'Mad Monday' is a term used in Australia to refer to the traditional end-of-season celebrations for professional (and sometimes amateur) players of various codes of football. [1] [2] [3] Football matches are typically played on weekends; therefore, as the season nears its end with teams being eliminated, by Sunday night all results have been determined and teams will then know if they are to continue in the finals or if their season is over. [4] Over the years, Mad Monday celebrations have been the catalyst for image-damaging incidents for professional footballers. [5] This has led to calls for the tradition to be banned. [6] [7]
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the Herald is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and claims to be the most widely read masthead in the country. The newspaper is published in compact print form from Monday to Saturday as The Sydney Morning Herald and on Sunday as its sister newspaper, The Sun-Herald and digitally as an online site and app, seven days a week. It is considered a newspaper of record for Australia. The print edition of The Sydney Morning Herald is available for purchase from many retail outlets throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, most parts of regional New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland.
Allan Jeffrey "Alfie" Langer AM is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national team, the Queensland Maroons and the Brisbane Broncos.
The Clive Churchill Medal is the award given to the player judged to be man-of-the-match in the National Rugby League's annual Grand Final. The award was created to honour Clive Churchill, one of the greatest rugby league players in Australian history, following his death in 1985. A prestigious honour in the NRL, the medal's recipient is chosen by the selectors of the Australian national team and announced and awarded at the post-grand final ceremony.
Rugby league in Australia has been one of Australia's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2022, it was the most watched sport on Australian television with an aggregate audience of 137.3 million viewers. The premier club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, four teams from Queensland, and one team each from Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The premier representative competition is the annual Rugby league State of Origin featuring two sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons is often referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry", it is one of Australia's premier sporting events, attracting huge interest and television audiences.
Wendell Jermaine Sailor is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international.
Kevin Vincent Muscat is an Australian former association football player and the current manager of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port. As a player, he played as a defender, and represented the Australia national team at international level winning 46 caps and scoring 10 goals between 1994 and 2006.
Shane Webcke is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who spent his entire club career playing for the Brisbane Broncos. Webcke represented Queensland in the State of Origin 21 times and also captained the side. He made 26 test appearances for Australia. His position was prop forward and at his peak he was renowned as the best front rower in the world. Alongside Glenn Lazarus and Arthur Beetson, Webcke is considered by many to have been one of the finest post-war front-rowers to play the game.
Gregory Paul Inglis, also known by the nickname of "G.I.", is a retired Indigenous Australian professional rugby league footballer, who regularly played as a centre, fullback, five-eighth and wing.
Joel Monaghan is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative centre or winger, he previously played in the NRL for the Canberra Raiders and the Sydney Roosters.
Jarryd Lee Hayne is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Fijian descent. He briefly moved to the US to play the running back position for San Francisco 49ers in the 2015 NFL season. In 2016 he represented Fiji 7s in rugby union sevens.
Paul Bernard Gibson, is an Australian former politician and former rugby league footballer. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and represented the electorates of Blacktown between 1999 and 2011 and the electorate of Londonderry from 1988 to 1999, for the Labor Party.
The Jersey Flegg Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales, Australia, contested among teams made up of players aged 21 or under. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), and is named for Eastern Suburbs foundation player and prominent administrator of the game, Harry "Jersey" Flegg.
Jason Nightingale is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a winger and fullback for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL.
Mark Victor Arbib is an Australian former Labor Party politician and trade unionist, who was an Australian Senator for New South Wales from 2008 to 2012.
Sandor Earl is a former New Zealand Māori international rugby league footballer who played on the wing for the Sydney Roosters, Penrith Panthers, Canberra Raiders and the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL). He was banned for four years for a doping violation in 2013.
A leadership spill for the Liberal Party of Australia was held on 1 December 2009. The incumbent leader Malcolm Turnbull was defeated by Tony Abbott on the second ballot; Joe Hockey also stood as a candidate. Abbott thus replaced Turnbull as Leader of the Opposition, and would lead the party to the 2010 federal election.
Peter Betham is a professional rugby union player for the Provence in the ProD2. He was a representative player for Australia in international rugby matches. His usual position is wing or fullback.
The Matty Johns Show was an Australian variety television show largely focused on the National Rugby League (NRL) competition, starring former professional rugby league footballer Matthew "Matty" Johns. It first aired in 2010 on Thursdays at 7.30 pm in New South Wales and Queensland, on the Seven Network. The show usually ran for 1 hour. It was produced by Matty Johns and John Singleton.
The year 2005 in rugby league football centered on Australasia's 2005 NRL season and Super League X.
Nine News Sydney is the local news bulletin for the Nine Network station in Sydney, airing across New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory each night.