Monday Buzz: Weekend highlights, lowlights

The best game of the year, great sportsmanship, why Titans were right to snub Wayne Bennett and more — check out the talking points from another big weekend in sport.

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• Saint, sinner, shoosh: Wayne Benett’s Origin sacrifice

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

HIGHLIGHT

Manly v Storm. An 89-minute heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat, absolutely sensational thriller. Game of the Year. Long live Golden Point. And the proof the NRL is the Greatest Game Of All.

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Sea Eagles players celebrate their win over the Storm at AAMI Park. Picture: Getty Images

HIGHLIGHT II

Great sportsmanship from Knights superstar Kalyn Ponga when asked at full-time about his controversial sin-binning for the knockout tackle of Wests Tigers forward Michael Chee Kam. His reply: “I don’t care — I just hope the player is OK.”

LOWLIGHT

Revelations Aussie swimmer Shayna Jack was embroiled in a doping scandal in the same week we protested so loudly about China’s Sun Yang.

LOWLIGHT II

Channel 9’s decision to appoint a tennis player Todd Woodbridge as their main host for the Ashes series. Surely they could have found a cricketer.

Todd Woodbridge will host Channel 9's Ashes coverage.

SHOOSH

We told you first about the Melbourne racing scandal months before disgraced Melbourne Cup trainer Darren Weir was banned last year. We’re hearing another two trainers from south of the border are facing bans over treatment to their horses.

SPOTTED

Nathan and Ivan Cleary doing their bit for junior rugby league by helping out at training with the Emu Plains under-7s last week.

COACHING GIANT

If there was a betting market on the Dally M coach-of-the-year the bookies could almost pay out early to any punter who has backed Dessie Hasler. He looks over the line.

PACKS SOME PUNCH

I have been writing for several months about rising boxing star Daniel Lewis. On Saturday night he became the Australian super welterweight champion in just his third professional fight. He is desperate to get a shot now at Tim Tszyu, who he beat as an amateur.

GAL-LANT EFFORT

Without Andrew Fifita, old warhorse Paul Gallen finally got more playing time for the Cronulla Sharks in the win over the Cowboys. He made an extraordinary 225m in just 60 minutes.

Paul Gallen had a big night for the Sharks. Picture: AAP

360 VIEW

Catch you tonight on NRL 360 with Ben Ikin, Paul Kent, Cooper Cronk and super coach Craig Bellamy to discuss and dissect all the major rugby league issues and afterwards on Controversy Corner.

WAYNE NO KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR

Wayne Bennett wasn’t wanted by the Titans. Picture: AAP

Seriously, is it any surprise that the Titans said “thanks, but no thanks” when Wayne Bennett went looking for a job on the Gold Coast last year?

Cast your mind back to Wayne’s last rebuilding venture in the NRL.

Remember the Newcastle Knights? How he packed up towards the end of 2014, mid-­contract, and left them on the scrapheap. So decimated that they won three wooden spoons in a row.

Only now are they fully recovering, five years on.

Wayne has always done better at clubs when the foundations have already been laid.

He walked into South Sydney this year to find a roster strong enough to win a premiership, already assembled by Dally M coach of the year Anthony Seibold and Michael Maguire.

SEA EAGLES SOARING INTO CONTENTION

Daly Cherry-Evans and Manly are flying. Picture: AAP

We can no longer regard the Manly Sea Eagles as just ­another team making up the numbers in the top eight.

Their victory over Melbourne Storm in the game of the year on Saturday night is proof they can win the premiership. No more of Des Hasler’s old trick of flying under the radar.

Your columnist had them running 13th in our predictions at the beginning of the year. It’s not that embarrassing because I don’t know of anyone who tipped them to make the finals.

I even know an old member who tossed in his season tickets because he thought they were going to have a horrible year.

We all knew that the Trbojevic brothers could play. We knew DCE was a great halfback. He has been playing wounded since Origin. The big three have gone to another level this year.

Throw in the massive form improvements of front-rowers Addin Fonua-Blake and Marty Taupau. Their edge forward Curtis Sironen is also an outstanding player.