League Notes: NRL Appoints New Jeweller To Create Championship Rings

For the first time in almost two decades, the National Rugby League "has engaged a new jeweller, Affinity Diamonds, to create the rings given to premiership-winning players." The NRL "will provide the winning team with 20 rings," estimated to be worth about A$10,000 ($7,000) each, although clubs can purchase extras. Zed 'N' Zed jewellers "has been crafting the rings for the NRL since 1997, but the contract was passed on to Sam Rahme and his team at Affinity Diamonds after they won a rigorous tendering process" (SMH, 9/27). ... Australian Football League CEO Gillon McLachlan has condemned the behavior of a man who allegedly "punched a woman in the crowd during Hawthorn’s defeat of Fremantle in Perth" on Friday. Footage of the assault "went viral on social media, with police charging a 24-year-old man from Joondanna on three counts" (AAP, 9/26).