Live: Whincup wins, rivals fail

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ONLY Craig Lowndes and a racetrack famous for ruining cars can stop Jamie Whincup from becoming a V8 legend today.

The Red Bull Racing star yesterday edged another step closer to V8 immortality by winning a brutal Sydney 500 that became a race of shattered dreams and broken hearts for Ford Performance Racing (FPR) and Mark Winterbottom.

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A violent punch up between Red Bull driver Lowndes and Winterbottom ended the Ford driver's championship bid, his garage full of tears when his car finally succumbed to the brutality that now has Whincup on the cusp of winning a record equaling 5th title.

The brutal Sydney street track quickly culled the four-way championship fight with FPR driver's Winterbottom's title hopecrushed by lap 15 when a heart-stopping collision with Lowndes wounded his car and made his mission impossible.

Whincup ensured the other Ford charge Davison was never in the fight and Lowndes somehow survived the "idiotic" battle with Winterbottom to make it a battle of the bulls today in a gripping conclusion to the closest season of V8's ever.

But this is an unfair fight.

VIDEO: Check out each contender's Road to the Title above!

Lowndes will step into the ring wearing 16 ounce gloves and fight against a man all bare knuckle and bones after Whincup flogged the field to win his first Sydney 500 race.

As panels flew and tempers flared, the record assaulting Holden driver floored his way to the finish line to win the race by four seconds, leaving the crushed dreams and bent bits in his rear view mirror.

"It was a good day," Whincup said.

"The team did an outstanding job and we kept away from all the trouble. We had great pace and we were able to use it."

Lowndes, and disaster, now the two only things that can stop him from joining Dick Johnson, Mark Skaife, and Ian Geoghegan as a championship legend with a record equaling 5th title.

It's not over, although it should be, because anything goes at Sydney Olympic Park as proved again yesterday with five cars flatten by the concrete canyon and more than half the field bruised out of the battle.

"There is more than a good chance of a DNF here," Whincup said.

"And Craig is still a great chance. This is far from over and there is a very big job to do. The championship is far from mine."

Winterbottom was shattered. He knows his collision with Lowndes has probably handed his fiercest rival a record breaking 5th championship.

He would not even speak afterwards, only offering a line or two to the broadcaster.

"Frustrating, disappointing, whatever you want to call it."

Tempers overflowed when Ford's hopes were flatten with FPR boss Tim Edwards firing off at Red Bull Racing Australia owner Roland Dane in another bitter war of words.

Dane was filthy with the treatment of Lowndes and let Edwards have it. Edwards fired back, but Dane had the last laugh with one if his drivers certain to win the championship.

Lowndes was also furious with Winterbottom but was adamant he could pull of a miracle and win the title.

"It is not over and I have tomorrow," Lowndes said.

"We had a terrible day but we survived . We have seen what can happen here and we are still standing. We had a good clean pass on Winterbottom and I got an afterburner."

Whincup now holds a 110-point lead in the title chase, with Lowndes the only man who can topple him.

Whincup can seal the crown with a 21st place finish tomorrow, even if his teammate wins the race.

Re-live all the action with our Live Blog below! Re-live the race exclusively in HD tonight at 9:30pm EDT on SPEED (Foxtel/Austar channel 512).

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Wanderers drop points to Heart

Youssouf Hersi of the Wanderers shoots for goal against Melbourne Heart. Source: Mark Nolan / Getty Images

Two points dropped for the Wanderers, who could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to the A-League strugglers Melbourne Heart.

Both goals came late in the first half, but Western Sydney dominated after the break and created more than enough chances to grab a win.

It was a frustrating return to Pirtek Stadium and coach Tony Popovic will be disappointed with the result.

Heart's goal in the 38th minute was against the run of play. David Williams sent the ball in from the left, but his cross evaded everyone and landed up in the back of the net, giving the visitors a shock lead.

It didn't take long for the Wanderers to respond, when Aaron Mooy's solo strike just before the break leveled things up.

Youssouf Hersi, a livewire down the right, had the best chance to put the Wanderers in front when he skipped past the Heart defence, only to drag his shot inches wide of the post.

Harry Kewell made his long awaited return with 20 minutes to play, but was kept off the ball as the Wanderers went all out in search of an elusive winner.

Mooy, who had an impressive game, was the architect of most of the home-side's chances in the final 10 minutes, but just couldn't find the finishing touch.

It was that kind of game for the Wanderers - so many opportunities left begging in the final third.

Aside from their goal, Heart offered little in attack. Still winless so far this season, they were desperate to hang on to a precious point in Parramatta. Popovic seems to have made Michael Beauchamp and Matthew Spiranovic interchangeable and this week opted for Spiranovic at the back.

Our Match Centre has video highlights, polls, stats and play-by-play updates.

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Bombers, AFL stalemate over Hird pay

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THE tense impasse between Essendon and the AFL continued with neither party budging over the James Hird pay row.

Hird, recently back from business studies in France after being banned from coaching in 2014 over the Bombers' supplements scandal, seemed a light year from the drama on Saturday as he ran with his son and dog.

But the ongoing feud between his club and the league over whether he is paid during his time out of the game continued its stalemate.

James Hird goes for an early-morning run with his son and the family dog. Picture: Jake Nowakowski Source: News Limited

An AFL spokesman confirmed there had been "no developments" since chief executive Andrew Demetriou stressed during the week that "he's not allowed to be paid".

But Essendon, which also offered no comment, is defying the league directive and has continued to pay the coach's $1 million salary during his ban.

It's also understood the Bombers are paying suspended football boss Danny Corcoran's salary while he serves a four-month ban over the scandal.

Essendon's stance is a direct challenge to Demetriou's authority, with the league having issued a "please explain" notice to the Bombers on Thursday.

The Herald Sun revealed this week that Hird had been presented with a series of inducements - including a guaranteed salary during his suspension - amid secret negotiations between Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie and Bombers chairman Paul Little.

This was four days before the AFL Commission was to rule on the sanctions.

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Gallen has ASADA on his mind

Paul Gallen says ASADA's doping investigation into the Sharks is constantly on his mind. Source: Michael Steele / Getty Images

STILL bubbling over the Kangaroos' rugby league World Cup win, forward Paul Gallen has revealed the successful campaign still didn't banish thoughts of the doping investigation into the NRL and his Cronulla club.

Gallen described 2013 as a roller-coaster year after he and several other players returned from England on Wednesday following their crushing 34-2 win over New Zealand in last weekend's final. Having endured season-long scrutiny at Cronulla over the Australian Sports Anti-doping Authority's investigation, another NSW Origin series loss and a finals campaign with Cronulla, Gallen reflected on a year of contrasts.

"It's been a real roller-coaster to be honest, I don't know how else to describe it," Gallen said.

Greg Inglis and Paul Gallen pose with the Rugby League World Cup at Sydney Airport. Source: Getty Images

"I've had ups and downs and highs and lows, but to finish the year as a world champion - that's great." His exuberance was tempered by questions about the ASADA investigation, which he declined to comment on.

However, the inspirational forward admitted the World Cup campaign didn't provide an escape from that issue.

"It doesn't make a difference, you can run away from things, but it's still there, isn't it?," Gallen said.

"It wasn't anything new to me, I've been going through it all year.

"I was glad to be over there and getting the win, that's all that matters." Holding aloft the trophy at Sydney Airport, Gallen had no qualms about the length of a season which almost extended into December. "I've just had the time of my life, so I'm not whingeing one bit," Gallen said.

He said he was nervous going into Saturday's final, but wasn't surprised by the easy win over New Zealand.

"We played ruthless rugby league for 80 minutes. We did that for the last four of five games that we played in," Gallen said. "When you work hard good things come your way and that's what happened to us.

"I think we brought our A game to the last few games." The Sharks skipper will box All Blacks forward Liam Messam on the Fight For Life promotion in Auckland on Saturday week and doesn't expect to resume league training until mid-January.

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Wallabies won't whinge about TRC draw

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WALLABIES coach Ewen McKenzie says there's no point making excuses for the toughest draw in The Rugby Championship, with the double-header opener against the All Blacks here to stay.

For the third year running, Australia will play the world champions back-to-back to kick-off the tournament and the Bledisloe Cup in August, and McKenzie says due to logistical reasons, the treacherous schedule is unlikely to change.

New Zealand have been crowned undefeated champions two years running in The Rugby Championship, and on both occasions have steamrolled the Wallabies' campaign within a week.

For South Africa or Argentina to win the four-nation tournament, they too would have to beat the All Blacks. But for Australia there's no chance to build momentum before taking on the world's premier team in Sydney and then Auckland.

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Adding to the challenge is the fact the Wallabies haven't held the Bledisloe Cup since 2002 and haven't won at Eden Park since 1986.

However, after winning four from five on the spring tour, and with Tests against France next June, McKenzie says the Wallabies will be in the best shape yet to finally break their hoodoo.

"We have a lot more time to get organised with the June Tests against France so we should be able to go into that pretty well set up," McKenzie told AAP.

"We're definitely making progress in the right direction so that's good looking forward to the championship next year.

"It's not daunting, it's a really good challenge for us.

"We didn't get it right (this year) but each time we played New Zealand we closed the gap so we'll look forward to that.

"I don't think there's too many ways you can run the draw. It's what it is and we've just got to get out there and make the most of it."

McKenzie says he got what he wanted out of the spring tour, despite losing to England first up and standing down six players for a mid-week drinking session.

The Wallabies showed they could bounce back from adversity by putting four wins back-to-back and McKenzie said the challenge now would be to pick up from where they left off in 2014.

It's likely McKenzie will have Kurtley Beale, David Pocock, Wycliff Palu and Scott Higginbotham all back from injury - with the Super Rugby season to start in February.

"We've done a lot of changing. It's taken eight or nine games to get it right," he said.

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Campbell Brown's knockout blow

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CAMPBELL Brown has apologised for the drunken punch that ended his 205-game AFL career but has been cleared of king-hitting teammate Steven May and is expected to be paid out 75 per cent of his salary for 2014.

The Suns announced they had reached an agreement with Brown to part ways after he broke May's jaw in a drunken stoush outside West Hollywood nightclub Bootsy Bellows.

Brown expressed genuine remorse at the incident and said he had no complaints about the investigation led by CEO Travis Auld or the recommendation from chairman John Witheriff and director Bob East that his three-year career with the Suns be ended.

"I'm really disappointed, it is not the way any player wants to finish their career," he said.

"But I think the process was thorough and very fair, I have been more than happy with the way the process has happened.

"I am obviously really disappointed with the way it has finished-up but I take full responsibility for my actions on the night.

"Actions have consequences and clearly they have helped finish my career early."

The Suns believe the fight occurred when May tried to re-enter the nightclub to take a photo of pop princess Rihanna and was restrained by Hawthorn premiership player Josh Gibson.

May and Gibson began arguing and Brown intervened.

It is understood May was heavily intoxicated, vomiting and confused about what had happened to him on his return to the hotel. When informed of the events by teammates, he became irate and waited in the lobby for Brown's return.

CAMPBELL BROWN'S CAREER RAP SHEET

It is alleged he attempted to retaliate when Brown returned. Suns CEO Travis Auld refused to divulge any details of the fight or the events before or after but stressed it was not an unprovoked attack by Brown.

"It is important that the investigation did not provide any evidence that there was a king-hit that took place," he said.

"That is very important for both this football club and for Campbell to put on the record."

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Campbell Brown arrives at Gold Coast headquarters. Source: Getty Images

May will escape an official sanction over his behaviour on the night but is expected to be chastised and given a warning.

"Steven and Campbell have both spoken and apologised to each other for the roles they played in the incident," Auld said.

"There was certainly two people involved.

"We will have a conversation with Steven when he returns to the club about the role he did play in this and how he may avoid those situations in the future."

The pair sat alongside each other on the flight home from the US and were able to patch-up their differences.

Brown described the incident as regrettable.

"Steven and I are friends, I have checked-in with him to see how he is going pre and post-surgery and we will continue to be friends," he said.

"It was a spur of the moment mistake, if I could go back and change it I would but you can't do that in life."

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