MELBOURNE Heart has suffered a blow with assistant coach Ante Milicic joining the new west Sydney club.

JAMES O'Connor's hopes of making a surprise Super Rugby return for Melbourne against the ACT Brumbies have been dashed.

VIXENS shooter Karyn Howarth has praised the "extension ladder'' tactic used by Northern Mystics defender Anna Harrison.

QUEENSLAND coach Mal Meninga has put his players on alert. He knows how desperate NSW will be in the State of Origin opener.

THE fallout from Saturday's Flemington meeting continued, with a track manager in tears and stewards probing trainers' Twitter posts.