Wanderers stun champions, Phoenix light up the NBL as Jillaroos run riot

A busy Saturday delivered plenty for Australian sports fans, with the Western Sydney Wanderers producing the weekend's biggest domestic upset, the South East Melbourne Phoenix putting on a shooting clinic, and the Australian Jillaroos delivering another emphatic Rugby League World Cup victory. There was also a big night for Australian motorsport and a major international win for Alexander Volkanovski, while Sam Konstas continued to make a compelling case for a Test recall.

Rugby League — Jillaroos demolish England

The Australia women's national rugby league team made another enormous statement at the Rugby League World Cup, hammering England 78-0 in Perth. Australia led 36-0 at half-time and never relented, scoring 15 unanswered tries. Jocelyn Kelleher converted nine of them and finished with 26 points, while Jaime Chapman, Kelleher, Julia Robinson and Tarryn Aiken were among the try-scorers.

The result continues Australia's extraordinary dominance over England and puts the Jillaroos firmly in control of their World Cup campaign. Australia entered the tournament as defending champions and have now produced another enormous margin against one of their traditional international rivals.

Elsewhere in the men's tournament, England kept their own semi-final hopes alive with an 82-0 demolition of Franceat HBF Park. Australian-based players Herbie Farnworth and Dom Young both scored hat-tricks, with England's enormous winning margin designed to repair the damage caused by their opening-round loss to Tonga.

AFL — Women's race heats up

Brisbane Lions recorded the biggest win of the day, beating St Kilda Saints 75-23. Geelong Cats defeated Fremantle Dockers 64-34, while the Gold Coast Suns held off Richmond Tigers 54-50 in a tight contest on the Gold Coast. Melbourne Demons also claimed a 37-20 victory over the Western Bulldogs. The results leave the finals picture increasingly important with the home-and-away season entering its closing stages.

Football — Wanderers bury champions

A-League Men

The Western Sydney Wanderers produced one of the most eye-catching results of the young A-League Men season, crushing defending champions Auckland FC 5-2 at CommBank Stadium. It was the Wanderers' first victory under new coach Ufuk Talay and an extraordinary turnaround for a club that finished last in the A-League last season. Five different Wanderers players found the net, while Auckland struggled to create opportunities from open play and conceded twice from corners.

The other men's matches both ended 1-1, with the Melbourne derby finishing level after Newcastle Jets and Macarthur FC also couldn't be separated.

A-League Women

The Central Coast Mariners are the early-season side to watch after another attacking avalanche. The Mariners thrashed Canberra United 5-1, following their 4-2 victory over Brisbane in the opening round. Central Coast therefore have nine goals from their first two games and six points from six available. Western Sydney Wanderers also came from behind to beat Brisbane Roar 3-1, while Adelaide United and Perth Gloryplayed out a 0-0 draw.

Cricket — Konstas piles on another century

Australian cricket's biggest individual story was again Sam Konstas. The young NSW opener smashed 149 from 131 balls against Western Australia in the One-Day Cup at the WACA, his second century in four days. NSW posted 371-8, eventually winning by 78 runs. Konstas' latest innings comes at an interesting time for the national side, with the series decider against South Africa in Cape Town beginning on October 27. His run of domestic scores is increasingly difficult for selectors to ignore.

NBL — Phoenix explode for 108

The South East Melbourne Phoenix produced one of the most spectacular shooting displays of the NBL27 season, beating the Adelaide 36ers 108-94. The Phoenix hit their first 10 shots, including seven three-pointers, and finished the opening quarter with an astonishing 10-of-12 from three-point range. They then opened the second period with a 17-0 run and went to half-time leading 72-43. Adelaide fought back strongly after the break, but the damage was too great. Bryce Cotton produced 37 points and eight assists for the 36ers, while Angus Glover and D'Shawn Schwartz each scored 20 for the Phoenix. The Phoenix moved to 4-5 with their second consecutive victory.

In Wollongong, the Brisbane Bullets inflicted more misery on the Illawarra Hawks with a 98-81 road victory. Nate Hinton led Brisbane with 21 points, six assists and three steals, while Raul Neto made his first start and contributed 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. Illawarra briefly threatened a remarkable comeback after trailing by 20 at half-time, cutting the deficit to seven after three quarters, but Brisbane regained control in the final term. The result leaves Illawarra at 2-8, while Brisbane improved to 4-4.

Motorsport — Mostert masters the wet Gold Coast

The opening race of the Supercars' Gold Coast 500 went to Chaz Mostert, who produced a commanding performance in wet conditions on the Surfers Paradise street circuit.

Mostert passed polesitter Broc Feeney almost immediately after the safety car period ended and controlled the remainder of the race to win by 23.461 seconds. David Reynolds finished second and Matt Payne third after a five-second penalty was applied to Payne.

Feeney had started from pole after edging Mostert in the Top 10 Shootout, setting up a dramatic opening to the Supercars finals. Meanwhile at Phillip Island, Australia's Jack Miller finished seventh in the MotoGP Sprint, earning his first Saturday points of the 2026 season. The home crowd also watched a dramatic qualifying session in which Marc Márquez recovered from a crash to take pole. The sprint itself had major championship consequences: Márquez won, while title rival Jorge Martin crashed out, allowing Márquez to take the championship lead heading into Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Combat Sports — Volkanovski retains UFC crown

Australian MMA star Alexander Volkanovski successfully defended his UFC featherweight championship against undefeated challenger Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski stopped Evloev by TKO in the second round, retaining his title and extending his remarkable run at featherweight. The victory also moved him to a record nine UFC featherweight title-fight victories. It was another major international result for one of Australia's biggest combat-sports names.