Best of the best: Five things we learned from the weekend in Illawarra sport

Less than a week after getting a late call-up to the Commonwealth Games squad, Grace Stewart has tasted success at the FIH Women's Hockey World Cup.

The Gerringong talent and her Hockeyroos teammates claimed a bronze medal after beating Germany 2-1 in the third versus fourth match on Monday morning (AEDT).

Steph Kershaw was the hero for Australia. Trailing 1-0 late in the game, it was the 27-year-old who stepped up to deliver the two match-winning goals, while goalkeeper Jocelyn Bartram made some crucial saves at the opposite end.

It's a great result for the Hockeyroos ahead of the Comm Games getting under way in Birmingham on July 28.

It took three years, but the Roller Hawks have defended their National Wheelchair Basketball League championship in Darwin over the weekend.

The Wollongong side won the last title in 2019, before COVID cancelled the last two seasons. However, the Roller Hawks made up for lost time on Sunday, beating Perth Wheelcats 75-66 in the NWBL grand final.

Tristan Knowles orchestrated the victory, finishing with 24 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, while Nick Taylor had 23 points and Shaun Russell had 14 points and seven assists.

Queensland Spinning Bullets took the bronze medal in a dramatic finish against the Darwin Salties, prevailing 70-69.

It was dubbed one of the club's "best wins ever", and the Stingrays of Shellharbour had plenty of reasons to celebrate after beating Group Seven powerhouse Warilla Lake South Gorillas 30-18 on Sunday.

The Stingrays were reduced to 12 men for 73 of the 80 minutes, after captain Keiran Rankmore was sent off for an alleged headbutt on Warilla prop Aaron Henry.

Warilla came out strong in the second half and actually took the lead at 18-16, but the lead was short-lived, with the Stingrays scoring the next three tries though Sam Latu, Liam Scott and Vaivai.

"It is a massive effort. They are a top two side and to beat them at home with 12 men is massive," Stingrays co-coach Brad Reh said.

"Our players have just got a lot of belief in themselves at the moment. They know they can turn up and play against good sides."

After a mixed run of form in 2022, Cameron Morgan showed glimpses of his best on Sunday to lead the White Eagles to a 3-0 victory over Port Kembla.

The experienced striker had been restricted to just two penalties so far this Premier League season, but it was vintage Morgan on display at Wetherall Park, as he found the back of the net twice in the first 30 minutes.

Brendan Fordham then scored before halftime to extend their lead to 3-0, which they maintained the full-time whistle.

"I think Cameron's scored four goals now, two of them have been penalties, so hopefully he's got the monkey off his back," Albion Park coach Alvin Ceccoli said.

"He hasn't been playing well, he got dropped a few weeks ago, but he's knuckled down hard and got a couple of goals. So hopefully he's back on track."

Finally, we couldn't finish this segment off without mentioning Cameron Smith's historic win in the 150^th Open Championship at St Andrews.

The Aussie golfer clinched the Claret Jug in glorious style with former champion Nick Faldo hailing his final-round 64 as "a legendary round of golf".

With five consecutive birdies to open the back nine and then another to seal victory at the last, Smith won by a shot from Cameron Young with a record final-round 64.

"I'm definitely going to see how many beers fit in this thing [Claret Jug]," an ecstatic Smith said after the win on Sunday.