ONE of Sutherland Shire's great runners, Jonathan Blake, has taken out another ultra-marathon event the Sri Chinmoy 24 hour race in Brisbane this week. After 14 hours he had completed 158 kilometres of the university athletics track, and, despite an injury, the father of three young boys went on to tally 224.22km in 24 hours. Close friend Stuart Cole excelled by finishing eighth with 172.03km, and the race for the minors got down to a sprint with Meredith Quinlan (201.46km) pipping Ron Schwebel by just .22km for second!

Wily Wayne

IT won't please coach Wayne Bennett that the Dragons are the premiership favourites at $4.50, just ahead of the Bulldogs ($5) on TAB Sportsbet. He would rather that his team not have the burden of being the favourites.

Wallabies break

THE Australian Wallabies get a break in their busy schedule after their weekend 22-6 win over France extended to four their unbeaten run in June. Their next test is against the All Blacks at the dreaded Eden Park Auckland, Saturday fortnight, July 18.

Cricket

ST George all-rounder Phillip Wells has been rewarded with a NSW Cricket rookie contract. Wells, who scored 654 runs at 34.42 and took 30 wickets at 19.63 for premiers St George, is joined by team-mates Moises Henriques and new recruit Josh Hazlewood on the state contracted list. Sutherland's Phil Jaques and Steven Smith have also secured NSW contracts.

Origin gaze

WHILE a near capacity 80,000 watched State of Origin II at ANZ Stadium last week, the big game was watched by more than three million viewers. This is the highest-ever television audience for a game two Origin match. While the series may have been decided by Queensland's 24-14 win over NSW, game three in Brisbane is sold out.

Academy winners

SUTHERLAND Sharks Football Club's general manager George Hurley said youth squad players Daniel Crisante (U16s) and Patrick Savor (U18s) had won a scholarship to the UK championship club, Ipswich Town. They will spend four weeks training and playing with the Ipswich Academy 18s youth squad.