Tuesday, July 23

James Caughlin
McGregor Was First Choice... Honest

It’s not exactly a vote of confidence, hearing your employers were looking for literally anyone else to take your job before deciding you would do.

But that’s the situation Dragons coach Paul McGregor found himself in according to James Hooper, who revealed that before he received a two year extension in April, his St George Illawarra bosses looked at 14 other coaching options.

It’s piling on to an already frustrating situation with the Dragons losing nine of their last 11 games and languishing in 14th place, although such is the nature of the ladder, they are just two wins off eighth place.

One positive for McGregor though is that this extension should make him the longest serving coach in the history of the merged club… assuming he sees it through.

Bet now: NRL
Bye Bye Bale?

When your club is willing to let you leave for nothing just to get your contract off the books, chances are your agent did a pretty good job negotiating it for you.

Real Madrid are apparently so desperate to get rid of Gareth Bale that they are willing to release him from his contract having signed him for €100 million back in 2013.

Beijing Guoan is one of the interested clubs and is apparently offering around £1 million per week to the Welsh winger but will need to pick him up on a free transfer.

Other interested clubs (if you can believe transfer rumours at this time of year) include PSG, Liverpool, his former employers Tottenham although the funniest outcome would be for Arsenal to put in a bid for him… if they had anything resembling a transfer budget.

It’s fair to say that Bale’s time in Madrid was always going to end after Zinedine Zidane was re-hired earlier this year with the French legend not one of his biggest fans.

Either way, it’s not like his time with Real was all bad…

Bet now: La Liga
Horton Hears a Warning

This story just keeps getting better & better, after his podium protest yesterday, Aussie swimmer Mack Horton received an official warning from swimming’s governing body for his actions.

Make of that what you will but it certainly seems like his approach is earning some plaudits with reports of a standing ovation in the athlete’s village… although Sun Yang was probably not one of the ones congratulating him.

You can find some very creative insults if you search for Mack Horton on Twitter from some accounts that are definitely not Chinese state sanctioned and/or bots.

While Horton was busy preparing for his remaining events, Yang was off competing in the semis of the 200m freestyle where he was defeated by 21 year old Aussie Clyde Lewis with a final still yet to come.

The rivalry with Horton will continue in the 800m freestyle with the heats today and a possible final tomorrow.

Bottom line, it’s the most interested Australia has been in swimming since the Thorpie & Hackett days.

Bet now: Sports