NEWS » ly for Froome, who jok

Brett Morris has been training at fullback for Canterbury as the Bulldogs plan for a possible finals match without Will Hopoate.Hopoates religious beliefs stop him from playing on Sundays.Unless Canterbury can secure a top-four berth they look likely to play on a Sunday during the first week of the NRL finals.Morris starred at fullback for the Bulldogs last year and is ready to move there from the wing again if he is needed.I have played a lot of football there, it is not an issue for me, Morris said on Monday.These days you train in a few positions. You are not just accustomed to playing one position.You have to feel comfortable in a range of positions, it is not something I am worried about.Canterbury play South Sydney in the NRLs final round on Friday night.If all the favourites win this weekend, the Bulldogs will be scheduled to meet Penrith in a sudden-death final in week one of the finals.That game has been played on Sunday for the past four seasons since the NRL altered its finals format.Hopoate sat out three Sunday matches earlier this season.I have no idea if he will play, Morris said.That is something that is between (coach Des Hasler) and Will and whatever decision is made, the players will support it 100 per cent.That is the great thing about Will, his faith. He is a humble guy and he is great to have around the club.It is out of our control. It is up to the NRL when we play in the finals and it is up to Des who he picks.The Bulldogs will likely be boosted by the return of outside back Sam Perrett from a neck injury.Perrett is a 50-50 chance to play against Souths but should definitely be fit for a return for the first week of the playoffs. Wholesale Shoes Nike . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Wholesale Shoes Adidas . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. https://www.wholesaleshoesforcheap.com/ . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Wholesale Shoes USA . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Wholesale Shoes Website . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. SAINT-GERVAIS-LES-BAINS, France -- If Chris Froome wins the Tour de France on Sunday, it wont have been an easy ride to the Champs Elysees.After a pile-up forced him to run up part of Mont Ventoux last week, the two-time champion escaped from another crash on Friday during a chaotic and spectacular penultimate Alpine stage held in stormy and wet weather.Two days before the ceremonial ride to Paris, rain played havoc at the Tour, causing many crashes and reshuffling places in the general classification. But Froome was lucky enough to escape with no serious injury, and even emerge with a bigger lead overall.A crash like that could have gone either way, and Im grateful that nothing is injured, Froome said. Never a quiet day on the Tour.Since he took his rivals by surprise with a daring downhill attack that earned him the race leaders yellow jersey on the eighth stage, media reports have portrayed Froome as the inevitable winner. Day after day, as his overall lead built up, Froome kept insisting that the Tour was not over.Fridays 19th stage proved him right.Froome, who won the Tour in 2013 and 2015 and crashed out of the 2014 race, hit the ground with former Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali in a descent, soon after Romain Bardet launched a decisive attack to post the first French victory at this years race.Froome did not panic, quickly borrowed a teammates bike and salvaged his torn yellow jersey after crossing the finish line 36 seconds behind Bardet. The Frenchman climbed to second place overall after Froomes previous closest rival, Bauke Mollema, crashed and never recovered.Froome increased his lead by 19 seconds, holding a lead of 4 minutes, 11 seconds over Bardet, with two-time runner-up Nairo Quintana of Colombia moving up to third, 4:27 back.Froome slipped on road paint as he crossed a white line and hit the ground just 13.5 kilometers (8 miles) from the finish of the nervy 146-kilometer (91-mile) ride to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc featuring four ascents.He was able to continue racing after swapping bikes with teammate Geraint Thomas.I think that I hit one of the white lines on the road and lost my front wheel, Froome said at the finish, his right knee heavily bandaged. Im okay, Im lucky that nothing is seriously injured.Froome was descending at a relatively cautious speed of almost 45 kph (28 mph) when he fell. With his jersey torn, blood dripping down his right leg, cuts and bruises on his back and blood on his right elbow, Froome understandably looked uncomfortable on Thomas bike.Despite the circumstances, Froome caught up with the group of favorites in the brutal final climb to Le Bettex with the help of teammate Wouter Poels.ddddddddddddFroome crossed the line grimacing in pain, then put his arm around Poels to thank him for the support.I just lost a bit of skin but today, Froome said. It was great for me to have teammates all the way up until the finish there, with Wout in particular and all the guys. It was a great team effort and it feels great to be one day closer to Paris.Mollema was one of the many riders who fell in the damp weather, with Daniel Navarro and Tom Dumoulin forced to abandon.Im not too badly injured, just a hip and elbow, said Mollema, who crashed at a roundabout as his hopes of finishing on the podium in Paris disappeared. The classification is gone. Im 10th now, but that was not the goal.Bardet was the days big winner after posting his second Tour stage win.I rode with my instinct. Im second overall, I won the stage, its beautiful, he said.Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez finished the stage in second place, in the same time as Alejandro Valverde, 23 seconds back. In the overall, Adam Yates dropped from third to fourth, nine seconds behind Quintana.The day had started quietly for Froome, who joked with Peter Sagan at the front of the pack after a group of 20 riders immediately jumped away from the peloton. The best-placed rider in the breakaway was Frenchman Pierre Rolland, who lagged 22:51 minutes behind Froome overall at the start, and Team Sky did not chase.But the ideal scenario changed dramatically when the weather turned wet. As rain started to fall, Michael Matthews was among the first escapees to be caught a few kilometers from the summit of the punishing Montee de Bisane, a 12-kilometer climb with an average gradient of eight percent.Rolland then moved away from his breakaway companions in the ski resort of Les Saisies, with former world champion Rui Costa following right on his wheel. But the Frenchman slid off the road on the descent and heavily hit the tarmac. With his jersey lacerated and covered with dirt, Rolland remounted his bike after consulting with the race doctor and finished the stage.Froome needs to negotiate one more tricky mountain stage on Saturday before the ceremonial ride to Paris.Tomorrow is going to be hard, its going to be really hard and Im sure that Im going to be a bit stiff after today, he said. Hopefully I can rely on my teammates and its just one last push.---AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report. ' ' '