Western Bulldogs defeat Brisbane Lions in grand final thriller

The Western Bulldogs have delivered the Brisbane Lions their second consecutive AFLW Grand Final defeat, with a narrow six point victory on Saturday.

The dogs overcame a goalless first half amid poor conditions at Ikon park to produce a three goal to nil third term, enough to secure their first premiership.

Monique Conti polled nine votes to win best on ground, beating Brisbane defender Kate Lutkins by one vote.

Acting skipper Ellie Blackburn, who stood in for the suspended Katie Brennan, said the victory meant so much to the club, given the events that had lead up to the decider.

“We got knocked down, we’ve had an interesting week, but the girls, we’re a family – we bloody love each other and this means the world to us,” she told Channel Seven after the game.

The Bulldogs had endured an interrupted build up to the decider after captain Katie Brennan was suspended for her sling tackle on Melbourne’s Harriet Cordner in the final week of the minor premiership.

Their premiership win under coach Paul Groves comes after a disappointing 2017 campaign, in which the Bulldogs were pre-season favourites.

It comes just two years after the men’s side won their first premiership in 62 years.

Western Bulldogs 4.3.(27) def Brisbane Lions 3.3.(21)

AFL on Sunday: Western Bulldogs suffer double blow in Round One

An ACL injury to premiership midfielder Tom Liberatore has topped off a nightmare first game of the season for the Western Bulldogs.

Greater Western Sydney resoundingly beat the 2016 premiers in Canberra on Sunday with a 20.13.(133) to 7.9.(51) victory, the 82 point thumping sending a warning to the rest of the competition.

While the Bulldogs were comprehensively smashed at UNSW oval in front of 10,454 fans, arguably the biggest worry was Liberatore, who now faces the prospect of a second knee reconstruction.

Coach Luke Beveridge confirmed Liberatore had ruptured his ACL after the game and said the club would support the 25 year old in his rehabilitation.

“It’s really unfortunate and disappointing, we were hoping for a bit of luck with injury this year but we haven’t started off too well,” he said.

AFL on Sunday:

Geelong 14.13.(97) def Melbourne 13.16.(94) – Crowd 54,112 at MCG

Sydney 18.7.(115) def West Coast Eagles 13.8.(86) – Crowd 53,553 at Optus Stadium

Sebastian Vettel stuns Lewis Hamilton to Win Australian Grand Prix

A clever race strategy has helped Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel pip defending world champion Lewis Hamilton to the checkered flag at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix on sunday.

Vettel upset the form guide by claiming his third victory at Albert Park, finishing five seconds ahead of fellow four-time world champion Hamilton, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the podium just ahead of Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo, racing for Red Bull, managed to battle his way back from eighth place on the grid following a grid penalty in qualifying.

Vettel inherited the lead after both Hamilton and Raikkonen pitted on lap 20, five laps before a safety car was released after Romain Grojean’s Haas stopped on track.

Ferrari then took advantage of the pause in proceedings and called Vettel in whilst Hamilton slowed behind the safety car, and emerged ahead of the Briton.

Hamilton chased Vettel for the remainder of the race, but couldn’t over take the German with Vettel taking the opening round of the world championship by five seconds.

Australia humiliated in third test loss to South Africa

The Australian Cricket Team have crumbled to a 332 run loss to South Africa in Cape Town overnight, as the ball tampering controversy continues to dominate the headlines.

The Proteas set an unlikely target of 430 runs after they were eventually dismissed for 373 in their second innings. Despite an opening stand of 57 runs between Bancroft (26), Warner (37), the visitors wilted under the intense pressure of the South African bowling attack.

Spectacularly, Australia lost it’s next 10 wickets for 50 runs in a single session as Morne Morkel ripped the tourists to pieces with pace and bounce.

“It’s been a horrible 24 hours to be perfectly honest,” stand in captain Tim Paine said after the game.

“It’s difficult for all of us, the last 24 hours, it’s been a bit of a challenge for us. Down the track there’s an opportunity for all the guys to grow as a team and we’ve got to try and take some sort of the positives out of that, long term,” he said.

The fourth test of the tour of South Africa will take place in Johannesburg on the 30th of March.