🏉 It's An Easter Monday Miracle

Back to work, it's Tuesday, 19 April

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Martin Gabor are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching 

🏀 12.00pm - NBA Playoffs - Warriors v Nuggets - Chase Centre, San Francisco - Foxtel, Kayo

⚽ 5.05pm - A-League Men - Western United v Macarthur - York Park, Launceston - Paramount+

⚽ 5.00am (Wed) - EPL - Liverpool v Manchester United - Anfield, Liverpool - Optus Sport 

All times are in AEST

🏉 It's an Easter miracle 

Easter is fairly famous for producing miracles, and yesterday was no exception with a shock NRL result in Sydney’s west.

The score: Wests Tigers 21 defeated Parramatta 20.

Golden points: Start celebrating if you’re a Tigers fan because your team is off the bottom of the NRL ladder.

• This was their first win of the season and it’s one they won’t forget after Jackson Hastings nailed a field goal with the final play of the game. 

• The Eels were expected to win easily in front of a huge home crowd.

• It’s a big result for Tigers coach Michael Maguire who was under a lot of pressure with reports his job was under threat if they didn’t win. 

They said it: “It’s really nice to see a smile in the change room, we’ve obviously faced a fair bit over the last five weeks.” Maguire keeps a lid on things. 

Watch it: Lap it up Tigers fans, here are the highlights including THAT field goal.

🏉 Big dive takes centre stage 

There was another big upset on Monday, this time in the AFL, but the big talking points out of the MCG had to do with umpiring and staging.

The score: Hawthorn 14.8(92) defeated Geelong 11.14(80).

Golden points: The Hawks joined the Cats on 12 competition points but the focus after the game was on some of the big decisions made at the MCG.

• Cats forward Tom Hawkins could be charged for staging, which is basically AFL’s version of acting.

• Hawks fans weren’t impressed with Hawkins reaction to a bump, but that wasn’t their only issue.

• They were livid when a 50-metre penalty was blown for umpire abuse, which led to a goal. It’s part of a crackdown by the AFL, but it has some critics.

They said it: "This dissent issue… what we've seen over the course of this weekend suggests that there's a crisis... it's a disgrace what we've seen over the weekend.” AFL great Garry Lyon isn't a fan of the crackdown. 

Watch it: There were plenty of positives on the field. Check them out.

🏄‍♀️ The time is Wright for Tyler 

There was no fairytale return for Mick Fanning, but another Aussie was able to produce something special at the iconic surfing event at Bells Beach.

Golden points: Tyler Wright has achieved plenty in the sport but she can now cross off Bells Beach champion after she beat Carissa Moore in the final.

• Call it revenge or whatever you want, but this is payback for the 2013 and 2014 finals where Moore beat Wright.

• The Aussie is a 2-time world champion but said this was the event she really wanted to win.

• Her first win of the season caps an incredible comeback to the sport that saw her miss basically two years of surfing because of an illness called post-viral syndrome. 

They said it: “Honestly this is a dream come true. There have been so many times I wanted to give up on getting back to this sort of form. It’s taken all of me. It’s unbelievable.” - Wright after her comeback win. 

What’s next: The action stays in Australia with the Margaret River Pro starting in WA on 24 April.

🏀 Irving flips the bird, Tatum flips the script 

Boston Celtics fans love former legend Larry Bird. But they aren’t so fond of rival players who flip the bird, especially those who played for Boston but flew the coop. 

Golden points: Kyrie Irving scored 39 points for Brooklyn but the Nets lost by a point in game one of their NBA playoffs series in Boston. 

• The game finished on a wild shot by Jayson Tatum (highlights below) but the biggest battle was between Irving and the Boston fans.

• They used to like Irving when he played for them, but he's now public enemy number one. It probably doesn’t help that he stirred them up last year.

• Boston fans are loud and they didn’t stop heckling him. That might explain why he gave them the middle finger yesterday.

What’s next: Things could get pretty spicy when Irving and the Nets return to TD Garden for game 2 on Thursday. 

🏃‍♀️ Bull rushes home to claim top prize

If you thought the footy finishes were tight yesterday then you might have missed what happened on the green grass in country Victoria.

Golden points: A photo finish was needed for the prestigious Stawell Gift to work out who won the women’s race.

• After 120 metres, Queenslander Carla Bull was declared the winner in a time of 13.77 seconds. There was a chance she wouldn’t race because she had a sore throat on Friday.

• The men’s race wasn’t as close. Harrison Kerr sprinted home in 11.85 secs which was the fastest time in 27 years. 

• The celebrations might last a while because both of them got $40,000. 

Watch it: Get the magnifying glass out to see just how close the women’s race was.

⚽ Liverpool walking where no club has ever walked 

Liverpool has famously lived by the words “You’ll never walk alone” for decades now, but they can genuinely be alone in the record books if they maintain their winning ways.

Golden points: No English club has ever won the quadruple. That's the English Premier League, the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. But that could change.

• The Reds have already won the Carabao Cup. That was a thriller in penalties against Chelsea.

• Now they get to play the Blues again in the FA Cup final after both teams won their semis over the weekend.

• Liverpool is also into the final 4 of the Champions League and they are one point behind Manchester City in the EPL with 7 games to go. 

What’s next: They’ve got to wait until next month for the FA Cup final. But they can’t look too far forward because they play Manchester United in the EPL tomorrow morning at 5.00am (AEST) on Optus Sport.

👀 Quick singles

🏉 The NRL could hold a game in the USA next year after talks were held to revive the plan that stalled in 2019. The game would be between the Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs who have links to Hollywood through their super fans Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.

⚽ Real Madrid has one hand on the La Liga title after they came from 2 goals down to beat Sevilla 3-2. Sevilla started the round 12 points behind the Spanish giants but the title race looks to be over after Karim Benzema’s injury-time winner. 

⛳ Golfer Jordan Spieth seems to love this time of year after he claimed victory on Easter Sunday for the 2nd time in a row. The American beat Patrick Cantlay in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage in South Carolina. 

🏉 Adelaide Crows veteran Rory Sloane says his AFL career is not over despite suffering a serious knee injury. The 32yo will miss the rest of the season after he tore the ACL in his right knee in the win over Richmond. 

🏀 Denver’s Nikola Jokić could defend his crown after he was one of 3 finalists announced for the NBA's Most Valuable Player. Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the other 2 big men up for the award. 

🎱 Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan is through to the last 16 at the World Championship, but he could be in trouble after he made a crude gesture in his first match. He now has to face a disciplinary committee following his win over Dave Gilbert. 

⚽️ Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo reveals the tragic death of his newborn son. Ronaldo shared the news on Instagram that his twin son died during childbirth  

🙃 Left of field…

It’s going to be pretty hard to justify not going to the gym after a 63yo Japanese woman put the rest of us lazy folk to shame.

Golden points: Mariko Yugeta finished this morning’s Boston Marathon in a time of 03:07:38 to just miss out on her own world record.

• She’s the only woman over 60 to finish a marathon in under 3 hours.

• Yugeta had a few excuses this time. She has a sore knee and barely had time to train after her flight from Japan to the USA.

• She has now done 115 marathons. In simple terms, that’s about 4830km. 

They said it: “Middle age should be a time to recommit to your sport, not to think about taking it easy or giving it up.” - That’s it, we’re going for a jog.

Key click: Here are the full results from this year’s Boston Marathon, and here's Yugeta finishing today's race.

📽 The highlight reel

We teased it earlier, so here's Jayson Tatum's last-gasp shot to win the game for the Boston Celtics. NBA playoffs are really good if you didn't already know.

📸 Photo finish

Geelong's Zach Tuohy posted this pic with the hashtag #chocolateforbrekkie. We can all relate. 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

Brazil's Filipe Toledo beat Aussie Callum Robson in the final.