Weekend Express

The quotes, stats and storylines to the Australian weekend in sport.

BASKETBALL

WNBL

The opening games of the two semi final series are on this weekend, with minor premiers Bendigo Spirit hosting the injury-ravaged Sydney Flames, while Perth Lynx will have the home court advantage with Townsville Fire after the epic overtime thriller between the same two teams last Sunday to decide 2nd and 3rd spot.

Sydney will most likely have Cayla George back in the team for their battle with Bendigo, having missed the last three games of the regular season with an injury. The former MVP will provide some much needed height in the Flames team, whose only

player over 6 feet in the past few games has been American centre Yimiyah Morris, who herself was rushed back into the side after an injury.

The Flames will still be missing Emma Clarke, Celeste Taylor and Mikaela Ruef, and coach Guy Molloy is under no illusions that it’s going to be a difficult task to overcome the star-studded Spirit.

“Given our team is pretty much at less than half strength, it’s going to be an enormous challenge for us to compete at the next round.”

The star-studded Bendigo Spirit are fully fit, although they’ve shown how dominant they can be even without all of their players available. They started the season with a winning streak despite having no Abbey Wehrung, Kelsey Griffin and Ash Hannan available. At Monday night’s WNBL Awards, Wehrung, in receiving the Sixth Player of the Year title, joked onstage about how her job was easy in such a “stacked” team.

Meanwhile, Perth and Townsville have already played out some fascinating games this season, and while Perth will hold home court advantage in the semis, it may not be a guarantee of success - two of the three contests between the two sides this season have been won by the away team.

Fire workhorse Alicia Froling (pictured below) has been important throughout the three games the sides have played so far, averaging 18.3 points and 8.6 rebounds in their clashes.

Rest and player management may be a factor for the league’s two teams which do the most travelling. After last Sunday’s game in Townsville, both teams flew to Melbourne for the league’s Awards night, then headed back to their home bases on Tuesday, and then Townsville fly to Perth for game one on Saturday.

CANOE SLALOM

Australian Open, Sydney

After a first hitout for 2025 a few weeks ago at the Oceania Championships, Jess and Noemie Fox, and fellow World Champ Kate Eckhardt headline the talent in action for the Canoe Slalom Australian Open at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium this weekend.

135 athletes from 21 nations will compete across the three days - the last chance to paddle on the course before October’s World Championships.

FOOTBALL

U20 PacificAus Four Nations, Canberra

In Canberra, the Young Matildas had a comfortable 9-0 win to start the tournament midweek, and they’ll be back in action on Saturday against the Solomon Islands.

Wanderers’ youngster Sienna Saveska was one of the stars against Vanuatu, scoring twice, as did Mary Stanic-Floody. The Solomon Islands had a tough game against Thailand on Wednesday, so the Young Matildas will be hoping to make it 2-0 to start the tournament.

LACROSSE

Box Lacrosse Nationals, Melbourne

The Box Lacrosse National Championships continue in Altona, Melbourne, until Sunday, with WA, SA, QLD, Victoria and ‘Kinna’s Crew’ chasing the title.

Victoria, which is stacked with national team talent, have started the tournament in dominant fashion and will be looking to retain the title they last year.

SURF LIFESAVING

Shannon Eckstein Classic, Gold Coast

The richest event on the surf lifesaving calendar hits Northcliffe, home to some of Australia’s best Ironwomen, including Lana Rogers and Georgia Fitzsimmons (Née Miller) on Friday and Saturday. Over $200,000 of prizemoney and a car is up for grabs.

Olympic gold medalist Lani Pallister is back to tackle the Open Swim after sitting out the event last year to focus on her Paris preparation, while the Ironwoman will feature Iron Series winner Lucy Derbyshire, 2024 winner Tiarnee Massie, the in-form Lizzie Welborn and many more.

GOLF

Webex Players Series, Sydney

The dual gender series has arrived at Castle Hill in Sydney’s north-west this week.

On the women’s side, it’s a chance to see Aussie Cassie Porter in action before she heads off on the LPGA Tour. Porter had a strong start on Thursday to be the leading woman and second overall. Also in action is New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori, whose brother won the event last year.

CRICKET

WNCL, Sydney/Hobart/Perth

With Queensland already locked into hosting the final of the domestic 50 over tournament, the three games on Friday will determine their opponents.

South Australia play bottom placed Western Australia in Perth, where a bonus point win would secure them the spot. SA have been strengthened in recent games with the addition of Aussie fast bowlers Megan Schutt and Darcie Brown. However NSW are right on their heels one point behind, and if SA don’t secure the bonus point and NSW win and do get the BP, it will come down to whether SA maintain the 0.12 advantage they have on the Net Run Rate.

If both NSW and SA lose, it brings in to the equation the clash between Tasmania and Victoria, where a bonus point win to the winner could potentially see them leapfrog both SA and NSW.

To make it more interesting, the SA v WA game won’t finish until several hours after the Sydney and Hobart games, so we won’t know the answer until Friday night.

WATER POLO

Australian League, Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne

Brisbane will host one of the fixtures of the season so far, a replay of last season’s grand final between QLD Thunder and Fremantle Marlins. Both have started the current season well, with Thunder still undefeated. They face off on both Saturday and Sunday.

Another good contest should be between Drummoyne and Cronulla, with both sides neck and neck sitting around the middle of the table.