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The Roar

Ben Pobjie

Expert

Joined August 2011

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Ben Pobjie is a writer and comedian whose promising rugby career was tragically cut short the day he stopped playing rugby and had a pizza instead. The most he has ever cried was the day Balmain lost the 1989 grand final. Today he enjoys the frolics of Wallabies, Swans, baggy greens, and Storm.

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Ben Pobjie
Expert
Ben Pobjie
Expert

Stop laughing, this is football

Is there anything more disgusting than a sportsperson being friends with their opponent? This eternal question came to mind this week after seeing Bernie Vince, after his Melbourne Demons went down in a close one to Geelong, chatting amiably with Cats star Patrick Dangerfield.

AFL
26
2018
Stop laughing, this is football
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India must be relieved the pitch eased out.

Who’d have thunk it? A few takes from the first Test

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Cricket
 
4w

If it doesn’t matter, why not bring Trevor Chappell out of retirement?

Who cares who opens the batting for Australia in the first Test?

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Cricket
 
Dec

God no, you’re thinking of the 80s

Was Graeme Pollock a great batsman?

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Cricket
 
Dec

You could’ve at least mentioned what people who DID see him bat said. Completely ignoring what eyewitnesses thought of Pollock is very convenient. And for someone who doesn’t think stats are everything, you’ve written an article judging Pollock on nothing but.

Was Graeme Pollock a great batsman?

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Cricket
 
Dec

Yes, he was.

See, that was easy.

Was Graeme Pollock a great batsman?

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Cricket
 
Dec

I thought Yeo was great *considering* he was out of position and lacking in a centre’s speed. But he was good “for a lock playing centre”. And Gutho was good too. A genuine backline replacement would still have been preferable. Even so, losing Tedesco will always be a huge blow no matter who replaces him. Just bad luck and you can have contingencies but you can’t eliminate luck from your game plan.

Six talking points from State of Origin Game 3

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League
 
Nov

I do!

The BBL's rules are okay

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Cricket
 
Nov

I think Cleary was very good, Cook was fine although vastly outshone by Grant, Walker went missing and the whole forward pack was a huge letdown. But if Tedesco stays on the field I still think NSW wins. His injury turned the game on its head – the effect hugely magnified by NSW carrying four forwards on the bench, which I think is always a bad move.

Six talking points from State of Origin Game 3

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League
 
Nov

1999 it must’ve been: NSW won 3-0 in 2000.

Six talking points from State of Origin Game 3

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League
 
Nov

Reckon you’ve given Allan five times as many points as he earned

State of Origin 3 player ratings: Queensland Maroons

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League
 
Nov

If Cordner is the GOAT, the club ain’t that strong in that position.

The Sydney Roosters' greatest NRL team

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League
 
Nov

That’s how good a judge Duncan was – he knew that Dave Brown would end up proving himself.

The Sydney Roosters' greatest NRL team

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League
 
Nov

I’d take Beetson over JWH every day of the week. I’d take Beetson over almost any other prop who ever took the field.

The Sydney Roosters' greatest NRL team

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League
 
Nov

I reckon weight gaps would close if you placed players in the same eras. Full-time professionals who spend days in the gym get to bulk up a lot more.

The Sydney Roosters' greatest NRL team

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League
 
Nov

Dan Frawley for Tupou. Viv Thicknesse for Hastings. Ray Stehr for Morley (can’t believe Morley was even considered). Bunny Reilly for Cordner.

The Sydney Roosters' greatest NRL team

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League
 
Nov

Oh come now, I bet you’ve read two or three bigger loads in your time.

For the love of God, stop letting the Wallabies play us like this

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Rugby
 
Nov

Benny’s Bumpkins

This underdog Maroons side is just as untrustworthy as the rest

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League
 
Oct

I think you mean they were slow out of the blocks in 2020, as you’d already covered their 2019 clash?

Missing from the Richmond dynasty? A legitimate rival

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AFL
 
Oct

You’ll get over the grand final one day.

Time to update the NRL rule book to reflect the actual rules

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League
 
Oct

Penrith isn’t far from Parramatta though, and if the Riverside Theatre isn’t enough of a draw for these guys…

The Panthers' greatest issue? Um, Penrith

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League
 
Oct

I always loathe the “what else was he to do” style of commentary. The fact is, if there is no way a player can prevent a try without breaking the rules, what he is *supposed* to do is let the try be scored. That’s the whole point of, you know, “rules”. Might as well see a player throw a pass ten metres forward to get a try and ask, “well what else was he supposed to do, there were defenders in the way!”

"I'm always honest", says Phil Gould who reckons his NRL grand final call wasn't biased

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League
 
Oct

You’re right. It’s entirely legal to tackl feet-first and kick the ball out of the hands of a player in the process of scoring a try. The bunker just made up a fictional rule in order to benefit the Storm. Good article.

The penalty try was wrong. Change my mind

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League
 
Oct

It’s not so much that Gould wants his team to win, as that he deludes himself into thinking they ARE winning, when they’re not.

Also, “witty”. Heh, good one.

The problem with 'bias': Why this Queenslander backs Phil Gould

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League
 
Oct

Greg Alexander, to his enormous credit, a while back decided he would not call Panthers games.

"I'm always honest", says Phil Gould who reckons his NRL grand final call wasn't biased

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League
 
Oct

They were more in touch with their feelings. They came out of the game more well-adjusted.

"I'm always honest", says Phil Gould who reckons his NRL grand final call wasn't biased

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League
 
Oct
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