Latest - Warriors captain Tohu Harris has been named for his long-awaited first match of the NRL season against South Sydney Rabbitohs in Brisbane on Saturday.
Tohu Harris Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Winger Marcelo Montoya is back from his four-match suspension for contrary conduct for the Magic Round encounter.
Harris has been named in the second row for a match which won't just be his first in 300 days but also his first as captain since being officially appointed last December.
The 30-year-old Harris hasn't played since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee in the round 18 encounter with Penrith at Suncorp Stadium on 18 July last year.
The consistent Montoya had contributed impressively to the club's run of three straight wins before his suspension; now he's back in his accustomed spot replacing Adam Pompey who has been moved into the centres.
Warriors for Rabbitohs match: 1 Reece Walsh, 2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3 Viliami Vailea, 4 Adam Pompey, 5 Marcelo Montoya, 6 Daejarn Asi, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 Addin Fonua-Blake, 9 Wayde Egan, 10 Matt Lodge, 11 Euan Aitken, 12 Tohu Harris (C), 13 Jazz Tevaga.
Extended Bench:14 Aaron Pene, 15 Ben Murdoch-Masila, 16 Bunty Afoa, 17 Jack Murchie, 18 Eliesa Katoa, 20 Rocco Berry, 21 Pride Petterson-Robati, 22 Edward Kosi, 23 Junior Ratuva, 24 Ronald Volkman, 25 Freddy Lussick.
Black Caps batsman in doubt for tour
Black Caps batsman Henry Nicholls has suffered an injury at training putting him in doubt for the tour of England.
Henry Nicholls Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Nicholls strained his calf at the squad's training camp in Mt Maunganui.
He'll have an MRI scan later today.
Coach Gary Stead says the next 24 to 48 hours will give them an indication of how serious it is.
The squad flies out for England this weekend.
An extended squad of 20 players was named for the tour with five players likely to be unavailable for the first part of the tour because of their Indian Premier League commitments.
The the initial squad of 20 will be reduced to 15 following the two warmup games in England.
The first Test is at Lord's starting on June 2.
Fox to play golf major
New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox has been included in the field for next week's US PGA Championship, the second major of the year.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Fox has risen to 106 in the world rankings and is currently 13th in the World Tour rankings.
Fox has played the PGA Championship three times with his best finish a tie for 27th in 2018.
The field includes 17 PGA Champions, 34 Major Champions, 3 World Golf Hall of Fame Members and 4 Ryder Cup Captains.
Tiger Woods is in the field.
The 2022 tournament is being played on the Southern Hills course in Oklahoma and starts on May 19.
Alcaraz the player to beat at Roland Garros
World number one Novak Djokovic heaped praise on newly-crowned Madrid Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, saying that the Spanish teenager is a firm favourite for the French Open later this month.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Alcaraz announced himself in Madrid when he played with a sore ankle but still dispatched three top five players -- Rafa Nadal, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev -- en route to his second Masters title, just days after his 19th birthday.
Djokovic described Alcaraz as a "complete player" and the "talk of the sport" after the Spaniard won a tour-leading fourth title of the year.
"He definitely is special. Already he's breaking a lot of records as a teenager, winning two Masters events this year, a couple of (ATP) 500s. So far he's the best player in the world, no question, this year," Djokovic said.
"(At) Roland Garros, he's definitely one of the main favourites, no doubt, even though he has never reached the second week of a Grand Slam. With everything recently that he has achieved, he deserves to be one of the favourites."
Alcaraz said he is skipping the Rome Masters to nurse his ankle injury to ensure he is fully fit for the French Open which begins on May 22.
-Reuters
Second Sharks player could have been red carded
NRL head of football Graham Annesley says Cronulla could have had a second player red carded in their game with the Warriors on Sunday.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Annesley says he would have been comfortable if centre Jesse Ramien was sent off and his side became the first in two decades permanently reduced to 11 men after the earlier dismissal of Will Kennedy.
The match review committee hit the Sharks pair with identical grade three careless high tackle charges yesterday, with Ramien facing a ban of three-to-four matches and Kennedy two-to-three matches.
Ramien was oly sin-binned for his high shot on Euan Aitken and while satisfied with the action taken by the match officials, Annesley says he wouldn't have been unhappy with a harsher penalty.
The Sharks won the game 29-10.
-NRL
Brazil and Argentina to play again
The FIFA Appeal Committee has ruled that the abandoned World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina must be replayed after considering the appeals filed by the countries' football associations.
The qualifier in September was suspended just minutes after kickoff when Brazilian health officials invaded the pitch to stop Argentina's England-based players from playing, saying they had breached the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules.
Both teams have already qualified for the World Cup in Qatar later this year, with Brazil topping the South American standings and Argentina finishing second.
FIFA had also fined Brazil's FA and Argentina's Football Association for their failure to ensure "order and safety".
Brazil and Argentina are also set to meet in a friendly international at Melbourne Cricket Ground in June.
-Reuters
Palestinian wins world title
Mohammad Hamada, a Palestinian weightlifter from the Gaza Strip, has won a gold medal at the IWF Junior World Championships in Greece.
It was a rare international victory for an athlete from the territory of two million people, where world-class training facilities are scarce.
At the Athens event, Hamada, 20, won gold in the 102kg weight class for the snatch lift. He took a bronze medal in total results, which are based on a competitor's best snatch and clean and jerk lifts.
Hamada travelled to the United Arab Emirates in January to prepare for the competition, spending 40 days at a training camp in the Gulf nation. He also trained alongside several world champions at another camp in Russia.
He began his career at the age of 12, taking part in local contests in Gaza.
Last year, Hamada was the first Palestinian weightlifter to take part in the Olympic Games, finishing seventh in Tokyo.
-Reuters