Injury threatens Wallace dream

A groin injury looks set to cost Peter Wallace a fairytale return to the NSW side and hand Gold Coast hooker Nathan Peats a surprise place in the Blues squad for the opening game of the State of Origin series.
                                               

Wallace limped from the field during his side’s win over Newcastle yesterday and will undergo scans this morning. While Penrith officials remain optimistic, it appears Wallace is fighting a losing battle to prove his fitness in time for Origin I at Suncorp Stadium on May 31.

Wallace was understood to have the edge on Peats and incumbent Robbie Farah heading into the weekend but injury threatens to once again derail coach Laurie Daley’s master-plan to unseat the Maroons.

In the absence of Wallace, Daley has a straight decision between the past and the future. Farah is closer to the end than the beginning of an Origin career that has made him one of the state’s most capped hookers of all time and it is understood Peats is the more likely proposition given at the age of 26 he would represent a long-term investment.

Morris has come into contention following the injury to Manly’s Tom Trbojevic, although Daley could yet opt to shuffle his backline to accommodate Cronulla utility Jack Bird in the centres, a move that would mean a move to the wing for Josh Dugan.

While hooker is the most significant headache for Daley, it isn’t the only one given the form of several Blues candidates, most notably fullback James Tedesco and centre Jarryd Hayne.

Tedesco has been below par this season while Hayne — considered a certainty to make the team — was embarrassed by Manly and NSW centre Dylan Walker on Saturday night.

At the other end of the spectrum is the halfback position, where Mitchell Pearce continued his rich vein of form by guiding the Sydney Roosters to a win over Canterbury at ANZ Stadium yesterday.

Aboriginal doctor's dream

Fast forward six years to Dr Chapman-Burgess’ University of Newcastle (UON) graduation and she couldn’t contain her excitement, even if she tried. “I felt like it was Christmas last night before going to bed,” Dr Chapman-Burgess said. “To say I’m proud is an understatement. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I’d do it again if I had to. It’s my dream and all I’ve thought about for the past six years.”

Dr Chapman-Burgess, 24, is a member of Australia’s first set of Indigenous quintuplets and proudly wore an Aboriginal stole over her academic gown at the Faculty of Health and Medicine ceremony on Thursday.

Of the 113 medical students who graduated, six were Aboriginal. UON has produced half of the country’s Indigenous doctors.

“I’d never met an Aboriginal doctor before coming to Newcastle and believe I’m the first Indigenous doctor from [my hometown] Glen Innes,” she said. “I’m extremely passionate about Aboriginal health and would love to be a specialist in women’s health, obstetrics and gynaecology, and work in rural and remote communities. It’s a privilege and honour to work with Aboriginal people and I definitely have a different connection with Aboriginal patients. As soon as they’re aware I’m Aboriginal, the whole process changes. That’s why we need more Aboriginal doctors, to close the gap in health and life expectancy.”

Dr Chapman-Burgess was considering a career as a veterinarian before she stumbled upon an episode of television show Grey’s Anatomy when she was in year seven.

The “quiet achiever” studied for one year, took a year off to do casual work and then returned to the degree.

Nigel Seberry estimates he has spent $30,000 on equipment, design work and fees. The sum does not include a $14,000 bond he hopes to recoup now the project appears to have gone belly-up.

The site in question is 40e Point Street. Though the building is zoned for residential use, it has housed businesses in the past.

Mr Seberry who quit his job at Sydney Opera House to pursue the plans, says be was led to believe his application could succeed.

Nick Lima's rookie season is off to a dream start

Nick Lima loved to score goals. That's a trait shared by pretty much all soccer players but especially forwards, which is the position Lima played growing up. That love led him all the way to Pac-12 power California, but it didn't take his college coach long to see a different future for Lima – one that would be centered more around preventing goals than scoring them.
                                 

When Cal head coach Kevin Grimes told Lima he saw a future for him at right back, Lima wasn't sure the switch was a good idea. When he saw the possibilities, though, Lima jumped in with both feet and now, less than four years later, the change has helped him realize his dream of playing as a professional for his hometown San Jose Earthquakes.

"It was hard to grasp at first, but it only took a few days to understand why he did it," Lima told Goal of the position change that shifted the course of his destiny. "Kevin Grimes is a phenomenal coach and a smart guy and I was up for the challenge. It took a couple of months, but by the start of my sophomore year I had embraced it. Obviously the skill set, and getting comfortable with the position takes a while. I'm still learning. There's still stuff to learn every day, especially when you make the jump to the next level."

Lima's lengthy history in the Earthquakes academy didn't stop some MLS teams from disputing San Jose's homegrown claim in an attempt to have Lima made available in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Those disputes were ultimately tossed out, paving the way for San Jose to make Lima the second homegrown player signing in team history, joining Tommy Thompson.

So what has Lima enjoying such a smooth transition to the pros? Earthquakes technical director Chris Leitch, who signed Lima last fall, and who spent 10 seasons playing as a right back in MLS, sees a player with all the qualities to be an elite-level player at the position.

The dream of cashless India cannot manifest without adequate consumer education

The dreams of digital India are still far-fetched! Seeing the current state of affairs, the dream for a digitally literate India appears like one of the first-world problems. Changing age-old norms and behavioural patterns are going to take a lot of effort than demonetising currency notes. Indians are used to spending and saving in cash, for the simple reason of avoiding taxes and convenience.

Besides, keeping digital literacy aside, India’s literacy level cries for serious reforms, with almost one-third of the population still illiterate, unable to even sign, the same is a huge challenge. The same section cannot, hence, enjoy an access to a host of services necessary for digital India, including smartphones, mobile wallets, and online portals.

The network infrastructure at present in India continues to also be a deterrent. India ranks 91 on the Networked Readiness Index 2016, released by the World Economic Forum. While urban cities still have a relatively developed networking infrastructure, the situation is further worse in rural India. At present, the internet penetration in the households lies low at 15 percent. The demonetisation can only be a momentary steroid for cashless transactions, with the people falling back to their previous habit of cash transactions, given an absence of the proper infrastructure.
The government, of course, recognises these challenges. It had launched the Digital India initiative prior to the demonetisation drive. As a consequence, nearly 1oo crore Indians, including 93 percent adults today have access to Aadhaar cards. Furthermore, the Jan Dhan bank accounts launched by the Indian Government have today reached to 24 crore Indians, further spreading financial inclusion and offering Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT). Although the accounts remained inactive for the long part of the year, the same has been actively used ever since the demonetisation announcement.

To further support its demonetisation drive, the government set up a committee meant to facilitate complete conversion of the Government-Citizen transaction to digital platforms. The committee is further headed by Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog. The committee is meant to solve the crucial task of identifying digital payment systems and make the same more accessible and easy to use by users. Besides, in a bid to incentivise cashless transactions, the government further announced Lucky Grahak and Digi-Dhan Vyapari Yojana, allocating a budget of Rs 340 crore.

Kerber ready to live tennis dream in 2017

Everything, that is, except the world No.1 herself, she insists.
                 

Kerber admitted she used her off-season break to try to "believe" last year's meteoric rise.

The German late bloomer not only won the 2016 Australian and US grand slams, but ended Serena Williams' record-equalling 186 straight weeks as the world's top-ranked player.

At 28, Kerber became the oldest player to top the women's rankings.

Then came the big money endorsements.

It's enough to do anyone's head in.

But thanks to a little help from her friends, the German maintains the same old Kerber will kick off her 2017 campaign at this week's Brisbane International.

"I needed time to reflect and believe everything that had happened the last 12 months - so much changed," Kerber said in Brisbane.

"(But) I have a great team and family around me - they are still normal to me.

"They are treating me like I was before No.1 and when I lost a lot of matches.

"That's important - to stay like I am. I don't think I have changed too much."

Kerber will hope to produce her top form after returning to where it all began last year - Brisbane.

The German - then ranked No.10 - made the Brisbane International final before going one better at the Australian Open, upsetting Williams to claim her maiden grand slam.

Suddenly, Kerber has gone from the hunter to the hunted in 2017.

But, Kerber said her new-found success had helped her "live my dream".

Arroyo turns a nightmare into a dream

Club America had bad memories of Osaka, the city where they fell to China’s Guangzhou Evergrande in their opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 a year ago. When they returned there on Sunday to face Jeonbuk Hyundai in the second round of this year’s tournament, Las Águilas felt a familiar sense of dread while trailing to the South Koreans for more than half an hour.
               

Kim Bokyung’s 23rd-minute strike sent shivers down the spine of the America squad, as one of their substitutes later confirmed to FIFA.com: “We all felt it on the bench. We were asking ourselves how we were possibly going to score against a side that can play and defend really well and is physically very strong too.”

Score they did, though, and thanks in no small part to the sub in question, Ecuadorian forward Michael Arroyo, who came on at the start of the second half and had a big hand in the in-form Silvio Romero’s match-winning two-goal salvo.

The equaliser came when Arroyo clipped a pinpoint cross into the box for Romero to glance home, and the second when his corner kick found its way to the Argentinian striker, whose shot deflected of a Jeonbuk defender and into the back of the net.

It was no surprise to see the two link up to such great effect, as the 29-year-old Arroyo explained: “Whenever I’m on the pitch, I connect really well with him and Oribe (Peralta). We work well together and we’re all delighted he scored.”

Heaping praise on the whole team for America’s comeback, Arroyo added: “We had a very clear idea of what we wanted to achieve. We had a very positive mindset because that was the only way we could fulfil our dream of playing that game against Real Madrid. We had to come from behind, and we all did our bit to make it happen.”

Delighted to have helped the Mexican outfit achieve its objective, the Ecuadorian said: “We did it, thanks to God, and now we’re up against Real Madrid, which is what we were all dreaming of.”

Arroyo has two goals in mind when the two sides meet in Yokohama: to link up once more with Romero so that America can keep finding the back of the net and to swap shirts with Cristiano Ronaldo, one of his idols. Which of those two tasks will be easier for him to complete? All will be revealed this coming Thursday.