The reigning Super Rugby AU champions received two pieces of bad news in the lead up to their blockbuster clash with NSW in Sydney on Friday night.

The number of people in hospital has also risen from two to five, but no one is in intensive care. 

In a late night court hearing, Mr Potter’s lawyer asked that his client’s suitability for being placed into protective custody be assessed after he was returned by police to Melbourne from far north Queensland.

Katherine Smith kicked a goal after the siren to deny St Kilda their first win of the AFL season in a frantic finish at Blacktown on Wednesday night.

After 27 years on the outer, the British broadcaster and former News of the World editor arrived in Australia aboard Lachlan Murdoch’s private jet.

The interim Australia coach has responded to claims he was part of a plot to oust Justin Langer.

While the Omicron wave is well past its peak, with the bulk of school restrictions to be eased next week, at least two schools have been forced back to at-home learning in recent days.

Sydney FC’s poor finishing has proven costly again after succumbing to a 1-0 loss to Western United.

Medicinal cannabis for players. A team in Tasmania. What the AFL must do next to fix defensive footy. Alastair Clarkson has been keeping busy since he left the Hawks.

While police were unable to charge a couple who flaunted their wealth without having a legitimate income, special powers granted to the CCC allowed $1.7 million of their assets to be seized.

Australians who seek surrogates in Ukraine have struggled to conceive for years. Now they face another nightmare as the country faces a Russian invasion.

Mr Elliott has spent the week under fire following Monday’s rail shutdown, which left thousands of commuters stranded and train services significantly reduced when they returned on Tuesday.

The odds of winning the lottery are unimaginably small. But that has not stopped millions of Australians from rushing out and buying a ticket and dreaming of how they will spend Thursday’s $120 million jackpot. Is it possible to increase your shot ...

Senator Claire Chandler says she is going into bat for community sport, but no national organisation heard from her in the lead up to her controversial bill.

For seven years John McLeod ran errands large and small for Ben Roberts-Smith. Until the last errand meant the men never spoke again.

Essendon are a team to watch in 2022 as they continue to expose their youth to game time in their quest to become a contender again.

The previous incarnation ended in the owner being arrested for selling drugs to undercover police but, after five years of renovations, the Railway Hotel will reopen next month.

Russia-Ukraine conflict intensifies as Putin moves troops across nation’s east; Sydney train shutdown fallout continues

Primary schools can’t wait to get rid of face masks, but have accepted them as a necessity, as the Chief Health Officer explained his recommendation to retain the mask mandate for children in grades 3 to 6.

Matthew Mott did not rule out a change but conceded it would “take a lot” to move him away from mentoring the national women’s team and into the men’s role.

The state has reported its slowest growth in school student numbers in 14 years, after many people moved away during the pandemic and border closures stopped international students arriving.

In an extraordinary development, Premier Daniel Andrews has accused the property sector of reneging on a deal to give them “massive windfall profits”.

Vladimir Putin’s move on Ukraine is causing concern in Sydney’s Russian community, who are worried about relatives overseas and strained conditions at home.

Western leaders, including Morrison, announced a first tranche of sanctions against Russia in the hopes of deterring Putin from going further.

Adam O’Brien has taken perhaps the biggest gamble of his coaching career on his star fullback, and Ponga is relishing the added responsibility.

For the first time, police have charged a man with “violent extremist ideology” with carrying out a terror attack in Australia.

Hugh Bowman and Kris Lees have teamed up again in the first heat of the Polytrack Provincial-Midway series.

Everything you need to know to pick a winner on an eight-race card.

Almost 230 abandoned facemasks were found by Phillip Island rangers in January, posing a threat to the island’s favourite inhabitants.

Sluggish wage growth may force the Reserve Bank to delay plans to start increasing official interest rates with new data revealing cost-of-living pressures growing for ordinary Australians as real wages fall.

One of the civil cases, involving a “most serious issue”, has been raised by LNP frontbencher Jarrod Bleijie in parliament but can’t be repeated due to court suppression orders.

In a lengthy note shared on social media on Tuesday, Phil Mickelson apologised for his “choice of words” in recently published comments and suggested he might take a break from competitive golf.

The mining giant has posted a record result on the back of surging commodity prices, with little disruption to production from COVID-19.

Nearly $5 billion in construction work is under a cloud after tradies stopped work at Probuild sites in Melbourne and Brisbane as uncertainty swirled around the firm’s future.

For the first time in the code’s history, independent doctors will have the authority to overrule club medicos in regard to a player’s health as the NRL steps up its concussion battle.

Australia joins in imposing sanctions on Russia. US and EU sanctions were earlier slapped on Russian banks, businesses, projects and “elites”.

The Court of Criminal Appeal quashed the 59-year-old’s conviction after a hearing was told there were defects when a judge summed up the case to the jury.

Australia’s Productivity Commission is examining the country’s ports system to see if it is holding back the economy.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched an investigation into the crash, which killed a 60-year-old Leongatha man.

Real wages are continuing to fall as inflation out-paces pay packets. It’s a problem for the economy, for voters and increasingly for Scott Morrison.

The fast food chain’s shares have slumped after “one-off factors” took a bite out of its December half profit.

Victoria’s energy market holds the key to Brookfield and Mike Cannon-Brookes’ $8 billion bid for AGL going ahead, says ACCC chairman Rod Sims.

The now 38-year-old, who allegedly molested the then 17-year-old on a flight in 2011, has been grilled in court over a recorded phone call between himself and the alleged victim.

New research by the UN has found climate change and land-use changes are likely to make wildfires even more frequent and intense.

Scalloped hammerheads were documented by a team of researchers conducting weekly drone surveys in waters south of Perth.

The former Australian Test cricketer allegedly embroiled himself in a domestic incident between male friend and a female publican.

The star midfielder has been ruled out of his club’s practice game against Hawthorn and is no certainty to return next week to take on GWS bin the Magpies’ only full dress rehearsal before the season proper.

FIFA has ruled drinks breaks are to be used only for games played in high temperatures and not for TV ads as APL, Ten scrap controversial move.

When someone advised him to “wipe” his phone, the court heard, Detective Leading Senior Constable Murray Gentner wrote: “If I wipe it then I look like I have done something wrong.”

The director turned to animation to tell this complex, emotional story.