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The Roar

Ben Waterworth

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Joined July 2019

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Ben is a journalist and radio host currently living and working in New Zealand where he thankfully has retained his Australian accent and normal admiration for sheep since moving there in 2018. He has a particularly strong passion (and somewhat obsession) with Formula 1, as well as North American sports. Ask him about his beloved Raptors winning the NBA Championship in 2019. He'll happily engage in conversation with you about it again and again and and again.... www.benwaterworth.com

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I just don’t see it being that simple. Albon is just a huge question mark. I think he is a great talent and has the capability to put in strong performances but they really need somebody in that car who can match Max like Dan used to and really challenge each weekend. I don’t see Albon doing that consistently. Ferrari have a much more complete line-up and their pre-season really wasn’t as bad as people made out. I also feel they were wary of last year and coming out of the box showing too much, which led to way too many people predicting too big things for them. Hopefully we have both Ferrari and Red Bull being very even and giving Mercedes a good run for their money so we can have an exciting season

F1 team power rankings – pre-season

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Motorsport
 
3w

I can’t keep up! Just as somebody gets on a roll, somebody else comes up and takes them off their perch! It’s crazy!

NHL Weekly Wednesdays: McDavid, Habs and a new Devils GM

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Ice Hockey
 
Jan

Subtle brag: Calgary won the Battle of Alberta
Subtle hide in hole moment: Calgary then lost to Montreal

Carry on 😂

NHL Weekly Wednesdays: McDavid, Habs and a new Devils GM

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Ice Hockey
 
Jan

It’s too confusing having two competitions like the Davis Cup and ATP Cup. There needs to be some form of middle ground found and have a Tennis World Cup and have it every four years. Make it more prestigious and then present the Davis Cup as the trophy to keep the tradition up.

Inaugural ATP Cup a roaring success

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Tennis
 
Jan

I think you need to do some more research into your claims. Again, 2010 the team had a limited budget and was only Mercedes by name, it wasn’t fully owned by the company. It wasn’t until 2011 that the full investment kicked in, and by 2012 they were winning races, which they did before Hamilton arrived.

Reflecting on a decade of dominance in Formula One

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Motorsport
 
Dec

Agree. The sad thing is when I started this article I was for certain Vettel would come out on top. And as a Vettel fan and someone who has never liked Alonso, it was very hard for me to come up with the final conclusion. But I guess the stats and numbers don’t lie at the end of the day

Fernando Alonso versus Sebastian Vettel: Who was the best Ferrari driver in the 2010s?

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Motorsport
 
Dec

How did Brawn ‘fail’ at Mercedes? The first three years were all about getting things organised and setup. They basically were name only in 2010 with a small budget, and then gradually built it all up towards their eventual success. They still won races in 2012 and 2013, scored podiums and did fairly well. Wolf even admitted that people like Brawn and Schumacher and everyone pre-Wolf/Hamilton were instrumental in getting them to where they are now. Definitely don’t think it’s fair to say Brawn failed when at Mercedes

Reflecting on a decade of dominance in Formula One

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Motorsport
 
Dec

Great article Jawad. Great reflection of the decade. It’s hard to fathom that we only three World Champions over ten years. That to me sums up the state of the 2010s. I think we are all hopeful for better things to come in the 2020s. Bring it on

Reflecting on a decade of dominance in Formula One

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Motorsport
 
Dec

Exactly. Sharing is caring folks!

Why can’t Perth hold the Boxing Day Test?

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Cricket
 
Dec

This is fantastic Andie! I’m looking forward to this now! I think I mentioned to you in my last comment I’ve been meaning to do some more NHL based articles, but this is brilliant.

It was a terrible situation for the Flames to find themselves in, but can we just say what a move it made to be? How great have the Flames been since?! I’m biased of course, but I think it’s brought them back on track. Although if only the other Canadian teams could get into gear too. Did we ever think that Edmonton would be the leading Canadian contender? Something seems off there about that…

NHL Weekly Wednesdays: Walker, the reckoning and throat punches

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Ice Hockey
 
Dec

Yeah that race was crazy. I remember thinking at that moment it was as bad as Indy in 2005. It was pretty scary to watch actually.

I struggled with 2013. I actually don’t think it was that bad of a season to be completely honest, as I actually enjoyed seeing Vettel win so many consecutive races. That was even before I was a massive fan of his too. But on paper it wasn’t the greatest season and I can’t rank seasons down on Mercedes dominance if I’m going to ignore that season and pretend it was good.

Ranking a decade of F1 racing

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Motorsport
 
Dec

People seem so content on just wanting to change any form of traditional venue or event or anything now to ‘share it around’ that I think it’s time we just said screw it, let’s just share everything around. For this I propose the following:

– The Australian Open be shared around all tennis venues in Australia. In 2028 this will include Alice Springs being granted hosting rights as Tennis Australia tries to really connect with rural Australia
– The Australian Grand Prix be shared around all racing venues in Australia. Of particular excitement will be the 2023 edition held at Symmons Plains, bringing extra excitement to the race
– The Sydney to Hobart yacht race alternate race courses moving forward. It’s not fair that Sydney and Hobart always get to host this. Having the Perth to Melbourne or Brisbane to Darwin instead might be fair
– The Stawell Gift be run at any park in Australia. Why should it always be held in Stawell?
– Finally the Melbourne Cup. It’s ridiculous that Melbourne holds this every single year. It should be shared around at other venues capable of holding Australia’s major horse race

Let’s make it all fair kids!

Why can’t Perth hold the Boxing Day Test?

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Cricket
 
Dec

Haha yes. That is the great hope many people are saying! So never say never I guess!

And it’s great to see people contributing hockey on here! I need to do it more moving forward as it’s such a great sport that needs more coverage!

St Louis Blues vs Pittsburgh Penguins preview; featuring Aussie Nathan Walker

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Ice Hockey
 
Dec

I think you’ll see it rank pretty highly on my seasons ranking list!

The top ten F1 races of the decade

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Motorsport
 
Dec

Um…

The AFL fixture is biased towards Victorian clubs

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AFL
 
Dec

I actually made a slight faux pas with the amount of races and have asked for it to be edited. There were actually 198, which is reflected in my upcoming articles based around stats.

I definitely get why you would be used to a certain type of racing as that’s all you know. I remember when I started in the mid-90s before fully getting involved around 1997 and 1998, many people bemoaned the racing was ‘boring’ and that it ‘wasn’t as good as it used to be’. It happens basically every 10 or so years. I remember the early 2000s people were complaining all the time, then the late 2000s, early 2010s and now today. Each time people then say how ‘it was better 5 years ago’ and that is just how the sport works. Hence why I’m not overly hopeful 2021 is going to bring anything different.

We all have a our preferences to what we prefer and I understand how the sport works and that it isn’t always about pure action on track. That’s why I appreciate the subtleties of the sport, the strategy and everything else with it. We all have our differing viewpoints on what works better for the sport and what doesn’t, which adds to the beauty of watching F1

The top ten F1 races of the decade

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Motorsport
 
Dec

Finally. This is great and long overdue news and extremely excited. Still have to say that I’m sad Hobart missed out in 2020

Queensland confirm Olympic bid for 2032

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Olympics
 
Dec

#PurpleArmy

Mega BBL09 preview: Predicted XIs and how your team will go

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Cricket
 
Dec

I love your mention of a ‘Penguins bandwagon’. I barely ever see Penguins supporters in Australia but they do exist. I think the difference between a ‘Crosby bandwagoner’ and say a ‘LeBron bandwagoner’ is that people actually stick with the one team and don’t flip flop around. And plus Crosby seems like a genuine guy. So how can you not like him?

Walker getting in the starting line-up is a massive deal for him, and hopefully it can finally get him some traction and some stability in the NHL. The fact that the Australian media ignore his efforts is absolutely ridiculous. Him making the NHL is one of the biggest achievements in Australian sport and is so badly ignored.

This season is super intriguing and very hard to predict. Given how the playoffs turned out last year I for one am not exactly taking too much into account with how teams are sitting right now. And as a Flames and Ducks fan, I’m just hoping things can get a little bit better in this side of the support sphere…

St Louis Blues vs Pittsburgh Penguins preview; featuring Aussie Nathan Walker

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Ice Hockey
 
Dec

Nobody predicted us to do well last season and we topped the league. Sure we choked in the semi but hey, that’s what we do best at the Hurricanes: subvert expectations. Last year it was about being better than anybody thought, get that hype train going and then once again show the opposite of what was predicted.
Get on the purple army for 2019/20!

Hobart Hurricanes’ elusive title hopes hinge on lesser lights

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Cricket
 
Dec

It certainly is random to play in this tournament but you’re absolutely right about the experience on a global stage. It’ll be great to see the Socceroos up against these teams and gain some valuable experience

The Socceroos at the Copa America is a once-in-a-lifetime experience

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Football
 
Dec

Where are the Canadians?! I’m sure they went off during the tournament!

Rating the fans at the Rugby World Cup

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Rugby
 
Dec

It’s nice to read a balanced article about the Suns for once that doesn’t just criticise them. They’ve struggled yes, but it would be interesting to see a comparative article on their first 9 seasons versus the Brisbane Bears first nine seasons. Perhaps that gives me an idea…

The decade that was: Gold Coast Suns

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AFL
 
Dec

This is gold

The official early season A-League report cards

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Football
 
Dec

How selfish of a captain to put the interest of the team ahead of an individual. My gosh! You’re right! Sack him immediately!

Tim Paine must go

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Cricket
 
Dec
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