Ben Waterworth's Roar Profile

Just us and the Stars haven’t won it sadly. Was tempted to put the Canes semi win when we eliminated the Stars after they went undefeated all season, but that narrowly missed out. Two grand final losses means third time lucky!

JackJumpers' NBL title was special - but where does it sit among Tasmania’s top ten sporting moments?

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AFL

Anyone who has been to a game at Blundstone since they upgraded it for the Cricket World Cup in 2015 knows the issues around getting there and out of there. They may have increased the capacity there but they did nothing to alleviate the issues around access, parking and public transport. There is also the issue around the residents near the stadium, given they vocally blocked light towers being installed for years, as well as the push for AFL games to be played there and every other upgrade that has been proposed or implemented. There is really nothing more you can do to Blundstone to make it any better and fix any of the issues. The new stadium is in a perfect location, brings way more benefits to the city and state and in the long term would be a massive investement that would pay off in droves.

As for the north/south divide, that’s never going away. But look at the JackJumpers and how that has worked. They play games at the Silverdome in Launceston and the majority of games in Hobart at the DEC and it works. Playing some games at York Park will still help alleviate some of that for the northern fans in a similar way to saw GWS playing some games at Canberra. York Park itself is an overrated ground which is horrible to watch football at, but serves the purpose for the northern fans who don’t want to travel a couple of hours south.

At the end of the day, a new stadium is greatly needed for Tasmania, and while the AFL has been hard on us when it comes to forcing it as part of the deal, it will be something that will greatly appreciated in decades to come when all of this drama is just an afterthought.

How Tasmania's AFL dream could be killed by a $750 million dilemma

It was actually Fisichella who took the seat in 2005, Alonso was already at the team. It’s a move that Webber has openly said he regrets to this day as he went with his heart over his head given the history of Williams and the Aussie connections based on Alan Jones and his past at the team.

'He is going to do it at some point': Piastri on track to break Australia’s 44-year F1 drought

I meant in reference to we will never know if he did it deliberately, or if it was genuinely a mistake as he claimed

Australian Grand Prix talking points: Sainz solidifies reputation, controversial Alonso penalty the right call, Haas getting better

You might like an article I did that is coming up Stuart, sat down with Logan yesterday so stay tuned!

Australian F1 Grand Prix full schedule: Albert Park, Melbourne 2024

Great to have another F1 writer on board, welcome!

Bahrain Grand Prix predictions: Ricciardo just warming up, Piastri persistent, but it's Mad Max's world

Feb

If he did that then to me that would solidify his greatness. Would love to see it. Even if he failed (which, let’s be honest, he would), it would give him the respect to at least have the balls to try it

F1 pre-season team power rankings: 'If you’re not a Red Bull fan, 2024 is going to be another long season'

VCARB sounds like medical procedure, one that I wish would remove that god awful name from the sport

F1 2024 Preview: An endurance test for drivers as the season is set to go boldly longer and further than ever before

I may not agree with your Mick pick but it would make me a very happy man to be wrong

F1 season predictions: Young gun for Mercedes seat, Ricciardo's redemption arc, surprise Aus GP winner

Great minds…

Great to see there are still some F1 fans on this site!

King Verstappen closes out 2023 in style, Lewis Hamilton's sneaky scuttlebutt: Abu Dhabi talking points

Agree, but you can’t take away the fact that winning 19 out of 22 of them is incredibly impressive

Yeah I mean much easier track for him to compete at and much closer to Yuki this weekend. Be interesting to see how the race goes

Sainz storms to Monza pole at Italian GP

Would love to read it Peter. Have you seen the great doco on him?

Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying Wrap: Home town delight for Verstappen in orange overload of front row

Aug

Welcome aboard Hannah! Great to have another motorsport writer join the very thin ranks here!

Red Bull sadly are just suffering slightly in the junior ranks it seems and the decent drivers they have they aren’t confident to promote them. Plus when you’ve got someone like Ricciardo waiting in the wings, you’d be silly not to use him. Definitely was not given the treatment he deserved at McLaren despite his shortcomings, so this is a real chance to showcase how talented everybody knows he is.

Ricciardo makes shock return as De Vries sacked with immediate effect, but do other drivers deserve the opportunity more?

Jul

You are correct. Got my my math off. True number is 57% of races Ferrari have entered and 55% of all F1 races have had Ferrari on the podium. Still impressive

Austrian Grand Prix talking points: you get a penalty! And you get a penalty! And you aaalll get a penalty!

Tsunoda is very entertaining, harsh for him to have two weekends where he should’ve gotten points and then taken away from him. He has been driving very well this season

Spanish Grand Prix talking points: At least the rest of the field is unpredictable

Jun

Obvious choice is Carlos but wouldn’t be surprised for a swap between Hamilton & Leclerc. There’s only so much Charles will take at Ferrari before he wants to explore his options

Monaco GP talking points: The perfect season continues

May

I hope De Vries gets a bit more of a chance. I think it’s unfair to dump him this early in the season. Red Bull are ruthless, but they have given far worse drivers more of a chance to shine. But agree, sadly don’t think Dan will get the seat. Liam Lawson I think is in with the best chance should that situation occur.

Top five Imola Grands Prix

I would say there is less demand for a new bridge than a stadium. And also the traffic lead in to that area at Mac Point and Kangaroo Bluff would be terrible and bottle neck more than it does where the Tasman Bridge is right now

Tasmania doesn't need a new stadium - shame on the AFL for forcing us into building one

The hill is incredibly outdated and I always thought they should’ve just extended the David Boon stand right across to the members/media area. And also remove that god awful shed of a grandstand that still exists next to the hill. But then you say you’re going to remove the hill, that opens up a whole other can of worms….

The difference is on many levels. Sadly the AFL wanted those teams more so they were always going to rush them. No matter what. Also both grounds were in places and areas where you could easily refurbish them with little to no opposition from surrounding areas or residents because they’re essentially in blank areas with no residents around them. And at the time both grounds were easily capable of hosting games as they were already doing so. I definitely would disagree that both were in worse conditions than UTAS or Blundstone in the state they are in now.

What I’m implying is that while yes, you can upgrade UTAS (because it needs it as it is by far the most overrated AFL ground in the country and a horrible place to watch football), you can’t upgrade Blundstone. There is no room to do anything with it and the residents there will not have it. It took them a decade to come to an agreement to put light towers there to allow night cricket games to be played there, and that has seen only 1 or 2 night AFL games ever played there due to the complaints from the locals. The parking there is atrocious, the bottle necking that occurs from all parts of the city coming there is terrible and the public transport is also substandard with the busses stuck in the traffic and only serving certain sections of the city and the ferries are okay but have their own issues. The point being is that Blundstone even with improvements will not be viable long term, especially as Hobart continues to grow. The stadium at Mac Point is in a prime location, is much needed and will be nothing but a benefit to the city and the entire state long term. Classic example is the Derwent Entertainment Centre. Forever a white elephant that did nothing in Glenorchy since the Devils left, now is booming with more expansion needed due to the success of the JJs.

Redeveloping two stadiums may be “cheaper” in the short term, but also they will always need upgrading constantly which will also add up and grow and inflate over time and still have the same issues that are always there.

I wouldn’t say it’s “immediately” as such. There have always been plans in place for something new for years so it’s not like this is completely a new idea. It’s just a way of making it possible now that you have a good reason for one.

100%. Although then you have an issue…you’re in Launceston…

Exactly. Parking and transportation there is also a nightmare. There is nothing you can do to it to improve it besides scrapping the hill and extending the stands around there, but then the residents…yeah. Massive problem

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