Weekend Sport Preview

SBS World News Radio: This weekend will be a big one for sports fans, particularly those who love the National Rugby League (NRL) and the AFL.The grand-final line-up in both codes will be known after the weekend fixtures, and it's those matches that naturally dominate the Weekend Sport Preview.

Steve Johnson, left, and Giants coach Leon Cameron (AAP)

Steve Johnson, left, and Giants coach Leon Cameron Source: AAP

It has all come down to two matches in each the AFL and NRL to decide which teams will contest the sports' respective 2017 grand finals.

In the AFL, the Adelaide Crows get the action underway tonight against the Geelong Cats.

The Crows have had two weeks to prepare since beating Greater Western Sydney in the first qualifying final and have even had a short training camp on Queensland's Gold Coast.

But Geelong coach Chris Scott says, however well-prepared his team's opponents are, the Cats were always going to be facing a difficult task against the league's minor premiers.

"The quality of the opposition doesn't change. Obviously, they've been virtually on top of the ladder all year and have clearly been the best team, and they deserve their right to play a preliminary final at home. So it's a big challenge, but we're confident our best footy will give it a real shake."

Tomorrow evening, Richmond has home advantage against the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

If the Giants are going to reach the grand final, they will need Steve Johnson to be fit after he kicked six goals in last weekend's win against the West Coast Eagles.

But coach Leon Cameron says Johnson will not be the only player going into the grand-final qualifier with questions about fitness.

"We know he goes in most weeks at about 90 per cent because of his knee. But probably half the squad of Richmond and half the squad of the Giants are probably going in at 90 per cent, because it's the end of a long year. He's done everything right yesterday, he did his normal routine yesterday."

In the NRL this evening, all eyes will be on the Melbourne Storm's clash against the Brisbane Broncos.

The Storm go into the match as favourites after scoring more tries and conceding fewer than any other side in the competition.

Coach Craig Bellamy has paid tribute to his retiring star scrum-half Cooper Cronk, but also warned his team not to get focused on the imminent retirement of one player.

"You don't get these opportunities too often, so you want to be taking it. Next year, you don't where you're going to be, you don't know whether you're going to be injured. Like I say, it's a unique opportunity, so you want to be making the most of it."

Tomorrow night, the Sydney Roosters face the resurgent North Queensland Cowboys.

Forward Jason Taumalolo has been playing some of the best football of his career in recent weeks for the Cowboys.

The soft-spoken New Zealander says he has tried to ignore all the pre-game hype and just wants to keep on doing what he has been doing.

"It's not about changing anything, it's just about doing my job but doing it a bit better every week from now on. You want to be playing your best, close to your best, footy. So I like to think I'm going all right for now, so ..."

Meanwhile, in cricket, Australia continues its short-format tour of India over the weekend.

Steve Smith's side plays Game 3 of the five-match, one-day series on Sunday evening.

The tour will conclude with three T20 matches.

And in football's English Premier League this weekend, West Ham United plays a London derby against Tottenham on Saturday night.

It is always a fiercely contested match, and SBS will have live coverage.

 

 

 


Share

4 min read

Published

Updated

By John Baldock



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world