Weekend Express

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

FOOTBALL

A-League

It’s the final week of games before the international break and some players heading to Matildas and Football Ferns camps.

One player who will feature in that Australian squad is Laini Freier (pictured below), but the Roar star will miss this weekend’s game after a head clash late in last week’s loss to the Wanderers. The Brisbane clash with Western United is possibly the most interesting game of the weekend. Both sides are coming off disappointing losses last week, and the two clubs need to find form and put together some wins to ensure they remain in the top six. Interestingly, Brisbane remain the only team in the league to not have recorded draw during the season, meaning they’re either walking away with three points from their matches or none at all.

Meanwhile the team which defeated the Roar last week - Wanderers - have a good chance to climb off the bottom of the ladder if they can string together a second straight win, and there may not be a better chance to do so than at their beloved Wanderers Park against a Newcastle Jets side who haven’t won since mid December.

BASKETBALL

WNBL

The finalists are locked in, but we will have to wait until the very final match of the regular season on Sunday to confirm 2nd and 3rd place.

Perth Lynx travel to Townsville, one of the hardest road trips in the league, to decode the positions. With their head-to-head series level, whoever wins will grab second spot and home advantage for when the two teams meet again in the semi finals. The last time they met was late November, where the practically brand new Townsville side had only played a handful of games together. Both of the other clashes between the two sides were in Perth, and with Townsville on an ominous winning streak, this could be one of the matches of the season, with no less than five Paris Olympians (three of the four Gangurrus, one Opal and one Canadian) on show.

Abbey Ellis, who has had some brilliant performances in her first season at Townsville after finishing a successful college career, spoke to HER WAY about Sunday’s game:

“Obviously we’re on a winning streak and we want to keep that going, but we’re just focusing on us and about how we play. At home we have the crowd behind us, so it’s going to be really exciting.”

While the remaining games will have no bearing on the finals, the Canberra fans will no doubt come out in force to see the Caps try to match it with the minor premiers Bendigo, Adelaide and Geelong will both be wanting to finish on a high, and the undermanned and undersized Flames will need to combat the reliable Naz Hillmon when the defending champion Flyers look to make it consecutive wins to end a frustrating season.

RUGBY LEAGUE

All-Stars Game

It’s the first game of 2025 for some of the best Indigenous and Māori players in the NRLW on Saturday, when the Annual All Stars clash takes place at Sydney’s Commbank Stadium.

Both sides are stacked with talent. On the Indigenous side, Titans and NSW Star Jaime Chapman will be playing in the slightly unfamiliar role of fullback, but Chapman might appreciate having all that space to run the ball back from kicks.

Elsewhere, four of the Indigenous forward pack - Mahalia Murphy, Olivia Kernick, Keilee Joseph and Quincy Dodd - have all also been named in the Jillaroos squad to head to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks, so they’ll be looking for some quality game time while not getting injured.

On the Māori side, they also have a Jillaroo in their ranks, with Shannon Mato to co-captain the side. Mato and Kennedy Cherrington, herself a Jillaroo representative in previous years, will lead a less experienced forward pack, but they have plenty of experience in other positions, such as former Dally M winner Raecene McGregor leading the team around the paddock. Two time NZ Sevens Olympic gold medallist Tyla King will come off the bench for the Māori side.

ATHLETICS

Adelaide Invitational

The first event of the Australian Athletics’ Summer Series is on this weekend, with a host of big names in action at the Adelaide Invitational.

Paralympic gold medallist long jumper Vanessa Low will be there alongside Paris teammate Sarah Walsh, while in the able bodied Long Jump U20 World Champion Delta will compete. Delta is in good form after winning double gold at the national Short Track Champs, and she’ll also feature in the hurdles this weekend.

The highlight of the night will be the women’s 800m, with Olympians Abbey Caldwell, Georgia Griffiths and Bendere Oboya all lining up.

PARA SWIMMING

World Series, Melbourne

The first of nine World Series events for 2025 takes place between Friday and Sunday in Melbourne with 72 swimmers representing eight countries.

The series acts as preparation for the World Champs later this year, with swimmers from different classifications racing together, and winners evaluated by a points system rather purely race times.

The Victorian Open Championships will take place after the Para Swimming each day.

While HER WAY was unable to confirm the names of many of the Australian swimmers in action, it is believed Paralympic gold medalists Emily Beecroft and Lakeisha Patterson are two of those will take part.

ICE HOCKEY

A.W.I.H.L

It’s the final round of the regular season , and three teams are locked into the finals spots - Adelaide Rush, Perth Inferno and Melbourne Ice.

This week Adelaide have the weekend off, while Brisbane Lightning will host Perth and the Sydney Sirens travel to Melbourne.

There’s a fair bit to play out this weekend, so let’s have a crack at explaining the current situation and the possibilities.

Brisbane currently sit in the final playoffs spot, three points ahead of Sydney on the table. Brisbane cannot improve on fourth, but could miss out altogether if they lose both games to Perth and fifth placed Sydney can cause an upset and win both clashes against Melbourne.

With the finals already scheduled to take place in Melbourne on the first weekend of March, there is no such thing as a home ground advantage in the finals, meaning there is little difference for Melbourne and Perth in regards to finishing second and third.

WATER POLO

Australian League

UWA Torpedoes have made the trip from Perth to Sydney, and will take on Cronulla and Drummoyne twice across four days.

Cronulla’s Paris Silver medallist Dani Jackovich heads into the weekend in superb form, scoring 13 goals from two matches in last weekend’s games to be the week’s top scorer. Teammate Maddi Berggren wasn’t far behind on 10.

In other road trips, Victorian Phoenix head over to Perth to clash with the powerful Fremantle Marlins, and Hunter Pirates head up to Brisbane to take on defending champions Queensland Thunder.

Match of the round could quite possibly be the local battle of UTS Balmain and Sydney Uni Lions. Balmain’s Stingers duo Sienna Hearn and Tayla Dawkins combined for 18 goals last weekend, and they will be out to test the Lions defence when they clash on Saturday afternoon.