'One of the best': Coach's NRL comeback

Mitch Marsh's injury has left a gaping hole in Australia's ODI side, but national coach Justin Langer is adamant there is no cause for concern.

With Steve Smith set to return in place of the West Australian all-rounder, part-timers Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell will need to collectively bowl 10 overs to India's batsman on Friday.

Langer would be tempted to bring either Moises Henriques or Cameron Green into the starting XI, but hinted only the one change would be made.

"In England we had Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell able to get us at least 10 overs. So we like that combination, the extra allrounder," Langer told reporters on Wednesday.

"Obviously Steve will come straight back in and there's some headaches but they're good headaches.

"There's a lot of talk about selection, they give you a few headaches, but I promise they're really good headaches to have."

Michael Jordan is famously one of the toughest, pettiest competitors the sporting world has ever known, and it has continued with the private golf course owned and designed by the 57-year-old.

2015 Players Championship winner Rickie Fowler revealed Jordan has been cutting up rivals on his new course, The Grove XXIII, in Florida.

It is a cunning detail in the course that is allowing Jordan to compete with the best golfers on the planet — and they’re helpless to watch themselves stumble into His Royal Airness’ ambush.

Fowler told the Subpar Podcast this week it is damn hard to beat Jordan on his own turf — a private, exclusive course that reportedly has less than 100 members.

It is invite only.

READ MORE: Jordan’s ‘slaughterhouse’ is ruining stars

Liverpool suffered a shock loss to Atlanta in the Champions League on Thursday morning, while Real Madrid secured a 2-0 victory over Inter Milan.

FC Midtjylland suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands on Ajax, with Aussie winger Awer Mabil their lone goal-scorer.

Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0 Shakhtar Donetsk

Olympiakos 0-1 Manchester City

Atletico Madrid 0-0 Lokomotiv Moscow

Bayern Munich 3-1 RB Salzburg

Inter Milan 0-2 Real Madrid

Marseille 0-2 FC Porto

Ajax 3-1 FC Midtjylland

Liverpool 0-2 Atalanta

Newcastle Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga has hit back at claims he did not want to play in this year's State of Origin series.

Ponga required surgery on his right shoulder, which if delayed could hamper his 2021 NRL season.

The 22-year-old therefore sacrificed competing for Queensland in the Origin series to ensure he could recover in time for March.

Regardless, the Maroons secured a thrilling 2-1 series victory with Ponga, denying a New South Wales Blues "three-peat".

"Journos, they make anything up and people believe it," Ponga told Fox Sports.

"When I got my surgery and they saw what was wrong with it, I had advice from people that I trust and I'm glad I made that decision to get the surgery.

"Given the extent of how bad it was, it could have been pretty costly.

"The (Queensland) boys got the job done, it was mad. (I was) disappointed, you always want to be in those games. Those are the hardest games in rugby league and that's the environment you want to be in.

"I was just happy the boys got the job done, we won and celebrated. Everything around the team, and every person what they went through, it was pretty cool to see."

The Melbourne Stars were understandably touted as favourites leading into Wednesday’s semi-final, but nobody expected the contest to be such a one-sided demolition.

After qualifying for the finals via net run rate, the Perth Scorchers were utterly outclassed at North Sydney Oval as the Stars cruised towards their maiden WBBL final.

Meg Lanning's Stars reached the target of 126 with seven wickets in hand and 22 balls to spare, ending the Scorchers’ season.

READ MORE: Aussie skipper plagued by Big Bash curse

Tasmania JackJumpers CEO Simon Brookhouse has revealed he will consider signing the NBL’s first female head coach to lead the franchise’s maiden season – a move that has been welcomed by Opals coach Sandy Brondello.

It comes as the JackJumpers have launched a global search for their inaugural head coach for the 2021-2022 season.

Brookhouse declared the franchise would hire the best candidate for the job, including considering basketball’s finest female coaches.

“We will get the best, whether that be male or female,” Brookhouse said.

– Matt Logue, NCA NewsWire

READ MORE: JackJumpers weigh up historic move

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has boldly claimed the club's messy divorce with midfielder Adam Treloar is "not unusual".

The Western Bulldogs signed Treloar last week, with $4.5 million left on the 27-year-old's contract with Collingwood.

The two clubs have reportedly struggled to haggle over how to pay the remainder of the mega-deal, delaying the trade paperwork being officially lodged.

But speaking on Triple M’s Hot Breakfast, McGuire was adamant the dispute “will get sorted out, I’m sure”.

“The Dogs will remember those who stood by them when they had no friends and voted for them and looked after equalisation and things like that,” McGuire said on Thursday morning.

"This is not unusual … Maybe it is unusual, but I was told it’s not that unusual.

“It’ll get sorted.”

The pitch for this year’s Boxing Day Test only went in the ground a month ago because of COVID-19 shutdowns, but MCG curator Matt Page is confident it will play as well, if not better, than last summer.

Cricket Australia’s head of cricket operations, Peter Roach, confirmed Adelaide would still be hosting the first Test against India “at this stage” given the improved COVID-19 situation, narrowing Page’s focus to preparing a pitch for Boxing Day.

Page will use the same wicket on which Australia defeated New Zealand inside four days last summer, a pitch that received a “very good” rating from the International Cricket Council, the best rating available.

READ MORE: Boxing Day Test prep hits full steam

Sydney FC’s lack of firepower following the departure of English striker Adam Le Fondre was exposed on yet another disappointing night of AFC Champions League football for the Sky Blues.

The five-time A-League champions were beaten 1-0 by Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in their Group H clash in Qatar on Wednesday night.

With just one point from four matches, Sydney can again forget about reaching the knockout stages of the continental competition, with their disappointing run of Champions League games without a win stretching to 11.

READ MORE: Sydney in need of a striker