Monday Buzz: Phil Rothfield looks at his highlights and lowlights from the weekend of sport

TALK of conflict at the Panthers won’t subside, poor officiating of blatant forward passes, Paul Gallen’s endless motor and Robbie Farah’s return to his spiritual home - Buzz Rothfield’s weekend highlights and lowlights.

Robbie Farah thanks the crowd after his return to Leichhardt Oval. Picture: Brett Costello

THE poor officiating of blatant forward passes, Paul Gallen’s endless motor and Robbie Farah’s return to his spiritual home.

Buzz Rothfield looks at his highlights and lowlights from another big weekend in sport.

HIGHLIGHT

Robbie Farah’s emotional return to his beloved Leichhardt Oval on Sunday for the Wests Tigers. What a fabulous sporting story.

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Robbie Farah thanks the crowd after his return to Leichhardt Oval. Picture: Brett Costello

LOWLIGHT

NRL Games being decided by blatant forward passes that the touch judges and referees are increasingly missing. Surely the bunker can adjudicate on all aspects of try-scoring plays when the ball clearly goes forward.

LOWLIGHT II

The NRL takes the Roosters-Storm game to a new audience in Adelaide for what should have been a great game of rugby league. Instead, referee Grant Atkins ambushes it with 15 first-half penalties.

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Paul Gallen put in a monster performance in Auckland. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

GOULD, GRIFFIN FEUD RUMOURS WON’T WAVER

The rumour doing the rounds of some conflict at the Penrith Panthers between general manager Phil Gould and head coach Anthony Griffin will not go away.

We spoke to Gould on Saturday night after the disappointing loss to the Manly Sea Eagles and he predictably denied there was any issue.

However another high ranking Panthers official confirmed there had been some tension and recent disagreements between the pair over the direction of the side.

And that Gould had instructed assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo to take on a bigger role.

Losses to the Roosters (32-6) and the Sea Eagles (18-10) haven’t helped the situation.

This is a story we will keep an eye on over the next eight weeks as pressure builds in the run home to finals.

Gould denied the rumours when contacted. Picture: Toby Zerna

It’s unusual for Griffin not to return phone calls but we have tried him twice in the last few days and there has been no response.

Gould is very much a hands-on administrator who is not one to sit around and hold back his views and opinions.

If he thinks there is an area where the team needs to improve he’ll tell Griffin.

It’s the way he has always operated.

At the same time Griffin is his own man and enjoys the respect of his players.

Obviously Origin and other representative commitments have knocked this side around.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard is a huge loss on top of Josh Mansour and Waqa Blake.

The Panthers have a tough draw too with games against the Warriors, Sharks and Broncos over the next few weeks.

If things don’t improve and the Gould-Griffin tension escalates, it will be interesting how it plays out

They are both managed by veteran player agent Wayne Beavis.

It was Beavis who convinced Gould to give Griffin the job when he sacked Ivan Cleary three years ago. Griffin has made the finals in his two seasons at the club and up until two weeks ago had a side that looked capable of winning the premiership.

NO QUIT IN GAL

Just when you start thinking it’s time for Cronulla Sharks warhorse Paul Gallen to retire, he produces a mighty game against the Warriors. Gallen made 176 metres and got three offloads away.

RTS A NO.1 HIT

Watching a great tackle is as good as watching a spectacular try. The hit that Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck put on Jesse Ramien in Auckland was an absolute screamer.

VALE TOM ANDERSON

Former Daily Mirror soccer writer Tom Anderson passed away over the weekend, aged 83. A former Scottish professional player, Tom was a fierce critic and as passionate about the World game and the Socceroos as anyone I’ve met. Our thoughts are with his family and many friends.

360 VIEW

Catch you tonight on NRL 360 with Ben Ikin and Paul Kent to discuss all the major issues from Round 16 and the biggest talking points in the selection of the Origin sides for game three on Wednesday week.

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Originally published as Monday Buzz: Phil Rothfield looks at his highlights and lowlights from the weekend of sport