The Examiner’s Rob Shaw, Brian Allen, Josh Partridge and Ben Hann unpack and discuss a brilliant Women’s World Cup and all the sports news across Northern Tasmania.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Welcome to episode 18 of the Press Box,
00:10 the Examiner's Weekly Sportscast.
00:12 We're just gonna kick things off at the top
00:14 with a plug for our Junior Sport.
00:15 We mentioned it last week.
00:17 It's an annual thing that we hold that's very popular
00:20 and we're keen to get more entries into it.
00:22 We have lots of different categories that people can enter
00:26 and the presentation night is coming up in November.
00:28 So we'll put the QR code over the top of this.
00:31 That's the best way to enter.
00:32 Scan it on your phone and get the entries in.
00:34 It's always a great night
00:36 and we're keen to get more entries.
00:38 Just looking back on the last week,
00:39 it's hard to think that the last time
00:40 we did a sportscast six days ago,
00:42 the Matildas were still a chance to win the World Cup.
00:44 Well, since then, we've had the semi-finals
00:47 and then the third, fourth place playoff and the final.
00:50 We all know that the Matildas went out to England
00:51 in the semi, England then lost the final
00:53 to Spain on Sunday.
00:55 Fellas, what did you make of the tournament?
00:57 Ben, you've been following it very closely.
00:58 What did you make of it all?
00:59 - Yeah, I think I'll talk about Spain, I suppose,
01:04 to start off with the champions of the world.
01:06 What's remarkable about them is,
01:09 as you've touched on in your opinion piece,
01:13 they've got disarray going at all sides
01:15 outside of the pitch.
01:16 They had 12 players make themselves unavailable
01:20 from selection coming to this World Cup
01:22 due to complicated relationships with the manager.
01:27 Even look at the celebrations after the match,
01:30 the players are down one end of the pitch
01:31 and the manager and the staff
01:33 are all down the other end of the pitch,
01:34 as is the sort of dysfunctional nature
01:37 of that relationship between each other.
01:38 But they're still able to be pretty comfortably
01:42 the best team in the world, I thought,
01:44 to be brutally honest.
01:46 And as you've most given me a chance,
01:47 their first game in Australia is quite remarkable as well,
01:49 I thought.
01:50 But England, they put up a good fight,
01:53 but I think Spain, I think the best team won overall.
01:56 - Yeah, Spain was so quick and athletic and attacking.
02:01 They didn't look like losing that final until,
02:05 I mean, it got pretty tight in the last,
02:08 well, the 13 minutes of overtime.
02:10 (laughs)
02:11 But yeah, it was a lovely tournament.
02:15 It was great to watch the Matildas.
02:16 Sam Kerr's goal was something we'll always remember.
02:20 And yeah, hopefully there's plenty to come
02:25 in terms of female football development in the future.
02:27 - I think that moment will go down
02:29 as an iconic moment in Australian sport
02:30 in the same way as Freeman and John Aloisi's penalty.
02:34 It's all in the same stadium, incidentally.
02:36 But yeah, the roar in the stadium when that goal went in.
02:39 We did a reaction piece this week,
02:41 just talking to local supporters who went to the final.
02:44 And I also spoke to four people from local Tasmanian soccer
02:49 about what the tournament achieved
02:51 and what the legacy would be.
02:52 I think one of the most interesting reactions
02:54 was from Northern Rangers Soccer Club president,
02:56 Gavin Stone, who went to the final with his daughter, Lucy,
02:59 and there's a lovely picture of Lucy watching the game.
03:02 And Gavin said, when I asked him what was the legacy
03:06 and what needs to be done now
03:07 to start getting Tasmanians close to the Matildas,
03:09 he made the point, which, quite a political point,
03:13 but I think a lot of people would share it,
03:15 that we're thinking about building
03:17 a third elite footy stadium,
03:19 and we haven't got a decent rectangular stadium.
03:21 I know it's a bit of an old chestnut,
03:22 but he said, why are we building a third
03:26 when we haven't got one single soccer stadium?
03:28 How can we look at getting to that level of elite soccer
03:30 when we haven't got one?
03:31 And just wrapping up the local soccer scene at the weekend,
03:36 Launceston United women lost to Devonport 2-0,
03:39 which pretty much sealed second and third.
03:42 South Hobart have won the women's Super League.
03:44 It looks like Devonport will now come second
03:45 and United third.
03:47 In the NPL over the weekend,
03:49 Riverside got stuffed six-nil by Devonport.
03:51 Devonport will play at Launceston United Wednesday night,
03:55 and they pretty much already got the title,
03:58 but they just need it mathematically
03:59 so it could come down to goal difference,
04:01 which they've got a huge advantage of anyway,
04:03 but they should seal it on Wednesday night.
04:05 London United came closest, I think,
04:06 to their first point of the season.
04:08 They were one-nil up against Clarence,
04:10 but Clarence scored either side a half-time
04:11 to win the game 2-1,
04:13 and Lonnie City went down 2-0 at Kingborough.
04:16 So our main games of the week will be Lonnie United
04:19 against Devonport on Wednesday night,
04:21 and then there's two home games in the town on Saturday
04:25 in the NPL, United host Riverside and City host Zeppos.
04:29 On to footy, Josh, busy weekend in the State League.
04:33 - Yeah, it was a really big game
04:35 between North Launceston and Kingborough
04:37 here at Utah Stadium.
04:40 Coming into it, North had won 13 in a row
04:42 and kind of put everything on the line
04:43 to try and push for the minor premiership,
04:45 but unfortunately for them,
04:47 Kingborough got up by five points,
04:49 which effectively means they've finished in first
04:51 and will now host the qualifying final
04:53 in two or three weeks' time now,
04:55 which really puts them in the box seat, I guess,
04:58 to have the TSL final down south in Hobart,
05:01 which will be disappointing for all the Lonnie fans
05:03 that'll have to get on the bus,
05:03 but I think it's almost good for the league
05:07 in that we've had so many finals up in the North
05:09 recently, I think it'll be really interesting
05:11 to take it down south and see how that goes.
05:14 And then the other northern game that we're interested in,
05:17 Launceston went down to North Hobart by 17 points.
05:21 The second time they've been beaten on the road
05:23 by North Hobart, and the big story that came out of that
05:27 was that Brodie Palfreyman, Launceston's co-captain,
05:30 broke his leg, so best wishes to Brodie
05:32 and how he's gonna go with his recovery,
05:34 but yeah, it was pretty disappointing weekend
05:38 for Launceston on that behalf.
05:40 - How do you think finals are shaking up?
05:42 - So the top four is effectively set,
05:44 so Launceston, they haven't properly secured fourth,
05:49 like mathematically, North Hobart can still get into fourth,
05:53 but Launceston would be hoping to secure fourth
05:56 this weekend, I would've thought.
05:58 And yeah, I think it's gonna be really interesting.
06:01 The Blues, they're gonna struggle now without,
06:04 they've got, but basically they're two co-captains,
06:06 'cause Joby Harper's on the sidelines,
06:08 for personal reasons as well,
06:09 so they're gonna struggle without two of their big key men
06:12 in the middle there.
06:14 - With North, Launceston obviously have won
06:17 numerous premierships in the last 10 years,
06:19 but I think last year missed out on the finals only just,
06:22 and then this year have, until now,
06:25 was it a 13 match winning streak?
06:27 So that's an incredible turnaround.
06:28 What do you think was key to that, mate?
06:31 - It's just playing, a couple of years,
06:34 I think it was two or three years ago now,
06:35 they debuted 19 kids through the course of the year,
06:38 and I think the bulk of those kids are still playing now,
06:42 and that was two or three years ago,
06:43 so they've played with this same group now
06:45 for two or three years, which is completely different
06:48 to the group that won those premierships.
06:49 So I think they've got such a good footy programme at North
06:52 that they've been able to get these kids
06:54 playing footy together for the last two or three years now,
06:57 and it's really worked benefits for them so far.
07:00 - Cool, and it was nice, I saw in the interview
07:03 you did with Brad Cox Goodyear,
07:04 that a lot of coaches that lose by less than a goal
07:06 would be spitting dummies,
07:07 but he just said what a good game it was.
07:09 - Yeah, he was really happy, I guess,
07:11 with the advertisement that it made for TSL footy,
07:14 especially in the landscape that we're at at the moment,
07:16 where it mightn't necessarily be happening after next year,
07:19 it was really good to have that advertisement,
07:21 especially between a North and a South club as well,
07:23 it was really good to see a game like that.
07:26 - Onto NTFA, and obviously heading into finals
07:29 in all competitions coming up,
07:31 Devine, what's the story from you?
07:34 - Yeah, I'll just touch on a few things.
07:36 One is that Dalaran had the big freeze event on Saturday,
07:40 and it was just a fantastic day, weather looked good.
07:43 There was about 20 sliders,
07:47 there was people dressed up, of course,
07:49 like Santa Claus, a farm, and the like.
07:54 So, and then I think that the senior team,
07:57 the Kangaroo senior team,
07:59 jumped in the pool after the game.
08:00 So, yeah, it was,
08:03 it just, it seemed like a really good atmosphere,
08:05 and it was all for the cause of MND, motor neuron disease.
08:10 And yeah, did a story last week with Erin Rowles,
08:13 her father, Terry, passed away from motor neuron disease
08:16 in 2021, and he was like a huge Dalaran community man,
08:21 but the head trainer at the footy club for some years.
08:26 And yeah, just, she spoke about Terry's Shed,
08:31 which is, yeah, essentially,
08:34 what the equipment, medical equipment at Terry,
08:36 and also others with MND in the community have used.
08:41 And he, and with donations,
08:44 they've got that medical equipment in a shed,
08:47 and it's for people that have MND now
08:50 and into the future to help them.
08:51 So, yeah, just, and part of the donations
08:55 are where you can go towards that shed.
08:57 So, a great thing.
08:59 And in terms of looking ahead,
09:02 it's finals time for the NTFA,
09:04 and I'll cover the Premier.
09:06 So we've got South Launceston v. Roche-Rolie
09:09 in the men's qualifying final on Saturday.
09:12 And then we've got Longford v. Bracknell
09:15 at Longford on Sunday, which, yeah, look,
09:19 this is something we've touched on many times now,
09:23 but this is one of the tightest finals races,
09:26 or it'll be one of the tightest finals series you'll see
09:31 in the NTFA Premier.
09:32 So I'd advise people to get to a game.
09:34 - If you had to bet your house on it now,
09:36 who would you say is gonna win it?
09:37 - Oh, gee, it's hard, like--
09:41 - This is gonna make you no friends, by the way.
09:42 - I know, yeah, I know, but it's part of the job, isn't it?
09:46 Okay, so Hillwood have won a slew of games
09:51 to open the season.
09:52 They came in seventh last year, they finished on top,
09:55 they've recruited well, they look very strong,
09:58 and they were just a bit too slick for Longford,
10:01 who won the Premiership last year a few weeks ago.
10:04 So Hillwood look very good.
10:07 I'm pretty big on South Launceston,
10:10 just because I feel as though Jay Blackberry,
10:14 who's come back from Launceston Footy Club,
10:17 is the elite player of the game this season.
10:22 And it must be said that Jordan Cousins
10:24 is right up there too from Rotorua.
10:26 I think those two are the top two.
10:28 I think with Jay Blackberry and Cody Lowe,
10:32 the Ruckman at South, they're two of the best players,
10:35 and I just feel like that gives them a bit of an edge,
10:38 and they're pretty strong across the board,
10:39 but I'd say South are sort of the one
10:44 I'd consider favorites.
10:46 - There you have it, Brian has just put his house
10:47 on South Launceston.
10:48 (laughing)
10:50 Ben, what's happening in NTFA world?
10:52 - Well, plenty happened on the weekend.
10:54 Probably the best game I've seen since moving down here
10:58 was on the weekend between Lillydale and St. Pat's,
11:01 four points difference.
11:02 Lillydale got to a seven goal start,
11:05 and St. Pat's pegged them back
11:07 in a really, really high quality game of football
11:10 in really good conditions.
11:12 There was a few, it was a really close tense last quarter.
11:15 You know, there was a big mark taken by Trent Griggs.
11:20 You know, 25 meters out, straight in front,
11:22 you probably thought that one was gonna be the one
11:25 that got Lillydale out of the line, he missed,
11:27 and now they have to, you know,
11:29 they are playing at home this weekend against Perth,
11:31 but they're playing an elimination match,
11:33 and instead of playing Old Scotch
11:34 with another double chance,
11:35 they'll go to St. Pat's,
11:37 who will play at NTCA ground for that one,
11:39 so that's really exciting.
11:40 The men's and the women's,
11:42 the Premier Division kicks off,
11:43 as Brian alluded to there,
11:45 it's just elimination final this weekend.
11:48 We have Old Scotch playing South Launceston, I believe,
11:53 that's also, that's at Youngtown, actually,
11:56 so that's-- - Good save this week.
11:58 Well done, mate.
11:59 - Just getting used to this sort of--
12:01 - Removing all the notes down.
12:01 - Ground stuff, yeah.
12:02 - Just to back you up.
12:04 - And then in the Div 1 women,
12:07 it's the qualifying final this week,
12:09 so the winner of this goes straight into the grand final.
12:11 It's between Mia De Valle and Deloraine,
12:14 who have been comfortably the best two teams
12:15 in the competition, the loser will play Georgetown,
12:19 that one's at NTCA on Sunday.
12:20 - Sounds like we're all in for a busy weekend.
12:23 Don't forget to get your entries in for our junior sport,
12:26 have a look at that QR code and get your entries in.
12:29 Thanks for tuning in and see you next week.
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