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Malcolm Knox

Malcolm Knox

Malcolm Knox is a journalist, author and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.

The Dolphins are red-hot currently in the NRL.

Calls for a standalone Origin period get louder each year. Here’s the counterargument

Sure, there’s a good case for putting the NRL on hold during the interstate series. But the weekend’s action provided ammo for the other side of the debate.

  • Malcolm Knox

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The Socceroos will have quite the number of politicians cheering them on in-person at the World Cup.

Toot-toot: All aboard the Socceroos bandwagon, diehards and all

Among the “Australian values” on our citizenship test is that 25-plus million of us become Socceroos tragics for a couple of weeks every fourth year, and then magically transform back to normal indifference as the bandwagon empties.

  • Malcolm Knox
Tolutau Koula is tackled by Kalyn Ponga.

Kalyn Ponga has a shoulder charge problem. NSW will be hoping history repeats

The Queensland fullback has escaped suspension for two incidents recently. A third could cost Queensland the Origin series.

  • Malcolm Knox
Dionne

There are two things I’d never outsource to a robot: sex is one of them

When writers use AI to increase their efficiency, as if writing were an assembly line of mechanical functions, I feel sorry for them.

  • Malcolm Knox
Lachie Galvin was booed relentlessly by fans of his former club.

Tigers fans shouldn’t be booing Lachie Galvin. They should be cheering

Given the Tigers’ and Bulldogs’ trajectories since Galvin’s controversial mid-season switch in 2025, Tigers fans should be happy.

  • Malcolm Knox
Kalyn Ponga is sent off by referee Ashley Klein during State of Origin game one.

The old boys think rugby league rules shouldn’t apply to Origin. Are they right?

This is heresy to say out loud, but rugby league, even Origin, is only a game. How much does it matter that Queensland lost when they were the better team?

  • Malcolm Knox
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The Blues celebrate Origin I.

The Blues didn’t just have to beat Queensland. They had to beat themselves

They made numerous unforced errors, conceded costly penalties and butchered several tries. But NSW triumphed over the worst that NSW could throw at them.

  • Malcolm Knox
Jai Arrow

Arrow response showed the one value that truly unites rugby league’s dysfunctional family

While politics and hostility dominate the everyday news, the game has an underlying unity in the face of a real crisis – which was seen in the support for Jai Arrow.

  • Malcolm Knox
Graham Richardson, the Labor party room enforcer who Bill Hayden christened “the Minister for Kneecaps”.

A bit Richo! When Australia honours the ‘minister for kneecaps’, what does that say about us?

History’s “dark connectors” are ruthlessly discarded when they become a liability, but Graham Richardson managed to maintain his grip, even from the grave.

  • Malcolm Knox
Victor Radley

Daley’s new Blues have a rocks-or-diamonds feel. One player sums that up

Both Origin coaches have picked their squads with speed and mobility in mind, so at the very least the spectacle will have a fresh look this year.

  • Malcolm Knox