Tag: Australia

Rams will play NFL’s first regular-season game ever in Australia in 2026

The Rams have been selected as the designated team for the NFL’s first regular-season game ever in Australia

The Los Angeles Rams will make NFL history in 2026 when they host the first regular-season game ever in Australia. The league announced Wednesday that the Rams will be the designated team for a game in Australia in 2026, making them the home team for that historic contest.

The game will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but the Rams’ opponent, as well as the date and time, will be announced at a later date.

This is part of a multi-year commitment by the NFL to play regular-season games in Melbourne thanks to a partnership with the Victorian State Government and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The Rams are slated to have nine home games in 2026, one of which will be played in Australia. As of now, their home opponents that year are as follows, with one of these teams facing the Rams in this historic international contest.

  • Seahawks
  • 49ers
  • Cardinals
  • Cowboys
  • Giants
  • Chiefs
  • Chargers
  • TBD NFC North opponent
  • TBD AFC East opponent

There was a report out of Melbourne that the Rams and Eagles will play in Australia in 2026, but Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said this week that the team won’t give up a home game to make that happen.

With the Rams being designated as the home team, it seems highly unlikely that they’ll face the Eagles in Melbourne two years from now.

Eagles owner pushes back on report of team hosting Rams in Australia in 2026

There’s a report that the Rams and Eagles will play in Australia in 2026, but owner Jeffrey Lurie isn’t so sure that’s happening

A report surfaced this week suggesting that the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles will play a game in Australia in 2026, according to the Herald Sun in Melbourne. The NFL hasn’t confirmed that to be the case and there are some hurdles to clear before any game is set.

For one, the Eagles are scheduled to be the home team in their meeting with the Rams in 2026, which team owner Jeffrey Lurie sees as an issue. On Monday, Lurie told reporters that the Eagles won’t give up a home game to play in Australia despite being a “natural team to play there.”

“We are a natural team to play there,” Lurie said, via CBS Sports. “If there’s an opportunity to be an away team there, we will embrace that.”

It’s possible the Eagles could still play in Australia as a road team, but it won’t be against the Rams in 2026. The way the schedule works, Philadelphia will be the home team, something that won’t change between now and then.

Perhaps the Eagles could face a different team that’s on its road schedule in 2026 instead of the Rams. Or maybe the Rams will host another opponent instead of the Eagles. But either way, it seems the Eagles are refusing to give up a home game to play in Australia two years from now.

Shark attack footage from shore stirring, but don’t be misled

Florida travel company shares footage of tiger shark predation effort as warning to Keys visitors. But shark was never near Florida.

Florida Keys Travel, for the second time recently, has shared footage showing a tiger shark chasing a turtle practically onto the sand. The latest Instagram post cautioned:

“Think again before you go knee-deep in the Florida Keys — you never know what might be lurking beneath the surface!”

In the footage, posted below, the shark nearly strands on the beach before retreating safely back into deeper water.

“Welcome to the keys,” one follower remarked.

While Floridians expressed gratitude for the warning, the post is misleading.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFLFhQKuRrn/

The footage was actually captured last January in Western Australia. I interviewed the photographer, Ruth Gaw, after seeing her Facebook post.

Gaw told me that the turtle escaped and that a large stingray also “got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”

She was observing from the beach at Monkey Mia, which is famous for its white sand and abundant marine life. Gaw spotted the shark approaching as her husband Derek and son Arran were fishing for mackerel.

Click here for the full story.

Watch: Hooked marlin sends boater’s phone, wallet flying

Footage shows the hooked marlin taking a swipe at the man’s chest, piercing his cellphone case instead.

A man hoping to “capture the moment” an angler landed his first marlin off Australia escaped seriously injury when the marlin leaped next to the boat and swiped at his chest with its bill.

However, the marlin pierced and flung the man’s cellphone case/wallet into the ocean, while the phone bounced onto the deck.

The extraordinary footage is shown below, courtesy of Sydney-based Black Pete Quality Tackle.

As explained in the description, Steve Wheeler was trying to document the final moments of a catch by James Thomas when the marlin suddenly changed direction and jumped near the boat.

Hooked marlin have seriously injured anglers, so Wheeler was fortunate to have suffered only a scrape.

Black Pete Quality Tackle explained: “Steve stood there with a torn, bloodstained shirt and a ‘[What] just happened’ expression. I checked on him, and although shaken, he was OK.

“When he lifted his shirt, we all braced for the worst, knowing how dangerous marlin bills can be. Thankfully, it was just a small scrape.”

The footage, edited to show the scene in slow motion, is being widely copied and shared. This is the original version.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEmeODjypIC/

Angler’s cap ‘says it all’ after shark swoops in on epic catch

Ryan Selvey was fighting what he described as a personal-best giant trevally when the tax collector came calling.

A fisherman based in Queensland, Australia, this week shared an image showing him posing with the head of a giant trevally after its body was cleanly severed by a shark during the fight.

“The hat says it all,” Ryan Selvy bemoaned via Instagram. “What would have been a [personal best] GT.”

The letters on the cap read, “Tax sucks.” (Click here to view Selvey’s post.)

For anglers around the world, a shark that steals hooked fish is referred to as the taxman, or tax collector.

Giant trevally are found throughout the Indian and central Pacific oceans, eastward to Hawaii, where they’re called ulua.

They’re prized mostly for their fighting ability and Selvey said the GT claimed by the shark would have been the largest he had caught (though well short of the world-record, 160-pound, 7-ounce giant trevally caught off Japan in 2006).

Selvey did not provide an estimated weight for the GT, but told FTW Outdoors that he was wearing the cap when the taxman came calling.

“One of my favorite hats,” he said.

Watch: Tiger shark hunts inches from beach in ‘on-your-toes’ moment

Footage showing tiger shark’s dramatic turtle hunt is shared by Florida travel company as a warning, but it was not captured off Florida.

Florida Keys Travel this week shared dramatic footage showing a tiger shark chasing a turtle to the beach as something to ponder the “next time you think about visiting the Florida Keys.”

The company added: “The wild beauty of the ocean always keeps you on your toes in paradise.”

While tiger sharks can be encountered off Florida, the footage was captured last January off Western Australia. Photographer Ruth Gaw told FTW Outdoors that the shark measured 8 feet and that the hunt was unsuccessful.

“The turtle got away, and the shark didn’t stay much longer,” Gaw said. “A large stingray also got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”

Click here to read the back story and view Gaw’s Facebook Reel. The Florida Keys Travel video is posted below.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DD0UPP1Orze/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA%3D%3D

Tiger sharks, which can measure to about 18 feet, are found in tropical and temperate waters around the world.

From the Florida Museum: “Tiger sharks are second only to the white shark in terms of the number of reported attacks on humans.

“Tiger sharks are often curious and unaggressive when encountered yet are one of the three species most commonly implicated in shark attacks and fatalities and should be treated with extreme caution and a great deal of respect.”

Promising Australian golfer issues update on lost vision in his left eye in freak accident: ‘All I can see is black’

The 20-year-old Australian golfer was struck in the eye and transported to a hospital.

Jeff Guan, a talented up-and-coming pro, has no vision in his left eye after a freak accident on a golf course in Australia in September.

Three holes into his round at a pro-am event at the New South Wales Open at Catalina Club in Batemans Bay, New South Wales, the 20-year-old Australian golfer was struck in the eye and transported to a hospital before being airlifted to an eye specialist in Canberra and later to a hospital in Sydney.

“Nothing. It’s just black. All I can see is black,” Guan told Australian Golf Digest in his first interview since the incident in September.

Guan also wrote a long post on his social media account. “I remember this: As my whole group teed off on the third tee, my playing partner and I (whom I shared the cart with) hit our drives on the right-hand side of the fairway.”

They drove off to their balls and Guan’s partner hit his second shot and then Guan did the same. He was struck by an errant shot as he was putting his club back in his bag.

“The instant ringing and pain rushed to my head, and I dropped to the ground,” he wrote.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBxikVMTlA2/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=a6659e19-4e1a-44e4-b34a-51cff27201f4

Guan has undergone several operations on his left eye and spent time in multiple hospitals, where some of the top vitreoretinal surgeons have tried to save his eye after the force of the blow fractured his eye socket and traumatized his eyeball. His recovery is expected to take between six months to a year. One promising sign: three weeks after the incident, his eye pressure decreased.

“Though this was the first piece of positive news, my doctors told me that my injury was severe,” he wrote. “During my nights in hospital, I almost drowned in thoughts about the injury and my future in the sport. Not only was I utterly distraught by the news I had received, but the whole situation made me very depressed and somewhat angry … The frustration is unbearable. Why did this happen? How in the world am I supposed to recover, return, and be the same player I was, or even better?”

Just a week earlier, Guan who won the 2022 AJGA Junior Players at TPC Sawgrass and represented Australia on the Junior Presidents Cup team the same year, made his PGA Tour debut at the Procore Championship in Napa, California, missing the cut.

Guan ended his post with some words of optimism. “As a kid, I have always had a lot of perseverance and persistence. I will continue to work hard and do my best to achieve my dream,” he said. “I will be back.”

You can show your support for Guan here: asf.org.au/projects/jeffr

Watch: Surfer discovers he’s not alone while dropping into wave

Footage shows Australia’s Wade Goodall sharing a wave with a dolphin and a wonderful symmetry occurs during their brief ride.

Australian surfer Wade Goodall is featured in a YouTube video showing that at nearly 38 years old and having suffered several major leg injuries, he’s still a phenomenal talent.

But what also stands out in the footage – and what’s being shared this week via social media – is a portion that begins at the 3-minute mark, when a dolphin positions itself directly below Woodall and rides the left-breaking wave in unison with Goodall.

Viewers can click here to watch the YouTube version. Below is the shorter Instagram version, courtesy of Surfline, along with the caption: “ ‘Thought you were going right!’ – Dolphin.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_8lTXgSwYj/

Viewers will note that Goodall spots the dolphin almost immediately after standing up and a wonderful symmetry occurs during their brief ride.

Surfline followers obviously enjoyed the clip and the top comment was well received: “We are so damn lucky this is our chosen culture.”

The footage is credited to Milo Inglis.

Baby koala, attacked by dog, reunites with mom in sweet video

The two koalas became separated during the attack but rescuers managed to locate mom as her “joey” was recovering at the Australia Zoo.

An Australia-based conservation group has shared footage showing a baby koala reuniting with mom after the “joey” was attacked by a dog and rushed to a wildlife hospital for treatment.

“Meet Squeak!” Wildlife Warriors exclaimed via Instagram, showing a closeup of the koala in a keeper’s arms. “This adorable little girl was attacked by a dog and her mum had no choice but to save herself. Thankfully, Squeak was raced to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital and is in the best hands possible!”

Wildlife Warriors, established Steve and Terri Irwin in 2002, also shared the accompanying footage, which shows the joey, with a bandaged arm, crawling lovingly on mom.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_jI8Ezh5WI/

“Good news alert!” the group stated. “Squeak’s mum was found, and brought to us at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. This is the adorable moment the two were reunited.

“They’ll both stay with us until little Squeak is well enough to be released!

Courtesy of Wildlife Warriors

Some on social media wondered how rescuers were sure they had found the baby koala’s actual mom.

Wildlife Warriors explained: “The rescue group was looking for the mother in the area following the dog attack. When they found this female matching the description, and it was confirmed she had an enlarged teat from feeding a joey, we knew it was Squeak’s mother!

The Australia Zoo is owned by Terri Irwin and operated by the Irwin family.

Saints waive Lou Hedley, making a big change at punter

The New Orleans Saints waived Lou Hedley, making a big change at punter. It looks like it’ll be Matthew Hayball punting this year but he isn’t out of the woods yet:

The New Orleans made a big change at punter and waived Lou Hedley, as first reported by NewOrleans.Football’s Mike Triplett. Obviously we’ll have to wait and make sure they don’t add someone else, but that suggests rookie punter Matthew Hayball won the job after a spirited competition throughout the summer. He’ll be the fourth punter for the Saints in five years after Hedley won the job from Blake Gillikin, who had replaced Thomas Morstead.

Hayball signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in the spring, having played college football at Vanderbilt. Like Hedley he hails from Australia but Hayball showed better hang time and distance on his kicks throughout training camp. When Hedley consistently came up short in the preseason games with too many line-drive punts and a poorly-timed touchback, it seemed to seal the deal.

Good luck to Hedley on his next opportunity. He was one of the better stories in the Saints locker room and he’ll land on his feet wherever he goes next. As for Hayball? We’ve seen the Saints dismiss all of their specialists and bring in someone new before if they weren’t getting the desired results. Maybe that repeats this time. Roster cuts will be finalized at 3 p.m. CT. on Tuesday but more movement is expected throughout the week.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]