Sydney City take on Penrith in tomorrow's National Rugby League grand final at the Olympic stadium, looking to become the first team to win back-to-back Australian titles in a decade.
Brisbane were the last team to win successive premierships in 1992-93 but the Roosters are strongly fancied to repeat the feat this year.
Penrith are long outsiders but also the sentimental favorites in a match that looms as a classic confrontation between the rich and poor.
While the Roosters, based in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs, are one of the sport's most glamorous clubs, Penrith are one of the less fashionable.
Located at the foothills of a mountain range in the city's working-class western suburbs, the Panthers have surprised everyone by making the grand final.
They were only admitted to the top flight in 1967 and have won the championship just once, in 1991, after finishing runners-up the previous season.
Times have been lean ever since. They finished bottom of the league two years ago and were given little hope of success this year after being left to recruit from players rejected by the richer clubs.
But the Panthers defied the gloomy preseason predictions to finish on top of the table at the completion of the regular competition
"We just go out there and play to win," Panthers coach John Lang said. "If in the end it's not good enough, well, so be it. But I think we've shown we have got the ability to do it."
The Roosters, who have won 12 titles since they joined the competition as one of the foundation clubs in 1908, boast a side packed with internationals including former Australia test captain Brad Fittler and British second-row forward Adrian Morley.
Roosters coach Ricky Stuart said his biggest worry was complacency.
"Only the great teams can go into a grand final and be favorites and win it. So there's a challenge there for our players."
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Kumar Rocker, a first-round pick in both the 2021 and 2022 drafts, on Thursday won for the first time in the major leagues. Rocker struck out a career-best eight in a career-best seven innings as the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-3 to complete a three-game sweep. Rocker (1-2) threw a career-high 78 pitches and allowed three runs on five hits without a walk. The 25-year-old right-hander was drafted third overall by Texas in 2022, a year after concerns over a physical led to him going unsigned by the New York Mets as the 10th overall pick. He made his major
RSS