ENGIE Stadium will play host to Saturday’s
Round 1 AFL game between GWS Giants and
Hawthorn Hawks. The game kicks off at 4:15 pm with Hawthorn Hawks heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the GWS Giants vs.
Hawthorn Hawks
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Saturday March 7, 2026 at 4:15 pm

Where: ENGIE Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

GWS Giants vs Hawthorn Hawks Odds

GWS Giants vs Hawthorn Hawks Preview

In a rematch of last season’s Elimination Final, GWS and Hawthorn launch their 2026 AFL campaigns at ENGIE Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Giants enter the season under a cloud, with a lengthy injury list headlined by Tom Green’s ruptured ACL. Key contributors Josh Kelly, Sam Taylor and Brent Daniels are also sidelined, leaving Adam Kingsley’s side to test its depth early in the year.

Hawthorn arrives in far better shape, although star midfielder Will Day remains unavailable as he targets a mid-season return from a shoulder injury. The Hawks will, however, welcome Jai Newcombe after his preseason suspension was overturned. Newcombe starred the last time these sides met, collecting 32 disposals and 12 clearances in Hawthorn’s 107–88 finals victory, a performance that helped halt a late Giants surge. With momentum from that September clash, the Hawks will look to make another fast start.

Man Utd now have a 10-day break before they return to action and they will be licking their wounds after losing to Newcastle.

Defeat has become an unfamiliar sensation for Manchester United. Before Wednesday night on Tyneside, the last time they lost a Premier League game the Christmas presents were still unopened.

That was a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on December 21 and although the recovery began slowly under Ruben Amorim, it has accelerated since Michael Carrick took charge in January.

But it ground to a shuddering halt at St James’ Park. For the first time, Carrick felt what it was like to lose a game as United head coach, and what made it more painful was that the performance was so flat and they failed to take advantage of Newcastle being down to 10 men.

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In those circumstances, most managers would welcome another game quickly to put things right and get it out of the system. United don’t have that luxury.

They will be in at Carrington on Thursday but will have a few days off here and there as part of a 10-day break between games, before Aston Villa visit Old Trafford.

That game has taken on greater meaning as the battle for Champions League football becomes congested. United had the chance to give themselves breathing room this week, and although they remain third, there are only three points separating them from Liverpool in sixth.

With the stakes now raised, Carrick has issued a rallying cry, calling for his squad to learn the lessons of their painful defeat to Newcastle and come back stronger against Unai Emery’s side.

“We’ve got to make the best out of it, we’ve got to make it a help,” Carrick said of the break. “There’s no sense in not learning lessons and understanding why tonight was what it was and how it happened and developed. We’ve got to learn from that, so we look at it and we’ll learn from that.

“It’s an important game, it’s a big week for us, it’s one we look forward to. We’re in a position now that we’ve put ourselves in, the boys have put themselves in, that can be really exciting. So we’ve got to be really positive going into the next game and look forward to it, because there’s a lot to play for.”

Oleksandr Usyk became the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era back in 2024, and heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua has predicted how the Ukrainian would have fared against the most recent undisputed ruler before him, Lennox Lewis.

Back in 1999, WBC heavyweight champion Lewis collided with IBF and WBA titleholder Evander Holyfield in a memorable showdown at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Lewis should have made history that night in becoming the undisputed king, but a dubious decision on the scorecards meant Lewis was rewarded with only a draw.

Eight months later, Lewis and Holyfield ran it back and ‘The Lion’ came out on top with a unanimous decision win to take home all three belts – the crowning moment of his tremendous career.

It would take a quarter of a century for another undisputed heavyweight title contest to occur, largely due to the recognition of the WBO title and subsequent beginning of the four-belt era.

After becoming undisputed at cruiserweight, similarly to Holyfield, this time it was the smaller man who took over the heavyweight division, as Usyk got the better of Tyson Fury despite the physical disadvantages in their legendary first fight.

Another win in his rematch with Fury cemented Usyk as the standout heavyweight of this generation, and when asked whether the 39-year-old would have overcome Lewis, former world champion Joshua told Daily Mail Boxing that he would favour his former opponent.

“[Usyk vs. Lewis is a] 50/50. [I will edge towards] Oleksandr Usyk.”

Usyk is set to return to action on Saturday, May 23, as he prepares for a controversial clash with Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, where the WBC heavyweight title is at stake.

The 2026 NFL Draft is often viewed as one where teams will end up focusing more on the floor of a player rather than the ceiling.

The consensus is that there aren’t many league-wrecking prospects in this class, but that point of view might need to be thrown out the window with Kenyon Sadiq. The tight end is dripping with potential to become a star at the next level.

Background

Statistics

• 2023: 5 receptions, 24 yards, 1 TD (14 games)
• 2024: 24 receptions, 308 yards, 2 TDs (14 games)
• 2025: 51 receptions, 560 yards, 8 TDs (14 games)

Measurables

• Height: 6’3″
• Weight: 241
• Hand Size: 10″
• Arm Length: 31 1/2″
• 40-Yard Dash: 4.39
• 10-Yard Split: 1.54
• 20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
• Vertical: 43.5″
• Broad Jump: 11’1″
• 3 Cone: N/A
• Bench: 26 reps

Sadiq spent the first two years of his collegiate career as a developmentary reserve in the Oregon Ducks program before bursting onto the scene as one of the best receiving tight ends in the country in 2025. Now, he’s hoping to turn that production into a high end draft status this spring.

Strengths

Sadiq is a very clean receiving tight end prospect. He can run just about any route whether it be a go route breaking away from defenders in the secondary, or he can intricately break in and out of his routes with buttery smooth foot speed and balance.

His NFL Combine performance is a testimony to that with numbers that are virtually identical to what Vernon Davis accomplished at the event though Davis did have 13 pounds on Sadiq.

Not only is Sadiq a very solid receiver, he is an impressive player in run blocking as well. He doesn’t take those snaps off and is capable of planting himself and holding his own against defenders. His strong hands are capable of fighting off rush moves, and those hands also help him hold onto the football through collisions at the point of the catch.

Weaknesses

While Sadiq is plenty capable of blocking while playing along the line of scrimmage, he isn’t exactly the player you want taking lead blocks down the field in the second and third levels of the defense. He seems to mistime himself or hold back some contact on those blocks, allowing defenders to shed fairly easily.

Drops were also an issue for Sadiq in 2025. On 67 targets, he had six drops. In on target passes, he had a drop rate of 10.5%.

Finally, while he certainly is a willing blocker, a 241-pound frame could cause some issues in that department at the NFL level.

2026 NFL Draft Projection

• NFL Draft Projection: Mid First Round
• Team Fits: Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins

Sadiq has a few things to clean up before he becomes a star at the NFL level, but all the potential in the world is there. He has the upside of being an All-Pro tight end a few years down the line, and TE-needy teams in the first round should jump at the chance to pick him.

Editor’s Note: Statistics from Pro Football Focus helped with this article.

Josh Frey is a senior writer at both PurplePTSD.com and VikingsTerritory.com, with a fascination for the NFL Draft. To … More about Josh Frey

If you get anxious about where to sit at Thanksgiving, imagine how you might feel as a still new-ish Masters winner approaching the table at the fabled Champions Dinner and deciding where to pull up a chair. There are no place cards or seating charts — just assorted legends and multiple-time major winners peering up from their vodka-sodas and dinner rolls and saying with their eyes, “Really, kid, you’re going to sit here?”

“It’s not assigned seating, but a lot people sit in the same chairs,” Adam Scott, the 2013 champion, said in 2023. “I like that, to be perfectly honest. I like the fact that you kind of feel like that’s your spot.”

Well, yeah, once you’ve established that spot.

The first year is easy, because as the defending champion and host, you’re seated by default at the head of the table, flanked by the dinner’s resident host, two-time champion Ben Crenshaw, and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley. Year 2 gets trickier. Scott navigated his sophomore dinner appearance by fast-walking to an open spot next to his junior-golf pal Trevor Immelman, a pocket of the table where Nick Faldo also is a regular.

Other players have formed their own table cliques: Zach Johnson shoulders up with Jordan Spieth, with the likes of Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed and old-timers Larry Mize and Bernhard Langer also in the region. Three legends — Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Tom Watson — gravitate toward seats just to the left of the head. The late Fuzzy Zoeller used to favor the far end of the table, which is a little like sitting at the back of the school bus. And so it goes. Call them comfort zones.

It may feel like Scottie Scheffler has been winning green jackets (and a lot of other things) for decades, but he, in fact, didn’t attend his first Champions Dinner until 2023. “It’s your first time in that room, you don’t really know what to expect,” Scheffler said Wednesday from Bay Hill. “The only thing I really knew is where I was going to sit. That’s basically the only thing I knew, sitting next to Mr. Crenshaw and the chairman.”

Scheffler said he arrived early and “snuck” his wife, Meredith, into the room to give her a peek at a dinner that she had helped arrange (among the menu items: cheeseburger sliders and tortilla soup).

A year later, at the dinner hosted by 2023 winner Jon Rahm, Scheffler was less certain about his movements. “There’s a little protocol,” he said of where players tend to sit, or, for that matter, not sit. “I’m definitely not going to go sit in the area where Tiger and Jack sit. Like, there’s kind of spots where you kind of feel you’ll naturally flow into.”

Cozying up to his Texas buddy Spieth would have been a logical move for Scheffler, but Scheffler knew better than to try that, saying with a laugh, “I definitely didn’t ask Jordan to sit by him, because he would have done something to make sure that I didn’t have a place to sit.” Instead, Scheffler turned to Zach Johnson and said, “Hey, where are you sitting this year? And he told me, and he was nice and let me join him.”

Selection Sunday is just two weeks away, so it’s time do your homework before making your 2026 NCAA Tournament picks. Although last year’s brackets lacked many big upsets, college basketball parity means this year could be different. Until 2018, no 16 seed had ever defeated a No. 1. Now, it has happened twice. Could it happen again in the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket? On the men’s side, a number of powerhouses all have a clear shot to make noise. Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Iowa State are all in position to claim No. 1 seeds in the 2026 March Madness bracket.

Recent national champions like UConn and Florida are right behind. On the women’s side, UConn entered weekend play unbeaten with UCLA and South Carolina among their top competitors. With the action so close, now is the time to set up your 2026 Men’s March Madness pools and 2026 Women’s March Madness pools. 

If you’re looking for a NCAA Tournament bracket game home, CBS Sports is the perfect place. You can play Bracket Games free on the CBS Sports App in pools with your friends and join free Men’s and Women’s Bracket Challenges to potentially win big prizes.* Get started right here.

How to create a 2026 NCAA Tournament pool with friends and family

Run your own free 2026 March Madness pool on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app and invite all of your friends, family, and co-workers to play against you during this year’s tournament. 

To start a bracket pool for Men’s March Madness, go to the Create Men’s Bracket Pool page, name your group and choose if you want a locked pool where you control the invites or an open pool that everybody can share. After that, just confirm your rules and then you can copy and share your personal pool link with friends or have CBS Sports send them emails.

For a Women’s March Madness pool, you can follow the exact same process but start at the Create Women’s Bracket Pool page in order to start your pool for the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

How to play 2026 March Madness Brackets for prizes

There are CBS Sports NCAA Bracket Challenges for the men’s and women’s tournaments and a trip to each 2027 Final Four on the line in both challenges. It’s easy to compete for those epic trips. 

For the Men’s Challenge, simply click this link, click the “Join Now” button and enter.* Fill out your men’s bracket after it is revealed on Sunday, March 15, and the winner of the trip to the 2027 Final Four will be chosen from among the entrants. If you’ve already created brackets in pools with friends, you can quickly enter the Challenge by importing an already-created bracket.

You can also enter the Women’s CBS Sports Bracket Challenge later that night after the Selection Show at 8 p.m. ET. Importing your brackets from your women’s pools is a convenient option for filling your Women’s Challenge brackets as well. 

The men’s bracket deadline is March 19 when first round action tips off, while the women’s bracket deadline is March 20. To be eligible, follow the steps above to join the Men’s Challenge and then join the Women’s Challenge here before each tournament begins.

2026 NCAA Tournament Men’s teams to watch

Now that you know where to play 2026 NCAA Men’s Bracket Games, here are some teams to watch as the Tournament approaches: 

Florida Gators: Don’t look now, but the defending national champions are back in the mix. The seventh-ranked Gators entered the weekend on an eight-game winning streak and were atop the SEC standings. Florida features a balanced scoring attack with six players averaging double-figure scoring. They are led by junior forward Thomas Haugh, who is averaging 16.9 points, six rebounds and two assists. The Gators are 5-3 against ranked opponents, including recent wins over Alabama and Kentucky.

Arizona Wildcats: Arizona opened the season with 23 consecutive victories before suffering its first loss against Kansas on Feb. 9. The Wildcats went on to lose their second straight against Texas Tech, but they’ve picked up several impressive victories this season, including wins over Houston, BYU, UConn, Alabama and Florida. Arizona features a plethora of offensive playmakers, and the Wildcats can cause havoc on the defensive end of the floor as well. Tommy Lloyd’s men will be battle tested heading into the 2026 March Madness brackets, and the Wildcats will be in the hunt for a No. 1 seed with a strong finish to the regular season.  Join the CBS Sports 2026 NCAA Men’s Bracket Game here.

2026 NCAA Tournament Women’s teams to watch

Now that you know where to play 2026 NCAA Women’s Bracket Games, here are some teams to watch as the 2026 NCAA Tournament approaches: 

UCLA Bruins: Cori Chase’s squad made the Final Four for the first time in program history last season and are cementing their status as a contender in 2026. The Bruins are off to a 26-1 start with a perfect 16-0 mark in the Big Ten and Lauren Betts continues to dominate after an All-American season in 2024-25. The center is averaging 16.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 blocks per game and leads an experienced UCLA roster whose top six scorers are all seniors.

Vanderbilt Commodores: Vanderbilt has used NIL to reshape its athletic department as has found success in football and men’s basketball. However, the women’s squad might be the university’s best shot at a national championship this season, as the Commodores are 24-3 overall and 10-3 in the SEC. Sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes is averaging 25.9 points per game this season and Vanderbilt checks in at No. 5 in the latest AP poll. Join the 2026 Women’s Bracket Game here.

How to enter 2026 NCAA Men’s & Women’s Bracket Games

Ready to set up your 2026 NCAA Tournament pools? Get started from the bracket lobby to play 2026 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Bracket Games with friends and for a chance to win trips to the 2027 Final Four.

*No purchase necessary. See rules for details.

Michael Carrick cut a frustrated figure as his unbeaten start to life as Man Utd head coach came to a disappointing end at Newcastle.

Michael Carrick said his Manchester United side must learn their lessons from a painful defeat at Newcastle after seeing his unbeaten start in the job come to an end.

United had a man advantage for the whole of the second half after Jacob Ramsey was sent off before the break, with Anthony Gordon and Casemiro both scoring in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

But they failed to press home that advantage, with Newcastle starting on top and dominating the early exchanges in the second half, which left Carrick particularly agitated on the touchline.

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United did weather the storm and seemed more likely to find a winner before William Osula’s stunning 90th-minute goal and Carrick admitted defeat was a painful one to take.

Asked what was irking him at the start of the second half, he said: “Just the way the game was going. Emotions are part of the game. Certain things we wanted to do and we didn’t do it.

“It’s football, these things happen in the game, it goes away from you. There are certain things we have to do. We can be an awful lot better.

“I’m really, really disappointed with tonight, for different reasons. But we can’t lose sight of the position we’ve got ourselves in as well.

“So, as much as I’m disappointed, and we need to learn from it, because it’s been a lesson for us tonight in some ways, we can’t lose sight of the bigger picture as well.”

As the travelling West Ham supporters descended into pandemonium at Craven Cottage, Crysencio Summerville stood still, arms outstretched and smiling.

The Dutchman had every reason to grin as he celebrated his fifth Premier League goal of the season to help the Hammers to a vital 1-0 victory against Fulham.

His 65th-minute strike was enough to continue the his side’s quest for Premier League survival in 2026 – on a night when they gained two points on 17th-place Nottingham Forest.

The forward – who struggled for both form and confidence after joining from Leeds United in August 2024 – has now managed more goals in his last 10 appearances for the club (seven), than he did in his first 38 (one).

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Summerville said: “We have to fight until the end, that’s what we did. I am very pleased to get the three points.

“I am in a good space. I love to play, I am just happy to be back and I try to show it every week.

“We have to keep going now. We took positives from the Liverpool game, we had lots of positives, the fans behind us are very pleased and we are going in the right direction – the only way is up.”

But it’s not only Summerville who is finding his feet as the business end of the season looms – West Ham are, too.

The Hammers have now accumulated 14 of their 28 points this season in their past eight Premier League games.

Such an impressive run for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side means that if they defeat Manchester City when they return to Premier League action on 14 March, they will be out of the relegation zone for the first time since December.