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The Roar

The Roar

Ben Waterworth

Roar Pro

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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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
 
2d

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
 
2d

Exactly. Sharing is caring folks!

Why can’t Perth hold the Boxing Day Test?

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Cricket
 
4d

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
 
4d

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
 
4d

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
 
4d

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
 
1w

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
 
1w

Um…

The AFL fixture is biased towards Victorian clubs

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AFL
 
5d

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
 
1w

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
 
5d

#PurpleArmy

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

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Cricket
 
2w

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
 
1w

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
 
1w

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
 
1w

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
 
2w

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
 
2w

This is gold

The official early season A-League report cards

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Football
 
2w

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
 
2w

1. I think the main difference over people having that opinion is that the large majority of F1 fans can agree that this decade hasn’t been the greatest. No decade has ever seen so limited amount of World Champions and such a dominance from one team/driver without any significant changes to curtail that. Two seasons of great fighting sure, but the remaining 8, not so much (with a few exceptions). The early 2000s were bemoaned for being boring but even then you had tight fights in 2000 and 2003 and then every other year turned out to be fantastic for title battles. This decade is just far too outweighed by the lacklustre.
2. Overtaking shouldn’t be easy. That’s my point. These are the best drivers in the world. They should fight for it and not be aided by something to help them do that. Watching them battle without any assistance is great and one of the reasons I watch this sport. I agree with you above about strategy being apart of it and I’m not one of these people who want the sport to increase overtaking for the show because it’s not all about overtaking. But when it is, I prefer it to be natural and not aided.
3. Brazil rarely throws out a bad race. So yes, it is a perfect finale for the season.
4. I think the Dutch GP will have issues as the circuit is notoriously tight and difficult to overtake. Yes the atmosphere will be incredible, maybe the best we’ve ever seen. But sadly an atmosphere does not make a great race. Vietnam will be very interesting and I’m excited to see F1 enter a completely new territory.
5. I remember when Ricciardo came in and Webber was there too. That was the first time I ever got to experience having two Aussies in at once. I remember growing up we had no Aussies so getting Webber in was a massive deal. So having two Canadian drivers to me almost feels the same as having two Aussies in at once. It’s exciting. And you will like Stroll one day I swear…

Five talking points from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Motorsport
 
2w

I’m also planning on doing some decade articles so it’ll be interesting to see what we come up with as I think we’ll have some very different viewpoints it sounds!

Five talking points from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Motorsport
 
2w

If I could agree with your comment anymore I would hug you. I think you summed it up well. People seemingly distinguish this era in a similar way to the early 2000s, but they are completely different based on how things changed up.

Sadly I think the early 4 years get lumped into the decade in general as people perceive them as ‘boring’ too given Vettel won every year. But you’re right, two and a half of those seasons were gems, and even the latter half of 2013 and 2011 were memorable for different reasons.

I’m planning on doing some articles on the decade in general, and it’s definitely not the greatest highlight for the sport when the majority of highlights happened in the first couple of years.

Five talking points from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Motorsport
 
2w

Sorry, must’ve misread this. I don’t seem to see a C Judd in the team. I’ll refresh to make sure I got the proper team to load

Revealing The Roar's AFL team of the decade for the 2010s

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AFL
 
2w

You know one thing that I completely forgot to add and I was planning on it was the finish of the two Alfa cars. 4th and 5th. Incredible. Sure some results went their way but I mean it did for Gasly and Sainz as well. Think back two seasons ago to imagine we would see those two cars in those positions. Great performance by both drivers!

Five talking points from the Brazilian Grand Prix

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Motorsport
 
4w

Yeah can’t imagine blogging about parts of it were that exciting. You do a great job with it though!

Five talking points from the Brazilian Grand Prix

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Motorsport
 
4w
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