Weekend Express
The quotes, stats, and storylines to the weekend in Aussie sport.
BASKETBALL
WNBL
Bendigo Spirit took a 1-0 lead in the best of three grand final series against Townsville Fire on Wednesday night in front of their home fans. The series heads to North Queensland on Sunday as the Fire hope to keep the series alive.
Townsville, despite now being 0-4 head to head with Bendigo this season, will believe that they can turn things around on Sunday. They led by 5 points at halftime last Wednesday night, however there may be concerns at only being able to score 10 and 8 points respectively in the second and third quarters. While they found more offense in the final quarter, they were unable to make any defensive stops on Spirit’s ability to score - at one stage with the game in the balance, Bendigo scored on eight consecutive trips down the court.
Fire will be looking for more from import Nia Coffey, who has been a game changer throughout the season. The WNBA player scored just five points in game one, and will no doubt look to have more of an impact on Sunday.
Meanwhile Bendigo have a chance to seal another WNBL championship - it would be a first ring for league MVP Sami Whitcomb, who has come close previously at both Perth Lynx and Townsville Fire. Whitcomb told HER WAY,
“I’m very lucky that I’ve had the enjoyable season that I’ve had this year - that’s something I was chasing. But I really do want to win with this group. I love this group.”
FOOTBALL
A-League
Tropical Cyclone Alfred has had an impact on this weekend’s A-League fixture, with top of the table Melbourne City’s trip to face Brisbane Roar on Sunday understandably postponed.
Elsewhere, Western United can consolidate their hold on fourth spot when they play 10th placed Perth Glory at the Sam Kerr Football Centre. After looking a tad shaky a few weeks ago after a heavy loss to Melbourne City, Western have found form, and coach Kat Smith was rewarded with the title of a Coach of the Month for February.
Just a few weeks ago, Wellington Phoenix and Western Sydney Wanderers were at different ends of the table. But with the Wanderers on a three match winning streak, and the Phoenix losing three of their past fourth, the clash between the two is now a battle of 8th v 9th. Since her comeback three weeks ago, Wanderers forward Holly Caspers has scored the last goal in each of the club’s three wins, including two late game winners.
Fittingly, the final game of the round on Sunday at the Home of the Matildas will see a clash of two veteran Matildas strikers, when Melbourne Victory host Canberra United. It will be Emily Gielnik up against Michelle Heyman in a battle of the goal scorers, and the side from the nation’s capital will be confident after holding ladder leaders City to a draw last week.
RUGBY UNION
Super W
Last week’s results showed this season could be the most unpredictable Super W season yet.
2024’s undefeated champions NSW Waratahs were disappointing in their loss to Fijiana. They welcome back some star players this week for their clash with Western Force, including Wallaroos stars Piper Duck and Desi Miller.
The Force side, which played out a thrilling draw with the Brumbies last week, will feature longtime Waratah Sera Naiqama up against her old side for the first time.
This weekend will also see the Super W debuts of several Aussie Rugby Sevens stars, with the QLD Reds naming Sevens skipper Bella Nasser, dual Olympian Teagan Levi and young gun Kahli Henwood on the bench as they travel to Fiji to take on Drua.
The Brumbies have their own Sevens star debuting, with Tia Hinds named at flyhalf for their match in Canberra against the Pasifika Penina team.
FLAG FOOTBALL
National Titles, Blacktown International SP
The second edition of the Flag Football National titles takes place in Western Sydney on Sunday and Monday, with Queensland looking to defend their title.
Talent identification days were held around the country in recent times to form the basis of squad selections in many cases, meaning there will be many new faces at the 2025 edition of the tournament. While some have plenty of experience in both Flag Football and traditional gridiron, there will be athletes from a range of sporting backgrounds including touch football, rugby league, basketball, baseball, netball and Aussie Rules.
Pier Pritchard, one of NSW’s two co-captains, is one of the remaining players from last year’s decider won by archrivals Queensland. On that occasion, NSW were right in the game until the final minutes, but the experience and class of the likes of Queensland and Australian national team star Kodie Fuller prevailed.
Pier (pictured above) believes her team can go one better this year.
“This year we’ve got nothing to lose, because in our eyes, we deserve to win. So we’re going to go out there and give Queensland, or whoever is in the finals, a run for their money.”
Heavy rain is forecast for Sydney on both Sunday and Monday, so if and how this affects the competition remains to be seen.
WATER POLO
Australian League, Sydney/Perth
There are a couple of NSW Derbies on this weekend, with UNSW Wests and Cronulla sharing the hosting duties in their two game series, as will UTS Balmain and the Hunter Pirates, with a clash at Dawn Fraser Baths on Saturday, before the teams head up the freeway to Newcastle on Sunday.
Second placed Sydney Uni, the best attacking team in the league, head over West this weekend for a two game series against UWA Torpedoes in Perth. All eyes will be on two of the competition’s top goalscorers, when Anni Llaquet (Sydney Uni, 2nd) goes up against Allegra Childs (UWA, 3rd).
The two game series between defending champs Griffith Uni Queensland Thunder and Drummoyne Devils has been postponed due to the forecast in Brisbane.