Round 10 brought the regular season to its conclusion, and while the Australian Baseball League’s Championship Series pairing had been foreshadowed a week earlier, the final answers were only locked in after a tense, rain-affected weekend.
Sydney became the first team to clinch a spot in the Championship Series, navigating a road trip to Perth to take three of four. At the same time, Adelaide powered through Brisbane with a matching 3–1 series win, dragging themselves back to .500 and keeping their momentum in the battle for second.
Friday night football in Brisbane, and a chance to complete a useful comparison. This was my second A-League fixture of the series, with Brisbane Roar hosting Auckland FC at Suncorp Stadium for a 6:35 pm kickoff. Having seen the Roar play Wellington Phoenix at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium a week earlier, this felt like the natural next step: same league, same team, but in the city’s main sporting cathedral.
Wednesday night marked the first appearance of tennis in this series, with a visit to the Brisbane International night session beginning at 6:30 pm. Two matches were scheduled on Pat Rafter Arena: first, Australian Kimberly Birrell against American Amanda Anisimova, currently ranked third on the WTA Tour. The second match was a men’s doubles contest, featuring Australian favourites Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis against French pairing Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.
The calendar flipped to a new year, and with it the final stretch of the ABL season came into view. Sydney remain on top, Adelaide proved they can bloody the league leaders, while Perth quietly assembled a series win that reshaped the chasing pack.
Saturday afternoon football in Queensland, and this time it was finally the A-League’s turn. After weeks of being told “it’s not great” or “you’ll see why people complain”, curiosity got the better of me. Brisbane Roar were hosting Wellington Phoenix in a 4:00 pm kickoff, with the Roar sitting an impressive third after significantly outperforming preseason expectations. Wellington, meanwhile, arrived in 10th and under pressure.
Round 7 delivered exactly what you'd hope for in the post-Christmas round: packed stadiums, wild momentum swings, two extra-inning finishes, and a ladder that twisted almost by the hour.
Round 6 brought two unexpectedly tight series, as blowouts were followed by nail-biters. At the centre of it all: the Sydney Blue Sox, who began the week by obliterating Adelaide, yet somehow still only split the series 2-2. Around them, Perth quietly stitched together a confidence-buidling weekend.
After a month of dominance, Round 5 finally brought the Sydney Blue Sox back to earth. Their franchise-record nine-game winning streak was snapped with not just one, but two losses over the weekend.
Round 4 delivered us a Sydney team that can’t stop winning, and a wonderfully unpredictable Bandits-Giants matchup. For Perth, it was the nightmare continuation of a slump that’s risks becoming outright alarming.
For the first time this season, the ABL got through a full slate of eight games. And in that rare clarity, one truth emerged above everything else: the Sydney Blue Sox are dangerous. A dominant 4–0 sweep over Adelaide has launched the Sox to the top of the ladder, while Brisbane and Perth delivered a wildly uneven yet perfectly balanced 2–2 split.
Week 2 of the ABL season saw plenty more action and another healthy dose of meddling by the weather. The Adelaide Giants were the big winners, extending their win streak to four, while Brisbane and Sydney traded blows in a four-game split.
The Australian Baseball League returned this week with an opening round that wasted absolutely no time delivering absurd scorelines, breakout performances and certainly no cooperation from the Brisbane weather.
Saturday afternoon in Brisbane, and it was finally time to step into another side of Australian sport. After AFL, hockey, football, and NRL, today's basketball game offered a familiar rhythm but with a distinctly local twist. The Brisbane Bullets were hosting the South East Melbourne Phoenix at 4:30 pm, an early-season clash promising a fast, high-intensity spectacle on court.
Sunday afternoon in Brisbane, and my friends insisted it was finally time. After dipping my toes into AFL earlier this year, the other side of this country’s great sporting divide was calling. The Brisbane Broncos were hosting the Penrith Panthers in a Preliminary Final: a rematch of 2023’s Grand Final that had the whole city buzzing. Kick-off was set for 4:05 pm, the late-afternoon sun setting the perfect stage for a Queensland rugby league blockbuster.
It was absolute scenes at Seffiert Oval last Sunday as we set our sights on a five-match grand final day. But as the time rolled closer to 3:30, the sea of red, black, light blue and many more colours turned into only two – maroon and white and blue and white for the match of the day, the Queanbeyan derby, Blues and Roos.
This week is a special edition of the CRRL Wrap, where last Wednesday was the night of nights for Canberra Region Rugby League (CRRL) with their annual Les McIntyre Medal Presentation Night.
The Melbourne Ice have reclaimed their spot at the top of Australian ice hockey and claimed their first Championship since 2017, defeating the Canberra Brave 7–3 in Sunday’s AIHL Championship Final. The result not only avenged last year’s loss to the Brave but also confirmed the Ice’s status as the league’s most consistent side after finishing the regular season as the top seed.
The Australian Ice Hockey League finals will once again come down to the Melbourne Ice and Canberra Brave, after both sides punched their tickets to Sunday’s decider with semi-final victories in Melbourne on Saturday.
The opening night of the AIHL Playoffs delivered plenty of action, but served up two predictable results, as both higher seeds took care of business in the Preliminary Finals to book their places in Saturday’s semis.
