Simeone gives update on Atletico star Suarez's fitness ahead of Champions League clash with RB Salzburg

The Atleti boss was asked about the veteran striker ahead of Tuesday's Group A showdown with the Austrian side

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End Sars: Which footballers have backed Nigerian police brutality campaign?

Footballers have voiced their support for the End Sars campaign in which they call for the end of police brutality in Nigeria

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Hegazi in emotional farewell to West Bromwich Albion: I will miss you all

Following his move to the Saudi Pro League, the Egypt international said his goodbyes to the Premier League side via social media

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Double roster bomb ticking for Panthers

The Penrith Panthers are about to face a raft of tough decisions over their roster, rugby league great Peter Sterling says, as they try to retain the best talent from their dominant 2020 side.

The Panthers lost just two games all year, one of them being Sunday's grand final against Melbourne.

They remain almost intact for next season but have key players coming off contract on November 1, available to take bids from rival clubs for 2022 onwards.

Off-contract players include NSW State of Origin rookies Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton and Isaah Yeo, plus Matt Burton, Kurt Capewell, Mitch Kenny, Spencer Leniu, Josh Mansour, Brent Naden and Zane Tetevano.

Penrith have something of a salary cap double whammy: they face inevitable contract upgrades due to both a strong season and the rise of many young players. With another strong campaign expected next year, their cap pressure will only increase.

"They're in really good shape next year," Sterling told Wide World of Sports, reviewing the Panthers' season with Mat Thompson.

"They obviously lose a real leader in James Tamou, who's off to the Wests Tigers, but they've pretty much retained all those young players coming through.

"That will be the difficulty for them in the coming years, to keep everyone together, because they're going to appreciate in value, these young players.

"But the nucleus of the squad is really there. They've got a young spine. Dylan Edwards was outstanding, he'll have Charlie Staines putting pressure on him as well, so there's pressure coming up from outside the group.

"Luai and [Nathan] Cleary were fantastic. I don't know what's going to happen with Matt Burton but if he's there, he's going to continue to put pressure and Luai.

"And to me, Api Koroisau was the buy of the year and has still got plenty of football left in him, and Mitch Kenny is a great understudy as well. So they've got an excellent run-on 13, they've got a great bench, but they've also got players that are going to keep pressure on that 17.

"The difficulty is going to be keeping all those young players because if Matt Burton's not getting any footy, and he didn't get any this year ... I imagine he's frustrated by that and other clubs see the value in a Matt Burton. He'd be snapped up, there'd be six other clubs, like 'that', that would be interested in Matt Burton.

"He'll want to be a part of what's happening at Penrith but if you're not getting footy, all of a sudden pastures elsewhere can look a lot greener."

Burton, 20, looks a genuine star but was kept out of the side by Luai's excellent form. Luai will undoubtedly be a major priority for re-signing, having entirely justified his standing as Cleary's preferred halves partner. Burton would still be up against tough competition at Penrith if he converted to a ball-playing back-rower, given that Yeo, Viliame Kikau and Liam Martin were all superb this season.

The Dubbo product has been touted as a potential target for the Bulldogs, where 2020 Panthers assistant Trent Barrett has just started as head coach. Canterbury just signed Kyle Flanagan on a three-year deal, after the young halfback was released by the Roosters despite a decent season.

Fullback prospect Staines was also touted as a possible Bulldogs target but re-signed with Penrith during the season, following an incredible four-try debut on the wing. Right centre Naden may be second-guessing his standing at Penrith after being benched for both the preliminary and grand final matches.

The player who replaced Naden in the starting side for those games, utility Tyrone May, remains unsigned for next season but it expected to stay with the Panthers. Back-up fullback Caleb Aikens is also unsigned, while fiery prop Jack Hetherington has joined the Bulldogs on a two-year contract.

Mansour seems another obvious re-signing priority, as a loyal Panthers clubman who is coming off a big season. Along with fellow winger Brian To'o, Mansour offered Penrith exceptionally powerful starts to sets coming out of their own end.

The problem, though, it fitting all their stars under the salary cap and they may rely on some taking 'unders' on new contracts. The obvious incentive for players to stick with Penrith is the chance to compete for premierships for the foreseeable future, yet coach Ivan Cleary and Panthers officials will likely encounter plenty of cap headaches.

For now, Penrith are sifting through the wreckage of their grand final loss, in which they trailed the Storm 22-0 at half-time.

"They'll learn from that, they'll be smarting from that. I can tell you that they'll carry the loss forever, but they'll carry the hurt through into the pre-season and that will be a huge motivator going into next year," Sterling said.

"I have never been of the belief that you have to lose a grand final to win a grand final but in this instance, it's a major education for the Penrith Panthers. What they learnt out of this game will carry them. They've just got to put themselves in a position like this again.

"That's the disappointing thing: when you've been all good so year, you lose one game, you come into the grand final and you don't play your best football. The Melbourne Storm gave us what we expected from the Melbourne Storm. We didn't quite get what we were expecting and hoping for from the Penrith Panthers.

"It's all there. They just need to continue to work hard, learn from this experience, get better in all areas of the game.

"I think they did get flustered by the scoreboard to some degree. A lot of play-the-ball mistakes and in your haste to get back into the game, those are the kind of errors that occur, so you just need to be mentally tougher.

"They maintained their belief, they maintained their energy, they just got a little bit loose in trying to get back into the game. You have to go through that to learn from it."

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Why Dusty backflipped on stunning $22m play

Dustin Martin has elevated himself to arguably the greatest player of the modern era, but it could have been a far different picture had the Richmond superstar not reneged on a couple of multi-million dollar offers tabled to him in 2017.

The star midfielder etched his name into the annals of Aussie Rules on Saturday night after becoming the first player in history to claim a third Norm Smith medal as he carried the Tigers to a grand final comeback over the Cats.

It's been a meteoric rise for Martin since his breakout season in 2017. That year saw the Tiger set the competition alight as he claimed nearly every trophy under the sun.

Understandably, at the end of the season, a host of rival teams emerged eager to lure Martin away from Richmond when he entered the free agency market.

North Melbourne emerged with a stunning offer - but speaking on Tuesday, Martin's manager Ralph Carr revealed that the figure initially reported was well below what was actually tabled to his client.

A six-year, $9 million deal was reportedly offered by North Melbourne. Carr says that figure was actually $11 million — and Adelaide then matched the offer and came close to luring Martin away.

"It was $11 million over seven (years from North Melbourne)," Carr told SEN Breakfast.

"They (Crows) matched that offer. Mark Ricciuto came down to see me and they matched that offer. Then we took less than that to stay at Richmond, which I had to talk Dusty into.

"I gave him the equation of what we could make outside of football, which I thought was a lot better and I thought Richmond were a better club and better equipped to take him to where he wanted to go.

"The last game was against St Kilda (before re-signing) and he got a standing ovation and I think after that game we met for dinner, which we normally do, and he said, 'I think you're right about staying'.

"He got this huge standing ovation which was pretty amazing."

Crows club director Mark Ricciuto said the Crows were all-in on securing Martin's signature, having just lost Patrick Dangerfield at the time.

Ricciuto said the Crows made "probably the biggest offer the Adelaide Football Club has put to anyone".

"We had a genuine crack at him as a football club," Ricciuto said on Triple M.

"His manager Ralph Carr was sort of putting it out there and seeing who would have a bid at him and we decided we would have a crack.

"We'd just lost Paddy Dangerfield who had just gone back to Geelong so it was a bit of a like for like."

How different it all could have been had 'Dusty' not turned down two $11 million offers.

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Storm hero tipped for unlikely Blues promotion

Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen, not Clint Gutherson, has been tipped as the next man up as NSW Blues fullback if James Tedesco cannot overcome his knee injury.

Tedesco has been the obvious choice in the No.1 Blues jersey in recent years, but his injury woes has flung Clive Church Medallist Papenhuyzen and Dally M Medal runner-up Gutherson into the conversation for next Wednesday's Origin opener.

League legend Peter Sterling would be forgiven for having a soft spot for Parramatta's Gutherson, but between the two options, the Eels great says that the Melbourne fullback is the better choice, fresh off the Storm's grand final victory.

"I don't think he played his way into the NSW squad with that [NRL grand final] performance - I think he was already there," he said in Wide World of Sports' Sterlo's Wrap.

"He's in their best 17.

"I said eight weeks ago that he would come off the bench for NSW. If James Tedesco doesn't come out of that knee problem, I think he's straight in.

"It's a battle with Cint Gutherson, but I'd have him straight in because he's finished the season with such a flourish and in such a confident manner."

Sterling said the way Papenhuyzen had become one of the Storm's best players, and now a grand final-winning, Clive Churchill Medallist, is testament to how far he's come, especially this season.

"[At the Storm] he was in a battle for that fullback position with Scott Drinkwater and Jahrome Hughes but he's been magnificent. He was told early in his career that he was too small, but he's been fantastic. Billy Slater has had a fantastic influence on him," Sterling said.

"[His try in the NRL grand final] was probably the biggest play of the game because points early in the second half either way were going to be significant, and Melbourne got that and kicked further ahead.

"He was a worthy winner of the Clive Churchill Medal. I thought he was clearly the best player, and it's been a great season."

Sterling highlighted Papenhuyzen's determination to do all the little things - no matter how seemingly impossible - to help his team get ahead, as a major sign of his development.

"In a short period of time he's made a rapid improvement, and he's such a quality player," Sterling said.

Papenhuyzen's efforts to fly over the sideline and slap a penalty kick from Penrith back into the field of play at a crucial time of the game was just one example.

"He never gives up on the ball. These kind of things change momentum, they change games. He did it earlier in the year as well - same thing," Sterling said.

"I don't know whether he played volleyball as a kid but the way he spikes the ball back in both those occasions, they are huge moments in games. The ball is five metres over the sideline but he doesn't give up on it.

"They're big plays and he's come up with them consistently throughout the course of the year."

https://twitter.com/NRLonNine/status/1320310711294242818

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Jamie Carragher picks team he wants to win Premier League if Liverpool don't

Jamie Carragher has named his second preference for Premier League champions if his beloved Liverpool are unable to defend their title this season

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