Received

Details
Category: Received
Hits: 84

Gold Coast have ended their underwhelming NRL season with a comeback 27-26 golden-point NRL win over the Warriors in Auckland.

A beautifully-taken Tanah Boyd field goal from 40 metres out was the difference on Saturday after fellow strugglers the Warriors blew what looked a comfortable lead.

Mt Smart was again packed, but the fans were ultimately let down by what coach Stacey Jones described as a "dumb" finish.

"It was very disappointing, we've had some disappointing moments but that's right up there," said Jones.

"We came up with some dumb moments that got them back into the game, that shouldn't have been like that."

It had all started so well, with a bust from Eli Katoa after only four minutes leading to a quick play the ball, which Reece Walsh used beautifully to send Jesse Arthars over for the first points.

Walsh was in the action only a few minutes later, collecting a spilled ball at the back by Jayden Campbell, then flicking a pass behind his back for crowd favourite Josh Curran to rumble over.

When Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossed in the corner off a scrum, the Warriors suddenly were up 16-0 and enjoying their best start to a game all year.

They really should have made all the pressure they enjoyed for the first half hour count for more, but the Titans finally woke up and created enough space for Alex Brimson to squeeze over next to the posts.

However, some messy work off another Warriors kick saw Curran get to the ball first and make the score 20-6 to the home side at the break.

The Titans came out fizzing in the second half, with Beau Fermor scoring to close the gap.

Again though, they squandered any momentum gained, with young Warriors winger Viliami Vailea punching through some weak defence off a scrum to score a long-range try and restore the hosts' scoreline margin.

Freddy Lussick went close to putting the result beyond doubt when he was held up after 65 minutes, an outcome the Warriors would rue when Campbell made up for his earlier error with a stunning solo try.

The next set saw Paul Turner to cross to bring the Titans back to within two points, a deficit which was wiped out by a Boyd penalty goal as regular time expired.

After only three minutes of golden-point extra time, Boyd stepped up to be the hero with his sweetly-taken field goal.

Warriors captain Tohu Harris described the mood in the Warriors' changing room as "sombre", saying that the game was "the story of our season - we just find ways to shoot ourselves in the foot."

The Titans finish with a sorry 6-18 record, as do the Warriors.

© AAP 2022

Details
Category: Received
Hits: 92

The Sydney Roosters won't know until Sunday at the earliest whether Joey Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Sam Verrills will play in next week's elimination final after all three went down injured in the Allianz Stadium opener.

Manu limped off with an apparent calf complaint late in Friday's 26-16 defeat of South Sydney and looms as the most significant injury blow ahead of next week's elimination final rematch.

The Roosters sent him in for scans over the weekend.

Waerea-Hargreaves (hamstring/neck) came off after the 13th minute as a precaution, with Verrills (hand) following in the second half.

The Roosters are set to provide an update on the injuries on Monday, as the Rabbitohs sweat on the availability of captain Cameron Murray and Siliva Havili, both of whom suffered concussions on Friday night.

In better news for Souths, bench forward Hame Sele has escaped suspension for his lifting tackle on Egan Butcher.

He can accept a $750 fine for his grade one dangerous throw charge but will be free to line up against the Roosters at Allianz Stadium.

Coach Trent Robinson says the Roosters' last back-to-back meetings with South Sydney can't teach them anything as they prepare for a similar turn of events to the final weeks of the 2019 season.

On that occasion, the Rabbitohs claimed victory over the Roosters in the last game before the finals series but it was to be the Tri-colours' last loss of the year.

The Roosters thrashed South Sydney 30-6 in the qualifying final a week later and went on to hoist the premiership trophy for the second time in as many years.

This time around, it will be the Rabbitohs out for revenge but Robinson said his side would not become distracted by thoughts that South Sydney could turn the tables on 2019 and stage a comeback of their own.

"That's all in the past," he said.

"You create your future and we'll create ours next week and how we want to play."

The Roosters have their fast start to thank for Friday night's victory.

The hosts ran out to a 14-0 lead after 20 minutes but were outscored by the Rabbitohs across the remainder of the contest.

"There's some improvements to be had for us," Robinson said.

"I thought we were really good for the first half, clear how we wanted to play.

"We just lost our way. We didn't execute well enough when we had field position and it just ended up being a stop-start game."

Rabbitohs coach Ben Hornby, subbing in for Jason Demetriou (COVID-19), said he doubted the Rabbitohs would need any pep talks ahead of next week's rematch.

"Motivation is never going to be a problem in the finals," he said.

"It's a finals game, we want to do well. We started on this journey a long time ago and we want to finish it in the best possible way."

© AAP 2022

Details
Category: Received
Hits: 79

A body of a young NSW Police officer has been found in a national park, sparking an investigation.

Concerns were raised for the welfare of the 23-year-old off-duty constable on Friday night.

His body was found in the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, just before 1am on Saturday.

There appear to be no suspicious circumstances.

The constable had been a part of the Bankstown Police Area Command.

A critical incident investigation has been launched by Homicide Squad detectives who will provide a report for the coroner.

The investigation will be reviewed by the Professional Standards Command and independently overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.

Support services are being offered to the constable's family, colleagues and NSW Police Force staff.

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636

© AAP 2022

Details
Category: Received
Hits: 78

One of the hardest-hit sectors from the pandemic has called on the government to help fill a widening workforce shortage following a rise in the country's migration cap.

Aged care peak bodies have called for more skilled migrants to work in the sector, with an estimated 60,000 vacancies in the sector alone.

A study by Catholic Health Australia found of the 60,000 vacancies, 45,000 are qualified aged care workers.

It comes as the government announced at the jobs and skills summit in Canberra it would increase the annual cap on skilled migration to 195,000 places.

Peak bodies Catholic Health Australia, Uniting NSW and ACT as well as UnitingCare Australia have said an urgent increase is needed for skilled workers in aged care, which had been affected by the pandemic.

Catholic Health Australia chief executive Pat Garcia said skilled migrants would help alleviate the workforce crisis.

"Adding personal care workers to the skilled migration list could really help plug the gap in the aged care workforce," he said.

"When there are almost 60,000 vacancies in aged care right now this is something that government can do and do it quickly."

Uniting NSW and ACT senior services director Saviour Buhagiar said there was a 10 per cent vacancy rate across its operations, with 1000 of them in aged care alone.

"After the work our people have done during the pandemic to keep seniors safe, we cannot keep asking them to work double shifts and struggle to fill rosters," he said.

"We need the boost to our workforce that including personal care workers in the migration list will deliver."

It comes as national cabinet agreed this week to reduce the isolation period for COVID-19 positive cases from seven to five days to allow employees to be able to return to work sooner.

However, health experts say it's too soon for the country to treat COVID-19 like other infectious diseases such as the flu.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended lowering the isolation time, saying it was a necessary measure.

The Australian Medical Association called on the government to release the health advice behind the national cabinet decision.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID DATA:

NSW: 3602 cases, 18 deaths, 1691 in hospital with 39 in ICU

Victoria: 2013 cases, 10 deaths, 298 in hospital with 13 in ICU

Tasmania: 179 cases, 0 deaths, 29 in hospital with one in ICU

SA: 532 cases, six deaths, 93 in hospital with eight in ICU

WA: 1076 cases, four deaths, 209 in hospital with five in ICU

ACT: 180 cases, 0 deaths, 91 in hospital with one in ICU

Queensland and the NT do not report COVID-19 data on weekends

© AAP 2022