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Sunshine Coast, Suburban rugby in partnership deal

The Sunshine Coast Rugby Union has partnered with Queensland Suburban Rugby Union to introduce a new format for the upcoming season.

Under the structure approved Wednesday night seven Brisbane suburban clubs will join with four Coast clubs to create a new competition.

“I guess its going to be a bit more of a versatile comp and you’re not used to playing the same team every week,” Noosa Dolphins centre Will Rogers said.

“It’d be good in that aspect not expecting what you’re going to come up against.”

The newly formatted season for A-grade and reserve grade clubs will kick off on Saturday March 24, with Brisbane and Sunshine Coast teams set to play each other once in each grade.

After round 11 the two associations will part ways and return to playing a further nine rounds within their respective competitions.

Points earned in the first 11 rounds will be accrued to the points tables in each local competition.

Teams to be involved are Caboolture, Caloundra, Goodna, Ipswich, Maroochydore, Noosa, Pine Rivers, Riverside, Springfield, University and Wynnum.

Sunshine Coast Rugby Union president Greg Marshall said the competition had been a long time coming.

“We have been working for some time to broaden the involvement of local teams in a wider competition framework,” he said.

“The culmination of this activity shows that grass roots rugby organisations can work successfully together to expand horizons and inject new excitement and interest in rugby without compromising their traditional competitions.”

Sunshine Coast clubs which only field reserve grade sides (Fraser Coast, Gympie, Maleny and Nambour) will be integrated into the local reserve grade competition at round 12.

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Breaking: John Holland ground to build Sunshine Coast Airport expansion

Construction firm John Holland Group will be the company to expand the Sunshine Coast Airport.

The company is also working on the new Maroochydore CBD.

This expansion, once completed, is expected to expand the Sunshine Coast economy by bringing in more tourism dollars according to Mayor Mark Jamison.

“My expectation is that contruction of the international airport would naximise local content, and maximise local jobs for Sunshine Coast residents,” the mayor said.

“The expanded airport will contributbe $4.1bn to the local economy over the period to 2040, and generate 2230 jobs for our community in that time.

“The Sunshine Coast is a magnificent part of the world and we are pleased to be part of the journey on this significant project for the future of the region,” John Holland Group Chief Executive Officer Joe Barr said.

“We already have an association with the region, having delivered the Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital a few years ago and with our involvement in the planned development of the Maroochydore CBD.”

Sunshine Coast Airport currently services commercial flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide.

It also has seasonal flights from Auckland.

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Uni preseason games announced

University will open their rugby season against Wynnum on March 10.

The following week they’ll play Caboolture in Caboolture.

The season proper is expected to begin March 24.

There is talk that the Sunshine Coast Rugby Union clubs will be joining Queensland Suburban Rugby Union competition.

A decision is expected to be made at the QSRU Annual General Meeting.

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What we’re covering in the coming months

Here’s what we’re planning to cover until September

February 10

Leongatha and District CA B Grade Div 1: MDU v Wonthaggi Workmens

February 17

Leongatha and District CA A Grade Div 2: MDU v Foster

February 25

Queensland Premier Grade Div 1: Sunshine Coast v Ipswich Logan

Sunshine Coast CA Div 2B: Maroochydore v Tewantin Noosa

Other grades might be done as well.

March 3

Sunshine Coast CA Div 2B: Maroochydore v Tewantin Noosa

Other grades might be done as well.

March 10 and 11

Sunshine Coast CA semi finals

March 17, 18 and 24

Sunshine Coast CA Grand Finals

April through September

Sunshine Coast Rugby Union A and Reserve grades. Dates to be confirmed.

We may also cover any of the AFL Gippsland leagues as well. We’ll confirm closer to the dates.

2018/19 Sunshine Coast CA Twenty20 to be confirmed.

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Manchester United announces extending Juan Mata’s contract

On Tuesday, English football club Manchester United announced Spanish midfielder Juan Mata has a one-year contract extension with the club. The club triggered the one-year-contract extension clause in Mata’s contract which would keep Mata tied with the club until 2019.

Speaking about the Spaniard, Manchester United’s manager José Mourinho said Mata is “[a]n important player for me; an important player for the club; an important player for the other players.” Juan Mata joined The Red Devils in 2014 on a four-and-half-year contract. Mata made the switch from London club Chelsea FC for then-club record transfer fee £37.1 million under David Moyes‘ management. Mourinho was Chelsea’s manager that time.

As of Tuesday, the Spaniard played 172 matches and scored 39 goals for Manchester United, and featured this season in 26 games in all competitions. In his tenure at the Old Trafford, he has won the FA Cup, EFL League Cup as well as the UEFA Europa League trophy.

The 29-year-old midfielder’s contract was previously set to expire at the end of the season. Manchester’s veteran midfielder Michael Carrick is set to retire at the end of the season. Earlier in January, United signed Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez from another London club Arsenal FC, on the expense of Armenian midfielder Henrick Mkhitaryan in the swap deal. Mourinho, who has been in-charge of Manchester United for one and half years, said they “need to get a player to compensate the situation” of Carrick’s retirement.

This article was originally publish on English language Wikinews on Thursday, February 1, 2018. It is therefore available under the Creative Commons Attribution 25 license.

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FFA e-League to be broadcast on Fox Sport and Twitch

Fox Sports is due to broadcast Football Federation Australia’s e-League starting February 15.

“Fox Sports have been supporters of football for many years, and we’ve been working very closely with them to bring the e-League to life,” said FFA’s Head of Commercial, Digital and Marketing, Luke Bould. “The e-League will connect an avid EA Sports FIFA 18 audience with the Hyundai A-League & Westfield W-League and is a first in the Australian sports industry.”

e-League content will also be streamed to Twitch.tv. Exactly what that content will be is unclear.

“We’re delighted to be able to take Australian football onto a new channel like Twitch, and we’re hoping to talk to new audiences around the world about the Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League, and the newly created e-League,” he said.