We start with rugby union, and a loss for Australia but a win for an Australian.
We refer, of course, to Eddie Jones, coach of the Wallabies for five years and now the man tasked with rebuilding England's rugby fortunes after a disastrous World Cup at home.
And, by any measure, he is doing an incredible job.
Jones started out by leading England to the Six Nations Championship earlier this year and going undefeated in the process.
And now he has led England to its first series victory in Australia in its 12th such visit to the country.
Jones's side took an unassailable two-nil lead in the series with a 23-7 win on Saturday night in Melbourne.
He says a big part of the team's success was fooling Australia into a false sense of security.
"We had to play rope-a-dope today. You know, that was the sort of game we had to play. You've got to be tactically flexible in Test rugby, and that's why I'm so pleased for the team. And we got an opportunity to score a try, and we took it. Now that's the signs of a good side."
What is more, Jones is urging his men to make it a three-nil clean sweep of the series in the third and final Test in Sydney on Saturday.
In rugby league, there were only four matches in the NRL this weekend due to Wednesday's second State of Origin game.
After a loss in the first game on home turf, New South Wales has to win on Queensland soil in Brisbane to stave off what would be its 10th defeat in the last 11 State of Origin series.
That already-difficult task got harder this weekend, with centre Josh Morris having to withdraw from the team after suffering a groin injury at the team's training camp in Coffs Harbour.
Dylan Walker comes into the starting team to replace him, with Jack Bird coming onto the bench.
Morris says he will help Walker -- and that there is one factor in particular that will be key for him on Wednesday night.
"I'll speak to him in the lead-up and see how those boys are going, and just make sure that their combination is going well and that their communication is right up there, because Suncorp's a loud place, you can barely hear anyone, so it's about them making sure that they're nice and clear with each other and that they know what they're doing."
There were only six games in the AFL this weekend as it reached the mid-point of the season, but there was plenty of controversy off the field.
North Melbourne's defeat to Hawthorn on Friday night meant it surrendered the top spot on the ladder after wins by Geelong and Sydney.
With a post-match outburst, North Melbourne surrendered some pride as well.
Coach Brad Scott was asked after the match whether one of his players, forward Lindsay Thomas, is unfairly targeted by umpires.
This was his response.
(Scott:) "I know he is, because the umpires told our players that 'he's a ducker so we don't pay high free kicks to Lindsay.'"
(Journalist:) "They said that to the players tonight?"
(Scott:) "Yep. Yep. They told our guys that. So that's clearly a preconceived idea. You just want the umpires to umpire what they see, not their preconceived ideas."
The AFL sifted through the audio from the umpires' microphones and found no such comments.
The league demanded an apology from North Melbourne, which forced the club to both apologise and withdraw the allegation.
The club said there had been a misunderstanding of something players had told staff during the match.
And in netball, the New South Wales Swifts are back on top of the Australian conference in the Trans-Tasman netball competition.
They beat the struggling Adelaide Thunderbirds, 67-53.
Wing attack Paige Hadley has told Fox Sports the fact the Thunderbirds are struggling this season actually made the job harder.
But she says her side is doing its best to make up for the absence of captain Kim Green through a knee injury.
"We knew that they had nothing to lose, and it was a full, four-quarter effort, but ... yeah, really tough, but good leading into finals. I think we all know we have to step up and do our share, so I think it's great we've got lots of flexibility."
There are now two rounds left until the finals.
Share
