Received

Nicho Hynes has not yet done enough to guarantee a State of Origin debut, with NSW coach Brad Fittler challenging the Cronulla captain to keep his blistering form up for the next three weeks.

Hynes collected the Dally M Medal in his first year with the Sharks but has taken his game to new heights in his second, buffing up his defence and guiding Cronulla to a three-game winning streak.

Even after missing the first three weeks of the season through injury, Hynes is ranked equal-third in the Dally M stakes after round nine, trailing only probable NSW teammates Payne Haas and Nathan Cleary.

The 26-year-old was selected as 18th man for the Origin series opener in 2021 and the first two games of last year but has yet to make his Origin debut.

Given his ability to play as a fullback as well as in the halves, Hynes could be selected as a bench utility if not as Cleary's halves partner, but Fittler is holding his cards close to his chest at the selection table.

"There's still three weeks and he's got a couple of games to go. Not only has he still got to keep playing well, stay injury-free," Fittler said.

"There are couple of other players there doing a good job as well.

"But just watching him is enjoyable, watching what he does on the field and off the field. He's a great role model for the game."

Cleary's Penrith co-pilot Jarome Luai is the incumbent NSW five-eighth and Hynes' biggest competition for a spot in the starting side.

Luai has had a quieter start to the year than Hynes, with the reigning premiers managing only four wins from their first eight games of the season.

Cleary, Luai, Liam Martin, Isaah Yeo, Brian To'o, Stephen Crichton and Api Koroisau have all been selected in the Origin side while playing in the Panthers' two premiership seasons as Fittler looked to capitalise on the club's recent success.

The Panthers' lukewarm start to the season appears unlikely to sway Fittler dramatically from this outlook, the coach defending the side's form amid a tough run of injuries and roster changes.

Koroisau and key forward Viliame Kikau both left the club at the end of the 2022 season, while premiership players Martin, James Fisher-Harris, Izack Tago, Taylan May and Spencer Leniu have all spent time in the casualty ward to start the season.

"They are just going through their challenges," Fittler said.

"Their club is in a pretty good position considering the injuries they've got this year and the players they lose each year."

Fittler refused to rule Jake Trbojevic out of his calculations despite the Manly prop suffering a calf injury that the club says will keep him out for the first game of the series.

"I just spoke to Jake Trbojevic last night. Manly says four weeks, Jake says two. We'll wait and see," he said.

The utility value of Canterbury halfback Matt Burton, selected in the Blues' centres last year, has once again made him an enticing prospect for Fittler and his staff.

"Matty has the advantage of being able to play other positions," Fittler said.

"You need to have some versatility among your team. It's pretty tricky because you've got three games but you need to nail each one."

© AAP 2023

Tasmania has claimed its "rightful" place in the AFL after a battle for recognition spanning decades.

The island state was on Wednesday granted a 19th licence by the league, with a men's team slated to join in 2028 and the timeline for a women's side to be worked out.

The most recent bid, which started in earnest four years ago, got across the line at the weekend with the finalisation of funding for a new Hobart stadium - the final sticking point.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said Tasmania belongs in the AFL and AFLW and as part of the national football conversation.

"There have been urges and pushes and discussions for decades. It's probably overdue, but (comes) at the right time as well," he said at North Hobart Oval.

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said it was a historic day for the state.

"Our time has finally come. We have our right to be represented in the national competition," he said.

"This has been a hard fight ... by many Tasmanians over a number of generations.

"After more than a century, the AFL will finally be complete and recognised as a truly national competition.

"For everyone who has backed us and believed - thank you for sticking with us."

Tasmania will be the first expansion team since the Giants were awarded a licence in 2010 and entered the AFL in 2012.

Unlike the most recent expansion efforts in western Sydney and the Gold Coast, the team will be born into an Australian Rules football heartland.

Tasmania has produced four Australian Football Hall of Fame legends, Ian Stewart, Peter Hudson, Darrel Baldock and Royce Hart, as well as contemporary stars including Matthew Richardson and Nick Riewoldt.

McLachlan said the Devils "made sense" as the team's mascot, but the question would be put to the community.

There is speculation the name would breach a commercial copyright. However, McLachlan said the issue could be worked through.

He said Tasmania would likely enter the VFL in about 2025 as a precursor to its AFL start.

Hobart-born Richmond Tigers veteran Nick Riewoldt, who was at the announcement, said the state deserved the licence.

"It's a big day for the state and the next generation of boys and girls who don't have to travel across Bass Strait to play AFL and AFLW," he said.

"It is the most historic day in Tasmanian football. That will only be superseded by the day the Tasmanian football club wins its first premiership."

McLachlan and Rockliff said it was planned the new $715 million stadium at Macquarie Point on Hobart's waterfront would feature a roof, but the design hadn't been finalised.

The stadium has proven divisive and was opposed by the state Labor opposition, the Greens and Tasmanian federal Liberal and independent MPs.

The state government will contribute $12 million per year over 12 years towards a team, plus $60 million for a high-performance centre.

It will spend $375 million on the 23,000-seat stadium, which has been criticised as a waste of money amid a housing and health crisis.

The federal government announced on Saturday it would contribute $240 million, while the AFL is chipping in $15 million.

The licence was unanimously backed by the 18 existing club presidents on Tuesday and promptly signed off on by the league commission.

Tasmania launched a bid in 1994 featuring a 30,000-seat stadium in Hobart's northern suburbs, as well as another in 2008 which had the backing of confectionary giant Mars.

© AAP 2023

The private sector is confident the Albanese government can hand down a responsible budget that will be good for business.

More than two-thirds of mid-sized business owners surveyed agreed the federal budget, due to be handed down next week, would be positive for the business community.

But the RSM Australia survey of more than 300 mid-sized businesses also found almost a third thought their own business would be in a worse position post-budget, with half believing they would be in a better spot and 17.5 per cent predicting no change.

RSM Australia chief executive partner Jamie O'Rourke said small and medium sized businesses were comfortable with the Labor government's approach to tax reform that's largely targeted at the big end of town.

But he also said the focus on responsible budgeting that does not fuel inflation would mean little extra support for businesses.

"This doesn't bode well for new cash injections for businesses or households outside what the government has already promised, such as targeted energy bill relief, and a focus on the disadvantaged," he said.

Also on Wednesday, the government committed $55.31 billion across the next four years in this month's budget to make child care more affordable from July.

The signature election pledge will benefit about 1.2 million families nationwide, with more than 400,000 families in NSW, 302,100 in Victoria, and 284,100 in Queensland to receive a boost.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said cheaper child care was a key plank in addressing the cost of living as he battles to contain high inflation.

"What we've tried to do is to provide cost of living relief in a number of areas so that we can make things a little bit easier," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

"Cheaper child care will make life easier for a lot of families in a way that doesn't add substantially to the inflation challenge in our economy."

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said the government needed to rein in spending to curb high inflation following the central bank's rate hike.

"The RBA put out some signals," she told AAP.

"We want to make sure that we see a budget that isn't going to make the inflation situation worse. Getting inflation under control is a team sport."

The government will also set aside $72.4 million across five years to support the training of early childhood educators and the care sector.

More than 80,000 early childhood educators will benefit from the package, with a focus on regional and remote services, and Indigenous organisations.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Grattan Institute chief executive officer Danielle Wood said Australia will not meet its full potential until the nation makes better use of the capabilities of its highly talented women.

Ms Wood said the government's commitment to more affordable and accessible early learning and care and increasing parental leave were important steps on that journey but said there was more room for improvement.

She singled out reforming the childcare activity test, which significantly restricts access to subsidised childcare for some families, as one priority, as well as lifting wages for childcare workers.

"The fact that trained workers doing this critical and emotionally challenging work are getting little more than those flipping burgers at McDonald's or manning the counters a Bunnings, should shock us," she said.

© AAP 2023