the most is these chopping and changing of players including inconsistent decision making and poor discipline that got themselves so tangled.
Yet Ferns were at their lowest ebb particularly in the final quarter and there goes their poor result by 17 goals, 69-52.
It’s just so painful to watch where this was New Zealand’s game to win but instead threw everything away — they either didn’t come with something or simply lacked concentration/drive in the end.
Grace Nweke over in the other GS bib was simply class always and New Zealand were in the thick of it while she was able to mark by winning 1 v 1 individual battles.
She just lacks help at times when it was simply too much inconsistency and more turnovers that late after the Aussies shut Ferns down quick-smart. Now it’s on the rest of her team-mates to step up ahead of Game 2 on Wednesday.
Maybe Peta Toeava springs into mind who continues to be the best in NZ’s ANZ Premiership competition for the Mystics.
Because every time she struts her stuff, she actually provided a bright spark when that mid-court engine was struggling to break that Diamonds back three defense.
So not a bad call to bring her on at Wing Attack when having Mila Reuelu-Buchanan there as starter was an bold pick by Yvette McCausland-Durie.
Just wished Peta was there, however, instead of MRB where a tiny difference can pay massive dividends.
There’s still three games to go for the Silver Ferns to turn themselves around as if they can win Sydney, they should be good to win the rest back home in NZ.
Last but not least, National Hockey League: Tampa Bay Lightning v Detroit Red Wings
Sports News This Week Australia – Delighted to say that the Nine Network has finally aired an NHL game where more will come at least the next 20 Saturday morning games for Season 2025-26.
It’s a great time to watch another spot of the other US major sports leagues where NASCAR comes first for me followed by the National Football League, especially when the next Winter Olympics is not far away now from Milano-Cortina in Italy.
That’s where Nine will also be the place for your Olympics coverage in February 2026.
Now some moments may have been missed when technical TV issues ruined Tampa Bay Lightning v Detroit Red Wings since Nine used a dedicated NHL Network feed for a particular audience than a local sports network or even a national ESPN, Sportsnet Canada or TNT broadcast.
That way it would help boost exposure for us Aussie sports fans who would like to get to know more about this great sport of Ice Hockey. Understandable but this was the first time “NHL Saturday Morning” was played out from the NHL New York studios, so give please them some time.
On the ice rink, it was always a great game with a whole lot of rough and tough physical battles against the glass wall including some fights by the two teams.
This reminds me sometimes of NASCAR with a mix of yellow flags and some pandemonium post-race sprays but that’s the beauty in US sports for you.
Detroit went up early while Tampa Bay somehow upped the ante just in time either an equaliser to finish the 3 x 20-minute stages ahead of overtime.
In the end, Detroit slam dunked Tampa Bay‘s hearts with a hometown winning goal to instantly finish the match by 2-1.
And just like that, the dedicated broadcast also departed like 30 seconds later.
We cannot forget the occasion when the NHL came to Australia two years ago for the pre-season exhibition Saturday weekend at Rod Laver Arena right next to John Cain Arena in Melbourne.
It would be even awesome if we had International Netball on a Friday night and an NHL game the next day Saturday in the afternoon next door at RLA.
Hope they can come back to Australia soon when the NFL will indeed host a regular-season game for the first time also 12 months from now at the MCG.
In the meantime, can’t wait for the next NHL Saturday Morning game next week.
