A WAD of fake $50 notes has been splashed across southern Tasmania with police receiving 20 separate reports of the counterfeit currency.

The AFL and NRL will both play matches this weekend, but both leagues are taking different approaches to dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.

The game of footy is almost a different sport on the Northern Territory's Tiwi Islands — a place where former AFL star Austin Wonaeamirri says Aussie Rules is a way of life.

It is not just the major national sports leagues and events being stalled by coronavirus, with everyone from semi-professional all the way to junior athletes across the country caught up in the storm.

With a lack of clear instruction from above, the local competitions and clubs have taken matters into their own hands.

The long-term future of the Stawell Gift is secure, but businesses could be forced to close after this year's event was put on hold.

Titta Secombe says it's time the origins of Australian Rules football — which she says involved Indigenous mobs playing for pride with a possum-skin ball — are properly recognised.

The impact of coronavirus is not just being felt in the NRL, as community and junior rugby league clubs struggle to stay afloat because of the current health crisis.

Racing is hoping to buck the trend of sports shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic, even if a jockey tests positive.

This autumn, for the first time since World War II, footy fields across Victoria will be empty on Saturdays, which could spell the end for some struggling regional clubs.

The transformative nature of bodybuilding is particularly appealing to those already going through a transition period: middle-aged women.

The world is shutting down but the AFL and NRL are among the very small handful of sports carrying on. The risks are real, writes David Mark, but their presence should be treasured for now.

What started as a feeling of tempered excitement as the weekend began, finished with a hollow acceptance that the world had changed, and Australian sport was not immune, writes Quentin Hull.

It was welcomed by athletes around the world, but the decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until 2021 was easy in comparison to what comes next, writes Tracey Holmes.

Neither of the major football codes seem likely to emerge from the coronavirus outlook unscathed and nor do the free-to-air television networks that broadcast their matches.

AFL players have been accused of being greedy and selfish during talks with the league over pay cuts now that the season is suspended, but the Cats coach says it is unfair.

From today, new masks and protective boxes are being shipped out to Australian medical staff to help protect them while treating coronavirus patients — and they're coming from an unlikely source.

With sporting competitions almost entirely shut down, fans who want to follow the Premier League can still do it — the Belarus Premier League, that is.

With the collapse of its traditional broadcast revenue streams, Australian sport is being urged to get creative as it looks to remain viable in the future.

While the focus is on the suspended AFL season, the coronavirus outbreak is also having a big impact on state-based leagues like the SANFL and the WAFL.

English Premier League players are coming under fire for not taking a pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic, but the players association argues cutting player salaries could do more harm than good.

The sporting fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues, with The Open cancelled and golf's three other majors rearranged.

While UFC president Dana White isn't saying where it is, he says "infrastructure is being built right now" on an island that will host UFC fights amid the coronavirus outbreak.

As professional sporting bodies such as the AFL and NRL sweat on the financial cost of coronavirus, the impact on suburban and regional clubs at the amateur level should not be ignored, writes Richard Hinds.

Five sisters make up a quarter of their tiny town's under-16s Aussie Rules team. They can't compete right now, but they are all determined to break into the professional ranks one day.

The winner of 16 grands prix and a four-time world championship runner-up, Sir Stirling is widely regarded as the greatest Formula 1 driver never to win a title.

Experts urge AFL and NRL clubs not to underestimate the potential effects of isolation on players, as the rugby league players' union calls for their mental health to be prioritised during the coronavirus shutdown.

The blare of the footy siren on Friday nights brings a thrill at the end of the working week for AFL fans. But many supporters and players alike are struggling in its absence and finding there's no cure for the Friday night footy blues.

Nestled deep in the rugby league heartland of central Queensland, the Yeppoon Swans A-grade side is hot on the heels of a 44-year-old Australian record for the most consecutive wins in Aussie Rules.

When he went surfing with his old school buddy Nat Fyfe in Margaret River last week, Kookaburras co-captain Aran Zalewski had no idea he'd be thrust into the media spotlight — and it has made him appreciate his anonymity.

Women's sport, like most things, will look different post COVID-19 — but that isn't necessarily a negative, writes Kim Encel.

Gillon McLachlan and Peter V'landys may be in charge of two rival football codes, but it would be wise for them to work together to make sure both their games get back on the field this year, writes Richard Hinds.

One of the AFL's rising stars wants the league to ignore calls to raise the minimum draft age from 18, as he worries young players may "lose their way" if it is changed.

After a concerted effort from #NBATwitter to bump up the release date of the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance, the first two episodes hit Netflix ahead of time on Monday night and we're already hooked.

NRL clubs will be able to resume training from May 4 as the competition charges towards its planned restart three weeks later.

Queensland health authorities will consider giving the state's NRL teams the nod to bypass coronavirus restrictions and resume training as the code prepares to restart the season on May 28.

While the latest coronavirus update from the Prime Minister and Chief Medical Officer looked promising for ways we can start to shift back to normal life, they say it's still too early to start lifting baseline restrictions.

The Bundesliga could be the first top-flight football competition in the world to return from an enforced break due to coronavirus, and may become a test case for how other leagues approach a return to normality.

Perth Wildcats star Bryce Cotton has walked out on the final year of his contract with the club, citing unforeseen circumstances, after the NBL announced big pay cuts in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The reigning champions of the Women's World Cup have the equal pay elements of their multiple-claims lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation tossed out by a federal judge.

Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin says he did his best "Bradbury" to avoid the carnage and win the virtual IndyCar race at Indianapolis.

Victoria Police suspends an officer over an "unlawful and criminal" privacy breach after images were released of former North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley in custody inside a police station.

The consensus across football and netball clubs in the west and north-west of Victoria is the season should only start if fans are allowed to attend games.

With many families getting priced out of junior football, one club in Perth is waiving fees, and it could signal a new direction for grassroots sport in Australia, writes Samantha Lewis.

South Sydney and the NRL breathe a sigh of relief as three Rabbitohs players — including Latrell Mitchell, fresh from being fined for breaching social distancing on a camping trip — return negative results to coronavirus tests.

The NRL powerhouse's move to base in Albury are thrown into doubt with the local council voting to oppose the use of its facilities. But the club says it will continue with its plans after securing the use of the Albury Tigers' home ground.

A Victoria Police senior constable from the southern metropolitan area is suspended over the unauthorised leak of photos of former AFL coach Dean Laidley in custody on the weekend. The officer is the second to be suspended over the incident.

The livewire forward feels guilty about how AFL great Adam Goodes was driven out of the game, which is why he wants young Indigenous Australian players to call out racism.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says NRL players like the Gold Coast's Bryce Cartwright who refuse to be vaccinated ahead of the May 28 restart should be banned from competing.

With coronavirus putting a pause on the AFL season, Melbourne's Marty Hore and Collingwood's Flynn Appleby return to their family dairy farms.