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 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.

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.

Rugby Australia is prepared to hold crisis talks with a group of disgruntled retired Wallabies captains, who have penned a letter to the governing body claiming the game has "lost its way", while demanding a change in leadership.

It's usually a glamorous event in front of a packed arena, but this year's NFL draft will be broadcast from nearly 200 locations to sports-starved fans.

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

Raelene Castle's position as Rugby Australia chief executive is not under review in the wake of the no-confidence letter issued by a group of former Wallabies captains, but the governing body can't guarantee it won't hold discussions down the track.

Raelene Castle says "the sport is bigger than any one individual", resigning after the Rugby Australia board told her it wanted "clear air" without her as chief executive.

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.

A smiling, happy Brydi Saul is on a mission to get to the Paralympics. But rewind three years, and it was a very different story.

The men's world number three has earned more than $37 million during his career, but he says he is not willing to contribute money to a planned relief program to help tennis professionals doing it tough during the coronavirus shutdown.

St Kilda's new cult hero Caitlin Greiser is one of 11 first-time selections in the 2020 AFLW All-Australian team after topping the league's goal-kicking chart.

The NRL is hoping to complete 20 rounds of its premiership season and hold the grand final on October 25, as it looks to rebound from the coronavirus crisis.

As tennis stars disagree over a proposed fighting fund for players during the coronavirus shutdown, it remains clear most lower-ranked professionals struggle to make ends meet plying their trade.

The cries of football fans demanding players return to the field under any circumstances have become shrill as the craving for lockdown distraction turns from stoical whimsy to rank desperation, writes Richard Hinds.

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.

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.

It is one of south-west Victoria's biggest money-spinning events, attracting thousands of partying racegoers — but the local economy came in last when this year's May Racing Carnival ran with no spectators.

This swimmer spent years battling endometriosis, an insidious enemy within her own body that consumed her with crippling pain. The fact that most coaches in women's sport are men also didn't help, she says.

The AFL will not implement a mandatory league-wide policy regarding the flu shot and will leave decisions on the vaccination up to players and club doctors.

The author has been everywhere, in life and fiction. "A Children's Bible" passionately fuses the two: "You've gotta be Chicken Little sooner or later."

"Little Eyes" puts the Argentinian surrealist alongside writers — Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison — whose horrors expose the rotten parts of ourselves.

Times critics Justin Chang and Glenn Whipp discuss Marvel's "The Avengers," winner of the #UltimateSummerMovie Showdown, Week 1.

L.A.'s train station is empty and "it's eerie," says the man who feeds the fish. But it's also "a real escape from what's going on in the outside world."

Southern California Best Sellers, May 10, 2020

In "Becoming Kim Jong Un," former CIA officer expands our understanding of North Korea's dangerous, precarious regime by taking its leader seriously

Amy Jo Burns' novel, "Shiner," illuminates an Appalachia whose men "pray for God to show Himself while our wives wash their husbands' underpants."

Television Academy reiterates a rule change made in March after Oscars relax rules amid pandemic.

When the "The Avengers" was released eight years ago, there was no guarantee it would be the huge hit it became and boost the Marvel franchise's fortunes.

In Netflix's "The Eddy," "La La Land" director Damien Chazelle returns to the musical — this one starring Andre Holland and Amandla Stenberg.

Nadiya Hussain, winner of "The Great British Baking Show," embraces canned food in her new Netflix series, "Nadiya's Time to Eat."

Bob Dylan will release 'Rough and Rowdy Ways,' his first collection of original material in eight years, on June 19. Listen to a new song, 'False Prophet.'

Jeff Barnaby's indigenous zombie movie 'Blood Quantum' drew on history for its horrors, but became eerily prescient amid the pandemic.

Is the "Æ" in the name X Æ A-12 pronounced "A-I" or "ash"? Depends on which parent (Elon Musk or Grimes) you ask.

In March, Hollywood unions applauded a government package to help entertainment gig workers. Flaws in the rollout meant many couldn't access it.

While featuring all sides of an issue is a hallmark of good journalism, many in the scientific community feel that the media should do a better job of separating facts from opinions.

Ease up or clamp down: Differences over ending coronavirus lockdown turn into power struggle

Images of corpses in Ecuador stoked fear of the coronavirus' effect on developing nations. Infections have yet to peak elsewhere in Latin America.

The governors of Colorado and New York outlined plans to ease pandemic restrictions but stressed they were moving with caution.

There is no clear favorite in the in the race among those who might take over in North Korea if Kim Jong Un dies.

Trump has lauded states that have eased restrictions. But as cases reached 1 million in the U.S., several governors extended restrictions.

Recent speculation about Kim Jong Un's health shows how the fate of North Korea is still seen as inextricably linked to that of one much-hyped individual.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the new coronavirus is "not manmade or genetically modified."

The Philippines is promising better pay for its nurses to lure them to the front lines against COVID-19, but a legacy of exploitation and poor working conditions in the nation's hospitals has dampened the enthusiasm to answer the call.

The search for existing drugs that may help treat coronavirus infections now has researchers testing the heartburn drug Pepcid, among others.

Coronavirus could kill 100,000, Trump says, weeks after predicting lower toll

A mutation in the novel coronavirus has led to a new strain viewed as more contagious than the virus that emerged from China, according to a new study.