TWIW: Aussie Rules has a home in London and is looking to grow Photograph: Provided by North London Lions. This week I watched Australian Rules Football. As I walked around the pitch at the Oliver Tambo Recreation Ground on Saturday, it might have been easy to…

This week I watched Aussie Rules. Australians may seem as if they are taking over London, but they have been playing sport in the capital for almost four decades.

The North London Lions have built a special community and play a sport that is a joy to watch.
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Cheers Rob....he was very keen to control everything!

Thanks Safraz. I've enjoyed so much of your writing over the years

Thanks Feargal....that means a lot, coming from you! We will keep trying

‘I’m not the boss’: Lando Norris is articulate, open and intelligent – when he’s allowed to be F1’s latest world champion speaks with deep candour about overcoming his insecurities but questions about Max Verstappen and regulations? Off limits

I interviewed Lando Norris and the world champion was open, honest and articulate. And then his management stepped in to police and muzzle him in an attempt to "control the narrative."

From then on it did not go too well....this is what happened.

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Nicky Henderson on Constitution Hill and the yips: ‘The best jumper you’ll ever see and he lost it’ The venerated trainer could not find a guru in the world to cure one of the greatest hurdlers in history but a surprise switch to the Flat promises a career swansong

I interviewed Nicky Henderson about the extraordinary story of Constitution Hill, the wonder horse who forgot how to jump. Constitution Hill continues his comeback on the flat and, after two stunning races without jumps, the great old boy is flying again...

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Fury only wants Joshua but after 10 years of wrangling will superfight ever happen? ‘It’s either him or I’m out,’ Fury said of his British heavyweight rival after outclassing Arslanbek Makhmudov

Late last night Tyson Fury threatened to eat a thousand Easter eggs if Anthony Joshua doesn't take a fight which has been hyped, delayed, postponed, cancelled and hyped again more times than many of us care to remember.  Boxing? Yep, as surreal as ever...

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Tyson Fury’s latest return unlikely to save heavyweight era reaching its end Arslanbek Makhmudov shouldn’t be much of a test but Gypsy King and his battered old rivals are fading away

A preview of Fury v Makhmudov.

Fury’s last dance might have a few laps to run but it could be more of a farewell tour for a great fighter who, without boxing, still can’t fill the gaping hole left inside him.

It also feels like the looming end of an era...

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‘Mum, I have to go to Moscow as I am fighting a bear’: Makhmudov on Russia’s grizzlies, God and Tyson Fury The heavyweight from Dagestan now lives in Canada and describes Saturday’s opponent as the ‘professor’ of boxing

I interviewed Arslanbek Makhmudov as he looked ahead to fighting Tyson Fury, whom he calls "the professor." He also spoke about Dagestan, moving to Canada, dealing with defeat and why he found it so "terrible" to fight a bear...

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Lauren Price: ‘I want to win as much money as I can, build a legacy for boxing in Wales and get out safe’ The IBF and WBC welterweight champion on returning to the ring, boxing politics and her imminent wedding

Thanks Lauren Price for explaining that boxing is never simple or easy. A year on from a brilliant performance against Natasha Jonas she finally fights again on Saturday. We spoke about boxing politics, her wedding & her hopes of facing the great Claressa Shields

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I'm glad you can feel my pain, Mike! And agreed about Chisora.

‘Boxing is a dirty business, like politics, bro’: Derek Chisora on Nigel Farage, brain damage and burgers The great old warhorse of British boxing, who faces his 50th and final bout on Saturday, talks to Donald McRae about retirement, Deontay Wilder and his friendship with the Reform leader

I interviewed Derek Chisora and we spoke about his 50th and last fight against Deontay Wilder, the dangers of boxing, brain damage, buying burgers after his fights, racism and Reform and his friendship with Nigel Farage who then briefly, bizarrely, joined us...

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TWIW: Sweaty palms, weak knees and heavy arms at the Squash This week I watched squash. The hot, humid air in the Wimbledon Club enveloped me when I stepped out of the cold, windy night and through the sliding doors of the small building in SW19. The back o…

This week I watched squash. I saw one of the openings rounds of the Optasia Squash Championships, which reaches its conclusion today.

The screech of trainers and the knockings of the rubber ball whizzing around the glass walls have echoed in my head all week.
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‘I’m not a superhero. I’m just a boxer’: Moses Itauma on racism, identity and living on £7 a week | Donald McRae Britain’s heavyweight prospect puts his unbeaten record on the line against Jermaine Franklin in Manchester on Saturday

Moses Itauma doesn't like interviews but he gave one to me. He's a potentially great heavyweight and he's got a real story...Slovakia, Nigeria, Chatham, identity, racism, poverty, fragility, sparring world champions as a 15-year-old and avoiding nicknames

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The paperback of The Last Bell: Life, Death & Boxing has just been published. Thanks to @amandakelley.bsky.social for the brilliant cover painting and to Simon & Schuster for publishing the book. Here's how it looks

Nelson, Rice, Dowman: Maybe, finally, this is the moment Standing on the Clock End at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday evening I turned to my Dad, put my head on his shoulder and told him that I was exhausted. We had suffered through an agonising 96 mi…

I was at the Emirates for that Reiss Nelson goal and for those Declan Rice free-kicks – special moments that ultimately led to nothing.

I was there again on Saturday when Max Dowman scored another magic goal, but maybe this time it is different. #AFC
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Thanks Nige. Hope you're well

Justin Fashanu, Tony Powell and Robbie Rogers belong to a ridiculously small group of professional footballers who have had the courage to come out. Tony, who is 78 now, has little hope they will be joined soon by a Premier League footballer because he believes so little has changed...

It's thirteen years since Robbie Rogers & I did his first interview about him being a gay footballer and so it felt fitting we should now talk to Tony Powell together. Robbie has just produced a remarkable new documentary - The Last Guest at the Holloway Motel - about Tony's previously hidden life

‘I just wanted to be who I am’: the extraordinary story of Tony Powell, the secretly gay footballer Former Norwich defender lived for years in an LA motel, cut ties with his family for more than three decades and is now the subject of a documentary

Tony Powell was a secretly gay footballer for Norwich City in the 1970s. He was team-mates with Justin Fashanu, the first English footballer to come out, but Tony had to abandon his family for 35 years. I interviewed Tony & Robbie Rogers about his incredible story
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‘I just wanted to be who I am’: the extraordinary story of Tony Powell, the secretly gay footballer Former Norwich defender lived for years in an LA motel, cut ties with his family for more than three decades and is now the subject of a documentary

The extraordinary story of Tony Powell. By @donmcrae.bsky.social

Champion jockey Sean Bowen: ‘I’ve never gone to Cheltenham with good chances. I’m hoping this year will be different’ The UK’s outstanding jumps rider is winless at the festival but tells Donald McRae this could be his year, and explains the challenge of riding so many winners

Thanks Sean Bowen, the champion jockey, for talking so openly about his hopes for the Cheltenham Festival, past disappointments, why he loves winning so much and yet remains relaxed, his similarities and differences to AP McCoy and being allergic to horses

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Jennifer Shahade: ‘There’s a long and embedded history of abuse in chess’ The former US women’s champion Jennifer Shahade changed her life and her sport when she made allegations against a grandmaster. Now, she tells Donald McRae, she has turned her hand to writing and poke...

Thanks to Jennifer Shahade, the former US chess champion, for her powerful story about how life has changed since her allegations of sexual assault...in a brave decision which allowed so many other women to share their stories about abuse and prejudice in chess.

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‘We have to take bold decisions’: Williams chief James Vowles on 2026 hopes and F1 title dreams James Vowles, the Williams team principal, tells Donald McRae about pre-season travails, why McLaren are an inspiration and closing the gap to the top

James Vowles is one of the most interesting men in F1 and I really enjoyed interviewing him about his work as team principal of Williams, how he got into the sport, overcoming adversity, winning multiple world titles and his challenges and hopes in a new season

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TWIW: Hurling transforms Ruislip into Irish hub This week I watched hurling. There was not an awful lot going on around South Ruislip Underground when I stepped out of the station third from last on the Central Line. With just a scattering of co…

This week I watched hurling. South Ruislip was transformed as Westmeath travelled to take on London.

Other sports have seen money and fame warp its sense of purpose, lost in a greedy pursuit of revenues. Hurling makes a nice change.
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It's almost 20 years since I took my son
@jackimmcrae.bsky.social to see his first Arsenal game. He has just rewatched it and written about it as the familiar old nervy Arsenal tremors are endured again before today's #NLD. But so much has changed since 2006 and Wenger's 10th anniversary...

Keith Wood: ‘After a Lions series, every player that went on tour is wrecked’ The former Ireland hooker tells Donald McRae about his rugby family, why Andy Farrell’s side need to rebuild and the physical toll of touring with the Lions

Keith Wood was special, again, as we spoke about life, death, sons and fathers, the Six Nations and the lessons of the last thirty years and more...

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TWIW: Ten years on from Kaepernick, the Superbowl cannot hide Trump’s ugly America Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem sparked widespread political debate. Photograph: Heute.at Creative Commons. This week I watched American Football. Except, the 60th…

This week I watched American Football. It is almost a decade since Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the US national anthem and his words still ring true.

With the FIFA World Cup around the corner, Superbowl LX gave a glimpse into what could happen.
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Referee Hollie Davidson: ‘The stuff shouted from the sidelines was ridiculous – all the classics’ The 33-year-old Scot has overcome misogyny and abuse and, she tells Donald McRae, is proud of becoming the first woman to take charge of a men’s Six Nations match

I was really impressed by Hollie Davidson when we met in Edinburgh. This week she makes history by becoming the first woman to referee a Six Nations game and she reflected with powerful honesty about the kind of abuse she has had to overcome to reach this point

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Team GB slider Matt Weston: ‘I don’t ever stand at the top aiming for anything less than gold’ Matt Weston tells Donald McRae how he has rebuilt from crushing disappointment in the skeleton four years ago to become Britain’s best hope for Winter Olympic gold at Milano Cortina

Thanks Matt Weston for talking about being the favourite to win the skeleton at the Winter Olympics next week. Matt also spoke about what it's like to race down a thick sheet of ice on a high-tech version of a sled at 90mph – headfirst and with no brakes...

www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...