Sportsworld Podcast

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The Perth Wildcats are leading the NBL Grand Final series 1-0 after defeating Melbourne United 81-71 last night. "I think what we showed last night is that we're pretty composed at the moment and we're playing good basketball," Wildcats' centre Tom Jervis told 6PR's Sportsworld. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze, says family played a part in the decision to leave the Sydney Kings at the end of the season, but he's still focused on the NBL finals. The Kings lost their first Semi Final game against Melbourne United on Thursday night, but is looking to bounce back on Sunday. "[We've] found some areas that we need to improve on and felt like we didn't help ourselves in that game. If we play to our best then our best should be good enough," Gaze said on 6PR's Sportsworld. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kim Hagdorn says Nat Fyfe is recovering from minor surgery on his elbow but has received advice to avoid any contact to the area for a fortnight. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

West Coast Eagles defender Brad Sheppard was nervous heading into his first game back after he sustained a hamstring injury late in the 2018 season that kept him out of the AFL Grand Final. Sheppard was back in flying form with his 21 disposals, four marks and six tackles in the Eagles 34-point win over Geelong in Round 1 of the JLT Series, but he says it was good to be back playing. "It's been a long Summer and a long time in between drinks from my last game so it was good to get out there with the boys again and pull the jersey on again," Sheppard said on 6PR's Sportsworld. "Probably a bit more nervous than I normally am leading into a JLT game, but it was good to get through injury free," he told Brad Hardie and Kim Hagdorn. Sheppard also shared his thoughts on the youngsters of the team and their efforts last night, including promising forward Oscar Allen who kicked three goals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Fremantle Best and Fairest, Lachie Neale has made the switch to Brisbane and says his best is yet to come. "I feel like my best is ahead of me, I haven't had a full pre season in about three or four years and I haven't missed a session this year so my body's feeling great. I'm feeling quite strong so hopefully my best footy's ahead of me. I'd like to think so and I definitely feel I've improved," Neale told Brad Hardie and Kim Hagdorn on Sportsworld. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nat Fyfe will have surgery on the injured bursa in his elbow that has plagued him since last year, but Fremantle say he will be ready to play in the pre season competition. The Fremantle captain has had the bursa drained a number of times and the club were debating for a while about what to do with the injury. "You don't make a decision to send someone off for surgery flippantly, but he got a knock on it a couple of weeks ago and it did swell up," Fremantle's General Manager of Football, Peter Bell, told 6PR's Sportsworld. "He said it was really painful and when Nat Fyfe says something's painful... he's the guy that played with a broken leg for a game a few weeks ago for a quarter or so and played really well so he's obviously got a really high pain threshold," Mr Bell said.But they are confident the recovery will be quick and Fyfe will be ready to play within days."I wouldn't think it would be getting into the weeks, I think he would be back into full training really, really quickly and then we'll just manage with how he comes through that whether he's JLT1 or JLT2 we're confident he'll be playing a major part in the pre season games," he told Brad Hardie and Kim Hagdorn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2018/19 season of the BBL was extended to 59 games, with the two Melbourne teams playing in the final mid February.But despite some fans and commentators saying the season is too long, Cricket Australia's head of BBL, Kim McConnie, says the extension is a sign of success and the longer season has worked well. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perth Glory boss Tony Sage was excited ahead of Perth Glory Women's heading to the W-League Grand Final and the Men's on the edge of being crowned Minor Premiers. But it was the sacking of Matilda's coach, Alen Stajic, that got him fired up. "My question has always been, why would you pay someone out if he's done something so terribly wrong? You just instantly dismiss him, you don't have to pay them out. "That's what was suspicious for me from Day One," Tony Sage told Brad Hardie and Kim Hagdorn on Saturday Morning. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh Kennedy and Jeremy McGovern are just a couple of West Coast players who've had to nurse injuries during the off season, but backline coach Daniel Pratt says the squad should be good to go ahead of season proper. "We've got a few guys who are working through minor surgeries or minor ailments who are looking on track at the moment to be able to play at some time during the JLT series, obviously Nic's (Naitanui) not going to play," Pratt told SportsWorld on Saturday morning. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perth Scorchers star Ashton Turner is getting some attention as a possible inclusion for the World Cup, but a shoulder injury is still plaguing his bowling.  Turner says he's excited about the prospect of being including in the squad. "You can't not think about it, I've had lots of people asking of late. It's such an exciting thing, a World Cup. I remember as a kid watching it on the TV and how excited I was as a fan.""I know that right now I'm not in that squad and I need to do something special to try and get my name in there and obviously I'm a little bit limited at the moment with what I can do with a shoulder that's been a bit of a pain for me," Turner told 6PR's Sportsworld. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Australian cricketer Greg Ritchie says the Aussie cricket team need to move on from some of the older players need to re-focus or move on. Ritchie analysed the team with Brad Hardie and Kim Hagdorn and thinks the pressure on Shaun Marsh for Test matches is too much."He's playing One Day cricket like it should be played, he's a very, very good player Shaun Marsh. As to why he can't do it in Test cricket, well, I have my own ideas on that. I think there's too much pressure from a whole bunch of sources," Richie says on Sportsworld. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The former Melbourne Storm and St Kilda CEO doesn't hold back on Sydney;'s choice to nomiate three captain for 2019. The boys talk about Jeff Kennet's latest comments and how the Gold Coast can get to the higher end of the AFL ladder. Brian also talks about the recent state of players leaving clubs and the "honour amongst thieves" rule he says no longer exists.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Fremantle went in to the AFL Draft without a list manager, but with a new General Manager, Peter Bell discussed the Dockers' decisions behind their picks.  "Sturt... is athletic potential, but he needs to put a bit of weight on. He's never done a pre season in football in his life, so it's going to be quite a shock coming in and doing an AFL pre season so we'll see what his body will tolerate," Bell said on 6PR's Sportsworld. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seven West Australian's were picked in the AFL Draft this year, one of the worst results for local talent in recent years. "There's probably a couple that I'm a bit disappointed that didn't get picked up," WA U18s Coach Peter Sumich told Sportsworld on 6PR. Sumich says he's a bit "dirty" that no one has taken a chance on Perth midfielder Sydney Stack. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the moment West Coast and Collingwood fans will remember for a long time to come... Dom sheed's goal that pushed the Eagles in front to win the 2018 AFL Premiership.Sheed reminisced about that goal and says there were many similarities between that Grand Final and the first West Coast Premiership back in 1992. "Peter Sumich kicking the goal from that same pocket to put us in front," Sheed says. The 23-year-old says life has changed since becoming a Premiership moment but he's looking forward to all the football that is yet to come.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Talk of a three-game series for the AFL Grand Final has flooded discussions this week after it was reported Adelaide coach Don Pyke urged the Coaches' Association to think about a series format. West Coast General Manager of Football, Craig Vozzo told 6PR: "It's worth thinking about for sure."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mitchell Marsh is playing for his future in the Australian cricket team and he's set to play a few more Shield games before he's back in the Test squad.   "Yeah, I'll be playing both of them. The more cricket I can play, hopefully there's more time in the middle I can spend, it'll be great," Marsh told 6PR's Sportsworld. Mark Taylor was the latest casualty of Cricket Australia this week after the report into the ball tampering scandal and Marsh says he wants the sport to get back to top spot. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't [affect me]," he said. "I think ultimately us as players and the fans and everyone involved just wants cricket to be back to the number one sport in Australia.... that drives us everyday to make sure we're trying to perform and win games of cricket for Australia."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.