Richmond’s Mabior Chol on what prompted him to dye his hair
Why this Tiger is providing the wow factor, how the Giants are getting creative in a bid to keep ‘Cogs’ and which under-pressure AFL coach has friends in high places?
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Tiger Mabior Chol has revealed his teammates had pushed him to add a dash of wow factor — the streak of peroxide in his hair.
“Everyone is saying Richmond or Collingwood (colours inspired it) but I don’t know. The boys were asking me, ‘When are you going to dye your hair’. And I said ‘Maybe one day”. And pre-season came and I did it.
“My mum was happy with it and the boys were, too, so I think I will keep rocking with it for the rest of the year. There was no inspiration. I am just loving dyeing my hair and having a bit of swagger with it, so that’s about it.”
WHEELS IN MOTION TO KEEP COGS
The Giants are getting creative to help keep Stephen Coniglio.
After Giants midfielder Jacob Hopper offered free agent Coniglio haircuts for life from his mum if he stayed with the club, co-captain Phil Davis has thrown his own pledge into the mix.
“Dee Hopper does great haircuts, except for Jacob’s because Jacob asks for shocking haircuts, but what am I offering Stephen?” Davis told SEN Mornings.
“I’ll probably offer not to bag Stephen’s soccer ability in public anymore if he decides to stay.
“He really, really rates himself (at soccer), but unfortunately the ambition doesn’t match the ability.”
Coniglio remains out of contract and a hot property, with multiple Victorian clubs as well as West Coast linked to wanting to prise him out of New South Wales.
TENNIS COVERAGE LOST IN ASHES
Ash Barty got her Wimbledon campaign off to a winning start with a 6-4 6-2 victory over world No. 43 Zheng Saisai but most of Australia missed it due to the Seven Network’s coverage.
As Seven showed the tennis on Seven Two and not their main channel, a decision was made to show the battle between Aussie men Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson for most of the time Barty was on court instead of the newly crowned world No. 1. As a decision it was not popular.
Several critics lashed out at the broadcaster on social media for their decision to show the entertaining and volatile showdown in large chunks and hardly any of the Barty match, while True Stories aired on their main network.
Told about the situation after her match, Barty was asked if broadcasters should make sure everyone gets a fair run, particularly with respect to women’s tennis.
“How do you want me to answer that one? If people can watch my matches, great, if they can’t, they can’t. That’s up to the broadcaster, that’s not up to me,” she said.
Fox Sports and streaming service Kayo showed both matches as part of its Wimbledon coverage. As Fox Sports and Kayo have multiple channels on offer, viewers have the choice of which match to watch.
BREAKTHROUGH COACH BITES THE DUST
Axed Nunawading coach Paul Beven says he has been left gutted by the club’s decision to sack him mid-season.
Beven was at the helm of the Lions for the majority of their 62 consecutive losses before a breakthrough victory in Round 1 this year, Toby Prime reports.
He guided the club during some of its most difficult periods, which included several triple-figure beltings and winless seasons.
Many credit him for helping keep Nunawading’s doors open when it was in financial trouble.
But Beven was informed last week the club would be parting ways with him.
“You have a plan in place for where you want to end up and even towards the end of this year, you have an idea of where you want the club to be … wins, losses and where we needed to be by the end of the year to go, ‘right, we’re on the right track’,” Beven said.
“Now it’s been cut short … it feels like a bit of a waste the last couple of years because we actually haven’t been able to finish that journey.”
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