How to build an NRL team: Perth Bears hunt for hidden gems as PNG Chiefs splash cash | Angus Fontaine

The path to top-level Australian rugby league can take myriad forms. Clubs may win promotion from a second division (Cronulla and Penrith in 1967), command franchises with huge heartland support (Brisbane and Newcastle in 1988), get shoe-horned into an ill-fated rebel competition (Adelaide Rams and Hunter Mariners in 1997) or arrive fully formed to satiate a growing local demand (the Dolphins in 2023).The NRL’s 18th and 19th teams are taking different routes. The Perth Bears will enter in 2027 as a revamped foundation club (North Sydney) sent west to conquer an AFL territory. The PNG Chiefs land in 2028 as a $600m Trojan horse from Australian taxpayers to curb China’s influence in the South Pacific – a ploy Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape calls “a unification strategy deployed under the flag of rugby league”

Olly Stone shines for Notts, Surrey’s Sibley hits century: county cricket, day two – as it happened

Nottinghamshire’s Olly Stone, whose fragile body has broken with heartbreaking regularity, blew away Leicestershire in their East Midlands derby. His bowling, fierce and with chopstick-sharp accuracy, torpedoed stumps and tortured batters. Figures of five-for-41 were his best for Notts, a first five-wicket haul since 2019. Earlier, Ben Green had finished with seven for 112 as Notts’ innings ended on 490.At Taunton, Somerset’s innings subsided much as Yorkshire’s had

Naoya Inoue outshines Junto Nakatani in Tokyo showdown to keep super-bantamweight title

Naoya Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super-bantamweight championship with a close but uncontroversial 12-round unanimous decision over Junto Nakatani in their eagerly anticipated showdown at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.Before a sellout crowd of about 55,000 spectators during Japan’s Golden Week holiday, Inoue held off a fierce late surge from his unbeaten rival to win by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 and retain the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts at 122lb, extending his perfect record in what had been billed as the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history. (The Guardian had it 115-113 for Inoue.)The four-division world champion nicknamed the Monster had spoken during fight week about wanting to “prove that I’m still Naoya Inoue”, perhaps a nod to the whispers of his purported decline. But the 33-year-old showed why he remains one of the world’s best fighters regardless of weight – if not the outright pound-for-pound king – by getting the better of a taller, longer, younger challenger seen as his most dangerous opponent in years

Marta Kostyuk defeats Andreeva in Madrid to claim biggest title of career

Marta Kostyuk took an enormous step towards fulfilling her potential as the Ukrainian closed out an incredible week by winning the biggest title of her career at the Madrid Open, defeating Mirra Andreeva, of Russia, 6-3, 7-5. Although Kostyuk’s run through a WTA 1000 draw was unexpected, this did not come out of nowhere. Kostyuk won her second career WTA event in Rouen just before Madrid and has now put together an 11-match winning streak to rise to a career-high world ranking of 15.This result has been a long time coming. Now 23, she broke through as a 15-year-old, reaching the third round of the Australian Open as a qualifier

Lando Norris wins sprint race at F1 Miami Grand Prix as McLaren roar back

Lando Norris won the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix with a dominant drive for McLaren, beating his teammate, Oscar Piastri, to secure a one-two for the team and deny Mercedes a win for the first time this season.Charles Leclerc took a strong third for Ferrari, but Mercedes, dominant for the opening three meetings, could manage only fourth and sixth for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli respectively. Antonelli had finished fourth, but was given a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, a costly error for the championship leader. Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton seventh for Ferrari.Norris, the defending world champion, put in a calm, controlled drive to seal his first win this year in the 19-lap dash, something of a staid affair around the Hard Rock Stadium, but has potentially kickstarted McLaren’s championship ambitions

Leinster hold off late charge from Toulon to edge into Champions Cup final

They made a bit of a meal of it, but Leinster will march on Bilbao in a few weeks for their ninth Champions Cup final. Given that was where they last won this thing, in 2018, for the fourth time, they might consider the omen positive, but this semi-final, their 17th, was not a classic.Which is not to say it was boring. Leinster are not convincing this season, and one telltale sign of a team with a confidence issue is the offering up of hope to a seemingly defeated opponent. The hosts, enjoying a knockout tie at the Aviva for the umpteenth time, went 18 points clear when Caelan Doris scored their fourth with a little more than 10 minutes to play