The Roar
The Roar

The Roar

Ant Sharwood

Expert

Joined September 2021

15.7k

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Hi. I wrote and talked about sport for about 15 years at Inside Sport, Alpha Mag, news.com.au, Network 10 (Sports Tonight) and more. Now I write books & mostly write and talk about weather and the environment as these are also my passions in life. But occasionally, I just can't resist ripping in and belting out a red hot sports yarn...

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Yeah that was me. News basically detonated the site from the internet so you can’t look up the old stories which is a shame because I’d like to. I remember one story where I compared the Twitter feed of Michael Clarke and the Dalai Lama and basically proved they were the same bloke! Those were the days…

Take your stats and shove ’em: Why I rate Benji the greatest player of his era

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League
 
2021

This question has been bothering me all day. Think I’ll take the Old El Paso defence: why can’t we have both!

Take your stats and shove ’em: Why I rate Benji the greatest player of his era

View Comment
League
 
2021

Yeah that’s a point I could and perhaps should have made in my story. The influence of a player’s style (on the kids as much or perhaps even more than on other players) has to be a huge part of how you assess their overall career.

Take your stats and shove ’em: Why I rate Benji the greatest player of his era

View Comment
League
 
2021

The author is what you might call a starry-eyed realist. If I was picking a XIII to save my life from the 21st century to date, I probs wouldn’t squeeze him into my starting lineup (utility, perhaps). But as I’ve said, I loved watching him play more than anyone else, and such players are not always the very, very best of the very, very best

Take your stats and shove ’em: Why I rate Benji the greatest player of his era

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League
 
2021

Good to hear. Usually a player leaves your club and you’re like, OK, whatever, I don’t care what happens to them now. I hate the Roosters and very much subscribe to the sombrero theory, so I have no interest in James Tedesco’s feats there (although I admit to loving watching him play for NSW). But I have followed Benji at all clubs. I live quite near Kogarah Oval and used to get along there to see him play for the Dragons. Definitely cheering for the Bunnies this weekend on the back of my attachment Benji, so good luck, SPM!

Take your stats and shove ’em: Why I rate Benji the greatest player of his era

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League
 
2021

Fair point. He was always at his best with a good 7. After all, Benji threw the flick pass, but Prince won the Churchill. The Tigers were arguably their best in that era when a young but very effective Robert Lui was their half from 09 to 11. So he didn’t control a game the way Thurston did. Indeed, I reckon Thurston was far and away the best player in the 2005 GF. I just loved watching him play tho. He gave me more joy than any other player. And that’s my last word here, as it is in the story.

Take your stats and shove ’em: Why I rate Benji the greatest player of his era

View Comment
League
 
2021
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