Reports of Manly Sea Eagles players refusing to wear a Pride jersey have emerged.

Rugby league team the Manly Sea Eagles are facing serious controversy – and it has everything to do with their club’s new inclusive Pride jersey.

This week it was revealed Manly would become the first club in rugby league history to wear a jersey celebrating inclusivity and LGBTQIA+ Pride, the jersey fitted with rainbow colours instead of the traditional white piping. It also has the words ‘Everyone in League’ written on it.

The jersey is now available online for fans to purchase too.

The news of the jersey was celebrated, with three of the club’s players modelling the jersey in a photoshoot with The Daily Telegraph recently. So far, it appears the jersey was only set to be worn as a one-off in an upcoming rugby league match. 

But it was the announcement of the jersey that has allegedly led to chaos and arguments inside the club.

The Pride jersey decision allegedly caused frustration among some of the club’s players, who said they were unhappy because they were not consulted about the decision by club management. 

As such, multiple news sites are now reporting that multiple Manly players are threatening to boycott Thursday night’s game against the Manly Sea Eagles and Sydney Roosters in protest.

EXCLUSIVE: several Manly Sea Eagles players sensationally poised to boycott game over club’s pride jersey https://t.co/bNsLCugga7 via @dailytelegraph

— Dean Ritchie (@BulldogRitchie) July 25, 2022

And the protest from seven Manly players is allegedly on religious grounds, The Daily Telegraph reported.

These seven players allegedly told their managers they plan to pull out of Thursday night’s game if forced to play while wearing the one-off Pride jersey.

From a sports perspective, Thursday night’s game is a crucial marker for the Manly Sea Eagles this season. But more importantly from a social perspective, the club allegedly has concerns they will be seen as “homophobic” if they bin the jersey.

The seven players in question reportedly include Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu and Josh Aloiai, as per The Daily Telegraph.

As Wide World of Sports’ Matt Bungard wrote on Twitter: “I don’t want to hear one single thing about ‘respecting other people’s opinions’ or using religion as a crutch to hide behind while being homophobic. No issues playing at a stadium covered in alcohol and gambling sponsors, which is also a sin. What a joke.”

I don't want to hear one single thing about 'respecting other people's opinions' or using religion as a crutch to hide behind while being homophobic.

No issues playing at a stadium covered in alcohol and gambling sponsors, which is also a sin. What a joke https://t.co/9K4N1HlWSb

— Matt Bungard (@TheMattBungard) July 25, 2022

Image: Getty/Facebook.

Veteran journalist and television presenter Stan Grant has been announced as the new permanent host of ABC’s weekly flagship discussion program Q+A.

Grant will begin his new role on August 1 with a special edition of Q+A to mark this year’s Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land. 

“Garma is a talking place where the nation asks itself hard questions about who we are. It is an honour to take the helm of Q+A from there,” Grant said in a statement.  

Hamish Macdonald walked away from the show in July 2021, having taken over from founding host Tony Jones who departed in 2020. Macdonald said it was a challenging role because of the constant abuse via social media he received.

“And the abuse has come from leftwing people, who don’t like you asking difficult questions of Dan Andrews, and it’s come from people on the right who don’t like you asking difficult questions of the federal government,” he said last year.

The ABC then trialled a rotating roster of Grant, ABC Melbourne Radio host Virginia Trioli and Insiders host David Speers, before deciding to stay with Grant.

As Grant said: “Hosting Q+A is a huge responsibility. I feel the weight of the audience’s trust in me and the program. I will approach my role with integrity, decency and humility.” 

We're delighted to announce that Stan Grant, one of the ABC's most accomplished journalists and presenters, is taking over as solo host of #QandA. We thank @latrioli and @David_Speers for their work in shaping the program over the past year. https://t.co/aVx4X1nGhY

— QandA (@QandA) July 25, 2022

Image: Getty.

Do you find the news cycle overwhelming? Depressing? Confusing? Boring? Endless? Then you need The Quicky. Mamamia’s daily podcast that gets you up to speed on the top stories.

Listen to tonight’s episode of The Quicky below:

The final episode of Neighbours will air this week and a lot of famous faces are returning to their soap opera roots for the big event, including Delta Goodrem, Natalie Imbruglia, Holly Valance, and even Margot Robbie. Here’s everything we know so far.

Plus, Comic-Con International was held in San Diego this weekend, one of the largest comics and pop culture events in the world. It’s an event TV and movie studios save their most important release news for, so let’s talk through the biggest and most surprising reveals to come out of Comic-Con.

And after a COVID-induced hiatus, Splendour in the Grass returned this weekend and things seemed to be looking up for Australia’s hard-hit music industry. But thanks to an unprecedented rainfall situation, the worst in the 21-year history of the event, shows were cancelled, campsites were destroyed and hundreds of festival goers were left without transport. Here we unpack what really went on at Splendour and if it’s fair to call it ‘Australia’s Fyre Festival’.

Get The Spill in your ears now!

Morning, 

Here are the top five news stories you need to know today, Monday July 25.

1. Man charged with Sydney mother's murder.

Warning: This post deals with domestic violence and may be triggering for some readers. 

A man has been charged with the domestic violence murder of a woman whose body was found in bushland in northwest Sydney over the weekend.

Police found the body, believed to be that of missing mother Shereen Kumar, near Laurie Road, Dural at about 5.50pm on Saturday.

Shereen Kumar's boyfriend, Vincent Carlino is now behind bars and charged with her murder. This is following the discovery of her body, three days after he reported her missing | @SarahNavin pic.twitter.com/bLzuT35pDF

— 10 News First Sydney (@10NewsFirstSyd) July 24, 2022

Officers had been searching bushland in the region with dogs and helicopters any sign of the 43-year-old, who was reported missing on Thursday morning.

About six hours after finding the body, police arrested Vincent Carlino at a home in Dural.

The 37-year-old appeared in Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday, where he was refused bail. He is due face court again in September. 

Various media outlets are reporting the man to be Shereen's boyfriend.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

2. Two women and child dead in ‘raging' house fire in Sydney.

Two women and a 10-year-old boy have died in a house fire in Sydney's south-west suburb of Hinchinbrook.

Five other people, including two firefighters, were rushed to hospital following the blaze on Sunday morning.

The boy was in a critical condition but died a short time later. The other fatalities are believed to be women aged in their 40s and 60s.

"I am not able to make any further comment in relation to the investigation that is under way, but the matter will be investigated in full and reported to the coroner," NSW Police Inspector Allyson Fenwick said at the scene yesterday.

Investigations continue into an intense house fire in Hinchinbrook that killed three people, including a 10-year-old boy. @vella_lara #9News

DETAILS: https://t.co/ADQS56Cr88 pic.twitter.com/F1GzQYb4yS

— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) July 24, 2022

Fire and Rescue NSW Deputy Commissioner Megan Stiffler said responders were also injured.

"One female firefighter has been released from hospital after suffering a small electric shock on the windowsill as she was making entry," she said.

"We also had a male firefighter who, as he made entry into this raging fire, fell six metres and had an injury. He is currently under care at hospital."

Another man from the property, aged in his 40s, is in a critical condition in hospital, plus two women - aged in their 30s and 60s - who are in stable conditions.

With an investigation into the cause of the fire underway, Stiffler issued a broader warning for the public. 

"The message you must hear today as you listen to the news is you must have a working smoke alarm in your home and save your family," she said.

3. One third of aged care facilities battling COVID-19 outbreaks. 

More than one third of Australia's aged care facilities are battling COVID-19 outbreaks with 6000 residents and 3400 staff infected.

The Aged and Community Care Providers Association said its members are calling for urgent action to protect residents and staff from a winter COVID-19 wave.

The association's interim chief executive Paul Sadler said 10-15 per cent of staff are already isolating or quarantining at home, and the coming weeks will put intense pressure on residents and workers.

"The increased availability in surge workforce including the Australian Defence Force over the past week has been welcome, but there is still a shortfall," he said. 

"The reality is we can't leave older people without adequate levels of care for too long."

The COVID-19 crisis in aged care is rapidly escalating with more than 1,000 facilities nationwide now dealing with outbreaks. @PeterFegan9 #9News pic.twitter.com/xV1BhXJEaK

— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) July 24, 2022

He called for more support for a surge workforce, including ADF personnel, until at least September.

Australia's COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 11,000, rising by 36 yesterday.

4. Kmart and Bunnings pause facial technology.

Bunnings and Kmart have put a pause on using facial recognition technology in stores amid an investigation by the privacy watchdog.

The hardware chain temporarily switched the technology off in stores ahead of a platform shift earlier this year, and has since informed the privacy watchdog it will not be reverting to it for the time being. 

The technology in Bunnings is used purely to protect staff from organised retail crime amid an uptick in aggressive and violent behaviour, managing director Mike Schneider says. 

Kmart has also temporarily stopped using facial recognition while an investigation by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is underway.

Its stores use the technology to combat criminal activity such as refund fraud, Kmart said, with an official adding: "We do not use this technology to track customer behaviour or for marketing purposes."

Bunnings, Kmart and The Good Guys using facial recognition technology to crack down on theft, Choice says https://t.co/aOw9TEusjJ

— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) June 14, 2022

Supermarket giants Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are among 17 major retailers that say they have no plans to introduce the technology, according to consumer group CHOICE.

"We know the community are really worried about the use of facial recognition, with some describing it as 'creepy and invasive'," consumer data advocate Kate Bower said.

5. WHO declares monkeypox a global emergency.

The World Health Organisation has called the growing monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries an "extraordinary" situation that qualifies as a global emergency.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the declaration on Saturday despite a lack of consensus among members of the WHO's emergency committee. 

"In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations," Tedros said.

🚨 BREAKING:
"For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global #monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern."- @DrTedros pic.twitter.com/qvmYX1ZBAL

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 23, 2022

Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an "extraordinary event" that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response. 

As of July 19, Australia had reported 41 confirmed or probable cases of monkeypox, with the majority in NSW (22) and Victoria (15). 

That's everything you need to know this morning. We'll keep you updated with more of the top stories throughout the day.

- With AAP. 

On July 17 Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck got married two decades after they first became engaged, but their incredible reunion has been somewhat overshadowed by JLo's decision to change her name to Mrs Jennifer Lynne Affleck.

Despite the happy occasion, the internet exploded with people complaining about her 'giving in to the patriarchy' and expressing disappointment at the very personal decision of a woman that most of us will never meet, but why do we care?

The Quicky speaks to an entertainment expert and a relationships guru to find out why the decision is still so contentious for women in 2022, and whether doing it really does mean you're not a feminist. 

Feature Image: Getty.