Ex-Bulldogs rugby league coach Steve Folkes has swapped sports by becoming the West Indian cricket team’s strength and conditioning coach.

They are not your run-of-the-mill role models. Several members of the Samoan team named today to take on fierce rivals Tonga in their World Cup clash at Penrith on Friday night have been known to make headlines for the wrong reasons.

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup is about much more than just wins and losses for the seven emerging nations taking part in the tournament.

Exasperated Tongan coach Jim Dymock has branded the Rugby League World Cup’s rules a “joke” after two more NRL stars were rubbed out of his side a day after it lost Anthony Tupou to Australia.

As we all know by now, smoking kills. But it was the lack of cigarette sponsors in Tonga that nearly destroyed rugby league in the island nation following the disastrous 2000 World Cup in Britain.

Australian coach Mick Malthouse will not ask his players to rein in their natural aggression despite the future of International Rules depending on their behaviour.
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Irish to meet with AFL over player poaching
Hawks close in on O’Keefe

Out-of-contract Sydney forward Ryan O’Keefe will reveal his intentions by the end of this weekend. The All-Australian half forward met with coach Paul Roos, who described their discussions as amicable.
Roos extends his Sydney commitment

With all the talk about Melbourne’s dominance of recent seasons, I was doing some thinking about teams who have had similar eras of regular season dominance over a period of seasons and found the following rather eerie comparison.

The AFL Grand Final is upon us with all the usual hype that we expect. The performances of the Cats and Hawks last weekend have led to expectation that it will be the classic Grand Final that we have to have after last year’s pussy cat picnic.

Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg has shut the door on a return to the NRL club by runaway forward Sonny Bill Williams.

Sonny Bill Williams’s recent “win” in Zoo magazine as “Australia’s most hated person” brought on mixed emotions.

Preview of this weekend’s National Rugby League qualifying finals (all times AEST, prefix denotes regular season finish).

After the home fans stayed away in droves last week, Sydney are confident the “Bloods” will flock to tonight’s AFL semi-final at the MCG.
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Eade demands Bulldogs confront challenge
Saints keen to correct their faults against Magpies

Mick Malthouse and Rodney Eade could not have made their feelings known any more clearly. For the hard-nosed duo, playing reputations are forged under the unforgiving finals blowtorch.
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Carlton in the mix for Warnock
Bulldogs’ form means nothing, says Barry

When the Doggies run on to the MCG on Friday night for their semi-final against Sydney, it’ll be just under 19,711 days since they last won a premiership, on the afternoon of Saturday, September 25, 1954.

It’s the master versus the apprentice as the Bulldogs take on the Swans for the right to take on Geelong in the Preliminary Final. Meanwhile, Collingwood would be absolutely thrilled at how the finals are shaping up for them.

Cronulla are hoping their stingy defence will ensure Saturday’s NRL qualifying final match-up with Canberra doesn’t turn into a track meet.

The AFL semi-final loss to North Melbourne last year continues to drive Hawthorn as they push for their grand final destiny.

Hard-nosed Geelong midfielder Max Rooke says the Cats will benefit from a weekend off as players overcoming injury push their case for AFL preliminary final berths.

Luke Covell’s left boot has kicked plenty of goals for Cronulla but tonight he used it to produce three miracle tries in the Sharks’ 28-22 NRL win over North Queensland.