A dual-code sporting club has been launched in Lake Macquarie and it will have a brand-new $20 million facility to call home.
Watagan Rangers, a community AFL and cricket club based in Watagan Park, Cooranbong, was officially launched on Wednesday.
Expressions of interest have been opened for the club's committee and construction is underway on the $20 million multi-sports facility, which will be delivered by Johnson Property Group as part of a developer contribution to the Watagan Park estate.
Positioned near Watagan Park Central shops, it will feature a full sports oval, multi-purpose building, a dog park, skate park and cycleways.
On Wednesday, Sydney Sixers players ran a cricket and AFL activation at Watagan Park Central to spread the word and both sports will be delivering programs in the area to generate interest.
The club's first AFL season will be next year with cricket to follow for 2027-28.
Watagan Rangers is being marketed as, "built on two codes, one set of colours, and a whole lot of local pride".
Broadcaster WIN has already made the decision to abandon on-the-ground weekend sports coverage since taking over NBN News, and now you could be hearing even less of their local reporters.
Sports presenter Adam Murray was recently told he could no longer go on air with ABC Newcastle.
Murray had a weekly 15-minute segment on Paul Culliver's breakfast show.
It was a voluntary gig he did in his own time, chatting all things Hunter sport.
But WIN has suddenly pulled him off air.
Other reporters, including those from the Newcastle Herald, have at times appeared on ABC Newcastle for similar commitments.
But it appears NBN employees will now be restricted in what they can do.
It comes after WIN ditched Saturday and Sunday news bulletins. Reporters now work Monday to Friday.
WIN was approached for comment.
Simon Orchard is making a hockey comeback.
Well, off the field anyway.
The former Kookaburras representative - a two-time World Cup winner, two-time Commonwealth Games champion and two-time Olympian - was this week announced as Hockey Australia's new National Pathway Coach.
Alongside Marcelle Keet, the pair will help develop the next generation of talent by working with athletes aged 16 to 21.
"My goal isn't just to develop world-class junior athletes, it's to develop future Kookaburras capable of winning Olympic gold on home soil in Brisbane 2032," Hunter-product Orchard, who recently turned 40, told HA media.
"Despite hockey's storied history, the Kookaburras have won one Olympic gold medal and one Junior World Cup since 1997. Those results remind us of what's possible but should also fuel our ambition to achieve more.
"I will judge the success of the pathways program not by Junior World Cup results alone, but by how many players go on to become medal-winning Kookaburras."
Central Newcastle Water Polo products were in the thick of World Cup action in Sydney recently.
Alexie Lambert, aged 23 and supported poolside by mum Elaine, helped the Stingers claim a bronze medal by defeating Russia 12-9 in the play-off.
Sharks captain Nathan Power, 33 and now a dad to baby Sebastian, was named the tournament's best defender as the Aussie men finished fourth.
Billy Coffey reckons it was like being hit by a rhino.
The Newcastle strength and conditioning coach was referring to being tackled by Los Angeles Rams defensive end Myles Garrett.
Coffey, a powerful outside-back in Hunter rugby, posted a video to Instagram this week showing the hit.
Coffey, holding a tackling pad, was swatted into a crash mat by Garrett and stayed down on his haunches after declaring the hit has "winded me".
"I've been hit by some of the hardest hitters on earth," Coffey posted.
"Myles Garrett is different.
"It honestly felt like being hit by a rhino."
It begs the question ... Why?
Is there something in the water up Maitland way?
Five players, including two sets of sisters, from the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle have been representing NSW All Schools at the School Sport Australia AFL Championship in Melbourne this week.
Sisters Isabella and Scarlett Crouch and Leura and Phoenix Russell, all from St Joseph's Lochinvar, plus Sophie Miller, of All Saints College, Maitland, combined to make up one-fifth of the NSW All Schools 14-years-and-under girls' team.
They all earned selection after helping NSW Combined Catholic Colleges (NSWCCC) win the state all schools title.
To top that effort off, they finished runners-up to Vic Navy on the national stage on Friday.
Garry Youngberry was a familiar face in Newcastle, previously the weatherman for NBN Television.
These days he's doing the same thing, but up north.
So what's this got to do with sport? Good question.
Youngberry's daughter Bella is starting to make a name for herself in the horse racing world.
She's just become the first female jockey to claim both the overall and apprentice premierships in the same Gold Coast season.
Youngberry rode 34 winners at the Gold Coast track across 2025-2026, while also saluting a further 15.5 times elsewhere in Queensland to see her top the state's apprentice tally.
Local talent led the way as the NSW Petanque Gender Triples Tournament rolled into Newcastle last weekend.
Newcastle Petanque Club hosted one of the strongest fields assembled this year. Twenty teams comprising 60 competitors from across NSW and ACT competed for the state titles at Nesca Park last Sunday.
Newcastle's Bronson Romani, Kierran Clarke and Logan Romani combined to win the men's championship.
The women'scChampionship winners were Sharleen Boudan, secretary of Newcastle Petanque Club, Meredith Clark (NSW) and Ariadne Ernest (NSW).
