'Limited window': Why is Cold Chisel the latest act to snub Canberra?

In a major blow to the city's events industry, Jimmy Barnes and his Cold Chisel crew joined a list of acts to bypass Canberra despite stopping almost everywhere else around the country.

Canberrans are getting used to being overlooked. Paul McCartney skipped Canberra on his tour last year, and Crowded House hasn't added the capital to their stop on an Australia-New Zealand trip.

It highlights the desperate need for the AIS Arena to come back online and a new stadium with a roof, or indoor 10,000 capacity pavilion in the city, to be built sooner rather than later. The stadium, however, is still 10 years away (let's not go down that path today) while a new indoor entertainment pavilion on the site of the Civic pool will cost $250 million and is projected to be open by 2030.

It's time to make it all happen to make the city attractive to artists - big and small. Matchbox 20 and the Goo Goo Dolls played in front of a sold-out crowd at Canberra Stadium earlier this year, so that's proof the interest is there if the mix is right.

No one expects Taylor Swift or Coldplay to come. But a city of Canberra's size should have a venue that would be an option for Cold Chisel because who doesn't like belting out some classics with Barnesy?

The spin off of this is that plenty of interested parties are nervously awaiting formal plans for the AIS Arena to reopen after it was shut indefinitely in 2020. It was supposed to be operational again this month after repairs to lighting, seating and the fire-safety system, but given we're not at the end of the month that won't be happening.

We checked and there still isn't a firm opening date, and the first event hasn't been locked in but there are several tentative bookings for when the Australian Sports Commission finalises its operations plan.

Did the arena uncertainty play a role in Cold Chisel not coming to Canberra this time? Maybe, because the city was a curious omission given the band has been well supported on previous trips to play at either the Royal Theatre or Stage 88.

But the capital's absence from touring lists has become common place given the arena has been closed (and when it's open its capacity is 4000-5000), the convention centre is regularly booked and outdoor events can be weather affected (remember Midnight Oil).

It doesn't make it any easier to swallow this: Cold Chisel are going to Armidale, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Wollongong, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Ballarat, Hobart and Adelaide in October and November. Is Canberra now that far down the pecking order?

We asked just to double check, and unfortunately Canberra didn't make "logistical sense" for another stop. We have heard, however, there have been some calls in recent days to see if that will change.

"The band wishes it was possible to play everywhere but they have a limited touring window and there aren't always suitable venues available on the dates that make logistical sense - particularly on a tour that involves building a 10,000 capacity tent in Australia's three largest cities," the band's manager told us.

In terms of the arena, everything is going according to plan despite the minor opening delay. The sports commission will oversee operations and bookings. The Canberra Capitals have lodged their requests for the 2024-25 WNBL season, but they are awaiting the season draw to finalise a move back to "The Palace".

The O'Connor Knights are enjoying an incredible run in the Canberra National Premier League, especially when you consider they have been without their head coach for the past three months.

There's plenty of mystery surrounding the absence of Miro Trninic, who helped the team into the grand final last season.

It's understood Trninic is the subject of a "member protection issue", which has now dragged on since the start of March. He is unable to coach until the matter has been finalised.

Details about the incident are a little sketchy, but it's believed there was some sort of altercation that led Capital Football to act and notify Football Australia.

Football Australia, however, isn't involved in the member protection investigation and any disciplinary action. That will all fall to Capital Football, which is unable to comment on the specifics given the matter remains unresolved.

"Capital Football takes member protection issues seriously," a spokesperson said.

"All investigations are run in alignment with Football Australia Complaints Procedure. As referenced in Section 7: how long will it take to deal with a complaint, there are no precise timeframes on resolving a complaint.

"In situations where more materials and information are presented for the investigator to consider, delays to the investigation process may occur."

The Knights are now unbeaten after 26 games, stretching back to this time last year. They did lose the grand final against Canberra Croatia, but because that game went to penalties it isn't officially recorded as a defeat.

It means the Knights have won more than 66 games in the past 12 months, and they will play in the Canberra final of the Australia Cup qualification process after a tense battle against Gungahlin last week.

Gungahlin finished that game with just eight players after three were given red cards, and coach Javier Roca was also sent off.

The Knights will play the Monaro Panthers in the Australia Cup qualifying final next weekend at Deakin Stadium.

Graham Annesley should know by now Canberra Raiders fans have long memories, which is why they weren't buying what he was selling when he claimed a penalty try was "perfectly fair" last week.

The whole referee and bunker bashing can get very tiresome in rugby league, especially when there are decisions that can go either way every week (we're not even going to raise the Josh Papali'i v Valentine Holmes hip-drop charges).

But the NRL doesn't do itself any favours when it tries to defend the indefensible, or at least come up with some sort of justification to suit the outcome.

In the end the Luke Keary penalty try was a blip on the radar given the Roosters beat the Raiders 44-16. And the fact Morgan Smithies did grab at Keary's arm made it difficult for the bunker to rule any other way.

"I think it's perfectly fair to say that the bunker has exercised their judgement ... if [Keary] had not been checked he would have scored the try," Annesley said.

"... You can't blame the match officials for arriving to decisions like this when they're only responding to the actions of players that have breached the rules."

The inconsistency comes when, as Raiders fans rightly pointed out, the bunker and Annesley had very different interpretations for a similar incident involving Sebastian Kris 10 months ago.

Kris was all but certain to score a try against the Warriors (a game which the Raiders lost in golden point), but he lost the ball when Dallin Watene-Zelezniak hit him high. The play was reviewed, and it was deemed Kris had lost the ball.

Annesley tried to explain that there was "obvious" high contact, but it wasn't hard enough (bizarre, right?) to warrant a penalty or penalty try.

"The real question here is what is the level of contact and what is the significance of that contact," Annesley said at the time.

The irony wasn't lost on Raiders fans.

"When Kris got hit in the face about to plant the ball down for a try last season, Annesley argued it was only a penalty and not a penalty try," one fan said. "Now he argues the complete opposite to this decision as to why it should have been a penalty try last weekend."

We launched the search last week for the club footy warrior who was brave enough to send his wiry frame into battle with Mal Meninga.

We haven't been able to track down Matt Cousins just yet, but we've got a few good leads thanks to keen fans.

Some claim to have played in the same game and that Big Mal scored four tries. Others dubbed Cousins "Tooth Pick" thanks to the way Meninga's thighs make his opponent look tiny. But we're yet to find Cousins. If you're out there, we want to hear from you.

Former ACT Comets, Weston Creek and Ginninderra star Mick Delaney has been poached by South Australia to further his coaching ambitions.

The South Australian Cricket Association unveiled Delaney as its new women's coach earlier this week, ending his ties with Cricket ACT after more than a decade as a player and coach.

Delaney - a talented fast bowler - has been working in the Cricket ACT talent pathways and coach development systems for the past five years.

Delaney moved to Adelaide this year to join the SACA's female pathway system, but will now be the women's team's head coach as well.

"This is an incredible opportunity and I can't wait to get started," Delaney said.

"With so many brilliant players and people both on and off the field, the SA women's team is ready to take the leap to the ultimate success and I know we have the right people in place to achieve those goals.

"There are certainly big shoes to fill, and I want to take this opportunity to thank Luke Williams for all his continued support and the amazing work he has done with this program. I am so excited to get preseason underway as we resume working towards our targets."