By Adrian Warren
December 25th 2009 @ 12:25am
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Race greats amazed at growth of big event
One of the legendary names associated with the Sydney to Hobart says the massive modern day event is a different sport altogether to the one he graced in its early years.
Trygve Halvorsen who along with his brother Magnus, were overall winners of the Hobart on five occasions, are involved in the lead-up to the start [...]
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![For all the success of the NRL’s inaugural All Stars match – a bumper crowd and thrilling match – there’s a flaw in the concept that will blight our nation should it continue into the future. By pitting the best Indigenous players against the best of the rest, the NRL will continue to segregate race [...] Adrian Musolino: Sport should unite race and colour, not segregate](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/nrl-all-stars-wendell-sailor-th.jpg)
![I never used to like our national anthem. There was always something so bland about it, even when the best singers tried to put a unique rendition together.
But when the Australian national anthem was belted out via Sydney’s Olympic stadium PA in November, 2005, 80,000 fans changed my opinion of Advance Australia Fair.
I’d never [...] Benjamin Conkey: My favourite sporting anthems](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/sporting-anthems-socceroos-greece-th.jpg)
![Once again, the Champions League is dominated by English teams. This is all very surprising because by and large English sporting teams stink. They hardly ever have consistent sporting success.
Maybe it’s due to the scarcity of English players in the actual sides. Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United only had eight English players between [...] David Wiseman: Rename the EPL the Global Premier League](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/rename-epl-gpl-patrice-evra-th.jpg)
![So Pim Verbeek has cut Scott McDonald adrift. Good. It was overdue. Which is not to say McDonald is not a quality player – judged on his profile and goals he’s still our best sharpshooter in Europe.
But overall, in his 15 international appearances to date, he’s not performed to the standard required of a national-team [...] Jesse Fink: Verbeek was right to spike McDonald](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/verbeek-was-right-scott-mcdonald-th.jpg)
![Here is a fearless prediction: England will win the rights to host the 2018 Football World Cup tournament, and Australia will win the hosting rights to the 2022 tournament.
In 2018 it will be Europe’s turn to host the Football World Cup and England’s bid is for all sorts of reasons, financial, geographical and historical, far [...] Spiro Zavos: Australia will host the 2022 Football World Cup](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/socceroos-2018-egypt-blatter-lowy-th.jpg)
![It’s not often that the Carling Cup semi-finals take on major significance in England, but then it’s not often that the world’s richest club takes on the world’s most indebted with a place in a knock-out final at stake.
That the two teams hail from one of world football’s traditional hotbeds makes tonight’s Carling Cup showdown [...] Mike Tuckerman: English football is awash with stars – and debt](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/balance-power-epl-jay-spearing-th.jpg)
![Lyndon Bray, a good and unobtrusive New Zealand referee in his day, has made a great start to his job as SANZAR’s referees manager. And as rugby union is a game where complex laws try to impose a pattern on what really is organised anarchy, Bray’s interventions have created an environment where the Super 14 [...] Spiro Zavos: SANZAR referees to promote attacking rugby](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/union-state-of-origin-beale-horwill-th.jpg)
![When Graham Arnold met journalists for the first time as Central Coast Mariners coach this week, he was a cocksure picture of confidence and enthusiasm.
Some football followers might remember a time not so long ago when Arnold wasn’t so accommodating with the press.
But that time is past. Arnold this week began preparations to take over [...] Paddy Higgs: Graham Arnold deserves to be given a chance](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/graham-arnold-th.jpg)
![There seems to be a consensus amongst many long time league fans that the eighties were a golden period for the game. The game expanded beyond Sydney and the seeds were sown for the national competition that we have today. Good times.
There’s probably still many who wouldn’t mind if the game was the same [...] Gabriel Knowles: Memo NRL: bring back the five minute sin bin](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/memo-nrl-ben-cummins-th.jpg)
![ANZ Stadium is draining the lifeblood out of rugby league one game at a time.
There cannot be a worse venue to watch rugby league and in some perverse form of torture fans are being forced to turn up to the godless place with greater and greater frequency. To be precise it is 34 times [...] Steve Kaless: ANZ Stadium: The temple without a soul](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/hazem-el-masri-th.jpg)
![There’s been much debate on David Gallop’s handling of the Sonny Bill Williams affair. And we hear loud rumblings that rugby league is in poor shape in Australia and that change is needed. So I invited Roar editor, Zolton Zavos, to put his thoughts forward on why he thinks Gus Gould might provide the solution, [...] Steve Kaless: Should Gus Gould replace David Gallop?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/gus-gould-th.jpg)
![In wake of Geelong’s Matthew Stokes’ alleged possession and trafficking of cocaine, the AFL has again been forced to defend its illicit drugs policy, which was introduced in 2005 with the assistance of the AFL Players’ Association.
Stokes is facing criminal charges and there is no proof, at this stage, that he has actually taken any [...] Luke D'Anello: Forget the criticism, AFL’s drug testing not a soft hand](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/is-there-place-bump-ben-cousins-th.jpg)



