Strong early-season form from the Yates twins has the Australian Mitchelton-Scott cycling team on target for their lofty Grand Tour ambitions.
The British brothers posted big results at separate stage races in France and Italy. Simon Yates won stage five at Paris-Nice, the first time in his career he has taken out an individual time trial. Adam finished fifth in stage two at Tirreno-Adriatico to replace Australian teammate Michael Hepburn as the overall leader. Simon's main immediate goal is the May Giro d'Italia, where he led for 13 days last year before his dramatic slump in the second-last stage. As Yates faltered, compatriot Chris Froome took control of the Giro with a daring solo charge and he won the three-week Grand Tour. Simon went on to win the Vuelta a Espana in September - the first Grand Tour win for Mitchelton-Scott. The Australian team's ultimate goal is the Tour de France title. Adam Yates finished fourth in the 2016 Tour and won the best young rider classification. But he could only manage 29th last year. National parks across the state will be better protected under a NSW Labor government, the party has said while promising to employ extra park officers if elected to govern next weekend.
The opposition on Friday vowed to employ 200 additional field officers to target pest control and 60 new officers to restore damaged parts of Kosciuszko National Park. A Labor government would also nominate the Royal National Park south of Sydney for world heritage listing. Environment spokeswoman Penny Sharpe made the announcement eight days before the state election on March 23. "After eight years of neglect, Labor will invest in new staff to protect threatened species, prevent further declines in biodiversity and safeguard our water catchments, wetlands and key habitats," Ms Sharpe said in a statement. Meanwhile, Labor leader Michael Daley came under fire again on Friday over his luxury car tax with the coalition deriding him for not being able to explain the details. When quizzed on the intricacies of the tax, Mr Daley on Thursday couldn't say whether it would apply to tractors, headers and other farming equipment. He later confirmed the policy would not apply to them. Premier Gladys Berejiklian says it's "unacceptable" the Labor leader couldn't explain his own policy. "What he didn't tell the community is how this will affect so many farmers and so many businesses across NSW," she told reporters on Friday. Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said a party wanting to be in government had to explain how a new tax would apply. "The public need to know the truth behind this tax," he said. "You can't run and have policies off the cuff." NSW Labor on Friday also announced it would deliver $203 million to upgrade Coffs Harbour hospital on the state's north coast. The funding would go towards a dental X-ray machine, additional parking spaces and the expansion of existing surgical theatres. Health, education, climate, human rights and gender equality will be at the heart of a future Labor government's international aid budget.
Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong announced in a speech at the University of Queensland in Brisbane on Tuesday a plan to spend $32 million on a Pacific-wide fund to tackle blindness and vision impairment. The plan, which will involve the training of up to 600 health workers over four years, is part of a broader focus on improving health across the region. "Investment in health care and family planning improves individual wellbeing and contributes to prosperity and stability in communities and countries," Senator Wong said. "Aid can and does make a difference." As well, Labor would appoint a global human rights ambassador. Western Sydney import Oriol Riera is rising to the challenge posed by the A-League club's new arrivals with a double strike in the Wanderers' 4-1 win over Brisbane.
The Spaniard scored a wonderful right-foot volley before benefiting from a VAR review that overruled an offside as the Wanderers overcame an early Roar goal on Friday night for their third win in four matches. Roar young gun Dylan Wenzel-Halls had fired the home team into an early lead at Suncorp Stadium but that was it for the hosts. Mitchell Duke marked his first Wanderers start with a 15th-minute long-range strike that squirmed under Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young before Riera's double-strike gave the visitors a 3-1 halftime lead. Roly Bonevacia's injury-time goal in the dying moments of the match added some gloss to the result. Wanderers coach Markus Babbel believes the arrivals of Duke and former Roar attacker Kwame Yeboah have played a big part in motivating Riera, who has eight goals for the season. "He also feels the pressure now - we have options now," the German said of Riera's form. "If you see our bench today, I can bring in Kwame. I can bring in Giancarlo (Gallifuoco). I can bring in Bridgey (Mark Bridge). He was out for nearly eight months, and you see this experience, this quality that he has - you miss this as a team ... we have more quality now." The pressure to maintain standards was also behind Babbel's decision to omit attacking midfielder Alexander Baumjohann from his match-day squad. The German import, after a difficult season in the A-League, was left out after failing to impress in training. "I wasn't happy. I was talking to him, 'I was not happy with your week'. It was not enough for me because now I have these options," Babbel said. "I hope I can see a reaction next week." The Wanderers next face sixth-placed Wellington in New Zealand with the gap to a finals berth just eight points before the Phoenix take on Central Coast on Saturday in Gosford. Babbel isn't ruling out his team sneaking into the finals given their recent form. "I think it was 10 games to go, I said 'we can't give up now' ... we had a good chat about this and we said 30 points is still there," he said. "We have to try everything but think from game to game." Brisbane interim coach Darren Davies said his undermanned team had started brightly but just didn't do enough to protect the ball in their disappointing first half. "We scored a great goal ... I thought 'well, that's a really positive start' but, thereafter in the first half, we didn't pass the ball as well as we could," Davies said. "We weren't as good as we want to be tonight." The Roar's next game is on the road against Melbourne Victory. Fremantle have lost in-form forward Kellie Gibson with concussion for their must-win AFLW away match against Geelong.
Ashlee Atkins will take the place of Gibson who had kicked three goals in last week's win over the Western Bulldogs. With two rounds left, the Dockers are in a three-way logjam at the top of Conference A. Adelaide have a 4-1 record and lead on percentage ahead of North Melbourne and Fremantle, while the Cats are a game clear at the top of the weaker Conference B on 3-2. Evie Gooch will also return for Fremantle and the Cats will regain forward Maddie Boyd from suspension. North play winless Collingwood in the first game of Saturday evening's double header at Marvel Stadium. The Kangaroos' Daria Bannister was named to return from the knee reconstruction she needed after round one last season, when the forward was at the Bulldogs. Taylor Mesiti will make her senior debut, while Sarah D'Arcy is back from a hamstring injury for the Magpies. Melbourne have named Shelley Heath for her AFLW debut in the late Marvel Stadium game against the Bulldogs. |
ArchivesCategories |