Manly prop Brent Kite missed selection for New South Wales for the series-opening State-of-Origin match against Queensland only four days after playing in Australia's win over New Zealand in a rugby league test.
Blues selectors preferred Brett White and Ben Cross to Kite for the May 21 interstate clash in Sydney, considered the highlight of the Australian rugby league calendar.
"Brent played for Australia three or four days ago, he was in our discussions for a long time but this is a team we think will do the best job in the way we want to play the game," coach Craig Bellamy said.
Brisbane Broncos halfback Peter Wallace won the most contentious spot, the 22-year-old playmaker earning his Origin debut in a halves pairing with Australia five-eighth Greg Bird.
Wallace, 22, got the nod ahead of seasoned veterans Brett Finch, Matt Orford and Jarrod Mullen after utility Kurt Gidley was ruled out with a fractured cheek bone.
Bird, who plays lock at club level but has filled in as pivot for Australia in its last two test matches, was given the No. 6 jersey ahead of Braith Anasta.
Gold Coast forward Anthony Laffranchi earned a deserved Origin debut in an interchange bench that also includes veteran backrower Craig Fitzgibbon, who missed the last two Origin series, Anthony Tupou and Ben Hornby.
New South Wales selectors made nine changes to the lineup that won the last game of last year's 2-1 series loss to Queensland.
Queensland selectors overlooked Gold Coast Titans halfback Scott Prince, arguably the most in-form player in the National Rugby League, and picked Karmichael Hunt at five-eighth to fill in for injured skipper Darren Lockyer.
A late push for Prince to partner Australia halfback Johnathan Thurston in a new look halves pairing was ignored, with Thurston holding the No. 7 jersey and Hunt switching from fullback to make room for Billy Slater at the back.
Queensland chairman of selectors Des Morris said it was a tough decision, but selectors felt that Prince was a halfback and Hunt's versatility made him a better option as a makeshift five-eighth.
"It's a big job to fill obviously with a player of Darren's caliber not available, we feel [Hunt] has played a fair bit of that position during the game and he's very strong in defense," Morris said. "We think he'll be a good mix with Johnathan."
Morris said he felt for Prince but pointed out the Titans's play maker was a genuine halfback and Hunt's versatility made him a better option for the five-eighth position.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS