🏎 The Fast And The Furious

Time to party, it's Friday, 18 March

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Lucy Watkin are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 9.30 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching this weekend

🏉 Friday, 8.05pm - NRL - Roosters v Sea Eagles - SCG, Sydney - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

🏏 Saturday, 12.00pm - World Cup - Australia v India - Eden Park, Auckland - Foxtel, Kayo

🏉 Saturday, 2.10pm - AFLW - Kangaroos v Dockers - Arden Street Oval, Melbourne - Foxtel, Kayo, 7Mate

🏉 Saturday, 5.10pm - AFL - Giants v Swans - Accor Stadium, Sydney - 7Mate, Foxtel, Kayo

🏀 Saturday, 8.00pm - NBL - Phoenix v Kings - John Cain Arena, Melbourne - Foxtel, Kayo

⚽ Sunday, 4.05pm - A-League Women - City v Victory - AAMI Park, Melbourne - 10 Bold, Paramount+

🏁 Monday, 2.00am - F1 - Bahrain GP - Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain - Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEDT

🏁 Start your engines

Do you feel the need, the need for speed? No, this isn’t a promo for the new Top Gun film. This is just a pump up to get you excited for the new Formula 1 season that starts this weekend.

Golden points: Last year’s controversial final race is still being talked about, but the drivers need to move on because the first race is in Bahrain in a couple of days.

• There have been heaps of drivers on the move in the off-season, but defending champ Max Verstappen is still at Red Bull, and main rival Lewis Hamilton still drives a Mercedes.

• Good luck stopping Red Bull because they’ve got a very fast car. That’s pretty handy in this sport.

• It’s not just the drivers who are shifting gears. F1 bosses have brought in a few changes to cars and rules for the new season.

They said it: “I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m too down in the slope; I still feel like I'm relatively at the top.” - Hamilton says he’s more dangerous than ever. 

Watch it: There’s great news for Aussie fans with the F1 to return to Melbourne in April. But before that, it’s all about Bahrain. You can catch qualifying this weekend on Foxtel and Kayo before the big race on Monday at 2.00am (AEDT).

🏉 Storm stun Souths, Carlton give Tigers the Blues

It was a wild old night of footy in Melbourne on Thursday. Things looked to be going to script as the Melbourne Storm and Richmond Tigers held big leads deep into their matches, but that's when their opponents improvised and it made for 2 thrilling finishes.

Golden points: There has never been a more fitting category because the Storm survived a huge comeback to beat the Rabbitohs in golden point in the NRL. 

• Things looked nice and easy for the Storm when they led 14-0 after 66 minutes, but 3 tries in 10 minutes, then a 2-point field goal from Latrell Mitchell made it all even after 80 minutes.

• This was Storm coach Craig Bellamy's 500th NRL match, so Melbourne fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen made sure it was a win with a field goal to win 15-14.

• Across the road at the MCG in the AFL, the Tigers looked likely to make it 12 wins in a row against Carlton when they led by 20 points in the 4th quarter.

• But out of nowhere Carlton kicked 7 goals in the final term to storm home (no pun intended) to win 101-76 and snap the losing streak.

Watch it: Check out the highlights from the Storm's golden point win.

🏉 It's not too late to say sorry

The Blues stunned the Tigers in the AFL last night, but that game was overshadowed by the fallout from the post-match press conference involving Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge.

Golden points: Beveridge was unimpressed with a story written by Fox Sports reporter Tom Morris. He let him know about it after the game, but he’s now apologised.

• The Bulldogs and Beveridge put out a statement saying his comments overstepped the mark.

• The club will donate $20,000 to a charity that deals with mental health. 

• The story has shifted to Morris who has been stood down by Fox Sports after a couple of inappropriate videos allegedly featuring him were released on social media. 

What’s next: The show must go on. Round 1 continues with St Kilda playing Collingwood tonight at 7.50pm (AEDT). You can catch it on Channel 7, Foxtel and Kayo.

⚽ Liverpool are on cloud 9 

Liverpool FC might just be bigger than the Beatles. The football team is now just one point off the lead in the English Premier League, and You’ll Never Walk Alone is being played more than Hey Jude on some jukeboxes. 

Golden points: We’ve got a title race! That didn’t seem likely a few weeks ago, but Liverpool has won 9 league games in a row.

• Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 on Thursday to close the gap on Man City with 9 games to play.

• Make sure you keep 11 April free in your diary because the teams will play at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in a match that could decide the title. 

• These teams know how to lift a trophy. They have combined for the past 4 EPL titles, with City winning 3 of them. 

What’s next: We’ve got to wait a bit to see how this plays out because neither team has an EPL game this weekend. They’ll be busy playing in the FA Cup. But you can check out the remaining fixtures to see who they still have to play. 

⛳ Beware of the rebels with a cause 

Remember the Saudi Golf League? It was meant to be all over before it started. Well, it’s back. And the money on offer is ridiculous.

Golden points: LIV Golf Investments is a very rich company that is headed by Aussie Greg Norman. He’s funded by the Saudis and isn’t backing down from this breakaway league.

• Plenty of players have distanced themselves from the league, but they might reconsider when they hear the prizemoney on offer.

• Reports say there will be about $350 million up for grabs over 8 tournaments starting in London in June.

• The money is tempting, but the PGA - that’s the Professional Golfers’ Association - says players who join the league could be banned from the PGA for life.

They said it: “We have a long-term vision and aim to grow. I believe we have a very bright and exciting future.” - Norman says this is the future of golf. 

👀 Quick singles

🏏 Australian cricket legend Rod Marsh was farewelled at his funeral in Adelaide yesterday. Marsh received lovely tributes from his brother Graham, teammate John Inverarity and the other half of the legendary duo Dennis Lillee.  

⚽ The Socceroos have named their squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia. The Aussies must win both games to have any chance of automatically qualifying for the Qatar World Cup. 

🏀 NBA superstar Steph Curry is going to be out for a while after he sprained his foot in Golden State’s loss to the Celtics. There is some good news for Warriors fans because it sounds like he’ll be back before the playoffs.

🎾 Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev have received some good news after a tough couple of months off the court. Djokovic is free to play at the French Open as long as COVID cases don’t rise, and Medvedev and other Russians can play as long as they compete as neutrals. 

🏈 NFL commentator Joe Buck has lived up to his name after he signed a monster deal with ESPN to call Monday night games. He’ll be joined by Troy Aikman after the pair spent years together at Fox Sports. 

⚽ It’s a big weekend for women’s football with a Melbourne derby to decide who plays Sydney FC in the A-League Women Grand Final. Local rivals Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory play on Sunday afternoon.

🙃 Left of field…

Nick Kyrgios is used to pretty tough press conferences after tennis matches. But he had a blast yesterday dealing with some pretty easy questions from the crowd after he cruised into the Indian Wells quarters without breaking a sweat.

Golden points: There are no highlights from his match because his opponent, Jannik Sinner, couldn’t play because he was sick. Kyrgios could have gone home or hit a few balls but decided to stay on court to do a quick Q&A with the crowd. 

• That was all a bit of fun, but his focus is now on Rafael Nadal. The pair play today and it’s fair to say the Spaniard is so hot right now.

• Nadal is 18-0 in 2022. That’s good. In fact, only one other man has ever done that. 

• Like a lot of players on tour, there’s been a bit said between these two. But Nadal has done most of the talking on court with 5 wins from 8 clashes.

Watch it: You can watch Kyrgios's Q&A below and catch his QF on Foxtel and Kayo from 9.00am. 

📽 The highlight reel

It's hard enough hitting one game-winner in the NBA. Not for Spencer Dinwiddie, who has nailed shots in consecutive games to seal wins for the Mavericks, including this buzzer-beater against Brooklyn.

📸 Photo finish

New Carlton coach Michael Voss is 1/1 this AFL season. Still looks fit enough to play. 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

Valtteri Bottas was on the podium and now drives for Alfa Romeo.