Queensland halfback Johnathan Thurston has questioned whether the rookie NSW
playmakers will be able to step up to the massive occasion of State of Origin rugby
league.

An El Nino weather event is increasingly likely to occur this year, possibly by
mid-winter, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Besieged Richmond coach Terry Wallace concedes he won't be coaching next year and
that his days at the AFL club are numbered.

A defence internal inquiry has found no evidence whatsoever to support media reports
that defence officials hacked into the computer of Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon

The political slanging match over economic stimulus payments to dead people shifted
from parliament on Friday as each side accused the other of lacking sensitivity.

A swine flu vaccine will be available within weeks and the federal government is
bankrolling urgent research into the virus as the number of confirmed cases in

A shot at redemption looms for Anthony Mundine - but not a re-match with Danny Green.
After claiming Daniel Geale's IBO world middleweight crown in Brisbane on Wednesday

Bulldogs veteran Luke Patten has offered crisis-strewn NRL rivals Cronulla some
hope, suggesting his club's turnaround is the perfect blueprint for the Sharks.

Two more AFL players have joined the group of footballers who sit one positive test
away from being suspended for up to 18 games for illicit drug use.

A Country Fire Authority (CFA) operations manager who tried to issue warnings about
a fire in his region did not have the power to do so, the royal commission has
heard.