There are bright sparks that can be built upon but the APL’s list of issues to address during the off-season is lengthyWinter has come. And with it, the A-Leagues’ season has come to a close. Western United’s 2-0 victory over Melbourne City in Saturday’s grand final provided the final chapter for the 2021-22 campaign as John Aloisi’s side won a championship in just their third season, going a long way towards establishing them as a true player in Melbourne’s ALM scene.It was a significant upset – a buoyant Aloisi observed post-game that oddsmakers had lost “a shitload” on the result – and provided a suitably unforeseen ending to a season that started off with so much anticipation and promise but...
The 26-year-old from Perth followed in Cadel Evans’s footsteps by becoming just the second Australian man to win a grand tourFor over a decade now, Cadel Evans has stood alone in Australia’s cycling pantheon as the only Australian to have won a cycling grand tour. With a history that dates back to the early 1900s, across a collective 288 editions of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, only once had an Australian stood atop a grand tour podium at the end of 21 gruelling stages.No longer. On Sunday, Hindley matched Evans’s historic 2011 Tour de France triumph with Giro d’Italia glory in Verona. The 26-year-old from Perth, who says that being a professional cyclist was all...
A second place finish in 2020 appears to have been no fluke with the 26-year-old again within touching distance of victory in this year’s raceOn Monday, Australian cyclist Jai Hindley made headlines for his peculiarly Australian turn of phrase. During the final rest day of the Giro d’Italia, the gruelling three-week Italian grand tour, Hindley was asked about his prospects with just a handful of seconds separating him from the hallowed pink leader’s jersey.“Yeah for sure, 100%,” said a confident Hindley. “Like, we’re not here to put socks on centipedes. We’re here to win the race. So yeah, why not?” His remarks clearly baffled the foreign journalists in attendance, one of whom asked him to clarify. “It means we’re not...
Across the seven shooters on Australia’s extended list, the only constant in Super Netball has been inconsistencyWith just over two months remaining until the first whistle blows at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the time for selectors to name the final team is inching closer. Decisions in the defence end are clear cut with only five players named in the wider squad to be reduced to four before the Games begin. The issue in the mid-court is an over-supply of talent, with the Swifts’ Maddy Proud and the Magpies’ Kelsey Browne demanding selectors take notice despite sitting outside of the named squad.But it is at the shooting end where cracks are beginning to appear. Across the seven shooters in the 18-player...
Grand final victory over City will do much to secure the A-League Men expansion club’s place in Melbourne’s football hierarchy“We deserve to be in the grand final,” John Alosi boomed to the Western United dressing room, his voice raised to take command of a space that had burst into rapturous chants of his name as he entered.Earlier, the 46-year-old was sprinting onto the field and pumping his fists in celebration before being grabbed in a bear hug by his players. In the foreground, Connor Pain and Dylan Wenzel-Halls were sliding on their knees towards the United fanbase assembled in AAMI Park’s grandstand, celebrating the 98th-minute goal that lifted them to a 4-2 aggregate lead over Melbourne Victory and secured a...