Monday Buzz: Weekend highlights, lowlights

It’s only one week into the 2019 NRL season but already the Bulldogs coach is feeling the heat — check out the talking points from big weekend in sport.

• MORE BUZZ: The panic buys that cruel NRL clubs

• NRL Physio: Full Round 1 casualty ward

Check out the highlights, lowlights and talking points from another memorable weekend in sport.

HIGHLIGHT

Wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo ran for 301 metres against St George-Illawarra on Saturday night in Townsville. This guy is justifying every single penny of his $10 million contract.

Jason Taumalolo on the charge for the Cowboys. Picture: Zak Simmonds

HIGHLIGHT II

The Central Coast’s victory over the Newcastle Jets in a gripping 100-minute A-League thriller in a dream debut for axed Matildas coach Alen Stajcic.

LOWLIGHT

You can’t even imagine the pain poor Tyson Frizell was in after suffering a ruptured testicle that required emergency surgery after the game in Townsville.

LOWLIGHT II

The Bulldogs’ awful performance against the Warriors. They justified their wooden spoon favouritism and surely the pressure is building on Dean Pay, even after only one round.

Dean Pay looks on during his side’s loss to the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

NEW YORK CROWE

Souths owner Russell Crowe is staying at Long Island in New York but it didn’t stop him from watching the Rabbitohs beat the Roosters on his iPad on the new Fox Sports app Watch NRL.

HAIRY STYLES

We saw some pretty average hair styles in round one of the NRL competition. Wests Tigers winger Mahe Fonua was probably the worst. My old favourites Andrew Fifita and Josh Dugan could both do with a trip to the barber. And Kieran Foran’s man bun.

Andrew Fifita’s haircut wasn’t even the worst of the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

SPOTTED

■ Canterbury star playmaker Kieran Foran catching the train from the airport to Central after arriving home from New Zealand yesterday.

■ Sydney Roosters co-captains Jake Friend and Boyd Cordner arriving with BYO wine at Woollahra’s fashionable Café Nino on Saturday night.

■ Brisbane Broncos coach Anthony Seibold at Harbord Diggers on Saturday afternoon. His family still live in Sydney on the Northern Beaches.

360 VIEW

Catch you at 6.30pm Monday on NRL 360 with Ben Ikin and Paul Kent to discuss all the major issues from the opening round of the competition.

AGE SHALL NOT WEARY NRL WARRIORS

The greatest player in NFL history, Tom Brady, is still winning Super Bowls at 41 years of age.

Rugby league also has its golden oldies stories. Robbie Farah is 35 and scored two tries against the Manly Sea Eagles at Leichhardt on Saturday evening.

Cameron Smith is 35 years and 273 days old. We all saw his magnificent performance in leading Melbourne against Brisbane.

Robbie Farah scored two tries in the Tigers’ win over Manly. Picture: AAP

And what about Cooper Cronk. Another 35-year-old. Last week we rated the Sydney Roosters halfback and Smith in the top four players in our top 50 list.

Paul Gallen turns 38 this year. He didn’t have his best game against Newcastle but he’s still got a work rate as strong and busy as any forward in the game.

John Sutton and Benji Marshall are still doing great things at 34.

The longevity of players has got to be out down to modern sports science. That these guys can still excel in the toughest body contact sport on the planet well into their 30s is extraordinary.

JOEY GETS THE CHAUFFEUR TREATMENT

Andrew Johns turned up at Fox Sports on Sunday night for his interview with brother Matty in a luxury hire car.

There is a very good reason for that. The eighth Immortal has had to give up his driver’s licence after being diagnosed with epilepsy.

He finished with Channel 9 at 6pm at Penrith for the Eels game and jumped straight into the hire car for the ride to Fox Sports studios in Artarmon.

Joey is handling the health setback very well. To lose your licence is a horrible inconvenience but he understands the potential dangers to other road users and isn’t complaining.