The Press Box - Episode 26
The Examiner’s Rob Shaw, Brian Allen and Ben Hann unpack and discuss the sports news across Northern Tasmania.
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to episode 26 of the Pressbox, the Examiner's weekly sportscast where we take
00:12 a look at the latest sports news across northern Tasmania.
00:15 Josh Partridge missing in action this week.
00:17 We think he might have torn a hamstring bowling his 120km Rockets.
00:22 Rain had a big impact on cricket over the weekend, but we still managed to get plenty
00:26 of local and national action in across the north.
00:29 Brian's got a lovely story coming up from Cricket North, but we're going to start with
00:32 the WBBL where I went along and watched the Perth Scorchers absolutely thrash the Hurricanes
00:37 by 98 runs.
00:39 Obviously a lot went wrong on the field, but we're a bit more concerned about what happened
00:43 off the field and why so few people attended.
00:47 Yeah, obviously you said you could probably count the amount of people at the ground while
00:52 you were actually at the stadium.
00:54 Why do you think the crowds were so poor?
00:55 There was no official crowd figure announced, even though, like you say, you could count
00:59 it within the space of an over.
01:02 But it was just a few hundred at best.
01:05 It was one of the worst crowds I've ever seen at Utah Stadium.
01:08 It was a shame because there were international players on show.
01:13 Sophie Devine was magnificent.
01:15 The Hurricanes underperformed, but there was a lot there to enjoy.
01:19 I think the game was really poorly promoted.
01:21 There was almost no promotion leading up to the game.
01:25 So many Launceston people said to me over the weekend, "I didn't know there was a game
01:28 on.
01:29 I would have gone along if I'd known about it."
01:31 We ran a few stories last week.
01:33 They did put up Elise Villani and Jude Coleman the day before the game, but there were no
01:40 school visits.
01:41 There were no open training sessions, kids clinics, all things that the Jackjumpers do
01:46 really well that I think would have promoted the game a lot better.
01:51 Yeah, okay Rob.
01:53 So I guess rather than us digging the boot in about this sort of thing, what can be improved?
01:59 What can we do to make things better?
02:01 Yeah, that's a good point.
02:04 We're very conscious about the fact that it's three blokes talking about women's sport underperforming.
02:08 But basically the female athletes, they performed.
02:12 They were there and they were high quality.
02:13 It was a good sporting contest.
02:15 It was just the fact that it wasn't promoted well enough.
02:18 What I think they can do is take lessons from other clubs that come and play here.
02:23 Hawthorne do it very, very well in the AFL and have done for 20 odd years.
02:27 You can't go past Utah Stadium the week before a Hawthorne game without seeing big banners
02:31 saying "We are playing the Bulldogs here at 2.10 on Sunday afternoon.
02:35 Come along and watch us."
02:36 There was nothing like that.
02:38 You wouldn't know that the game was on.
02:40 And I think they can learn from that.
02:42 There's probably a few factors out of their control as well.
02:47 BBL and WBBL are largely family orientated sporting events.
02:51 It's who they market for.
02:54 We're in late October.
02:56 It's still school time.
02:59 You've got the game coming up on Monday, which we'll talk more about.
03:03 Families it's probably not that easy just to find time for these things during school.
03:08 It's probably the luxury that BBL has that WBBL doesn't have.
03:12 But you're right.
03:13 They've not helped themselves.
03:14 They haven't really given themselves a chance really.
03:16 And you were saying to me how well the Jackjumpers do this sort of thing.
03:20 Yeah, so the Jackjumpers pretty much sell out all of their games.
03:23 It's often noted around the league just how alive the atmosphere is down at Hobart or
03:28 up here in Launceston when the Jackjumpers are playing at home.
03:32 And I think a fair reason why they are such a successful organisation to start off with.
03:38 Well the Hobart Hurricanes women have never made a grand final and have only made the
03:42 finals a couple of times.
03:45 And the crowds probably are a little bit parallel with that.
03:50 It's probably being a little bit harsh.
03:51 But yes, something needs to change.
03:56 It's not a problem exclusive to Launceston but it's a Launceston issue for sure.
04:01 And the point was also made that on Friday night Australia were playing in a World Cup.
04:07 The Australian men were playing in a World Cup and it was live on TV.
04:11 So a lot of people stayed at home and watched Australia play in a World Cup game rather
04:14 than come along and watch a WBBL game.
04:17 So they had that going against them as well.
04:19 I guess, I just walked past the WBBL on Friday and it was actually a really nice night in
04:25 Launceston and so I guess you kind of figure like, oh the weather conditions are good for
04:32 cricket and for attending a live event.
04:35 So I guess that worked in their favour.
04:38 But yeah, as you guys are highlighting there were a few things that aren't in their favour
04:45 or out of their control.
04:47 Other things as part of that are like the TV broadcast.
04:51 That can affect the time that matches are played.
04:54 But I understand that there's also another match coming up on Monday Ben?
04:59 Yeah, so that's 6.10pm on Monday.
05:03 This coming Monday they're playing I believe the Sydney Thunder.
05:07 So you know, you hope obviously for one the Hurricanes have a better result.
05:11 Being beat by 100 runs is a pretty significant loss in women's or in any T20 career.
05:19 But you can't really see a significant improvement in the crowd even if the whole of Launceston
05:25 watches this show and goes well let's hop along.
05:29 Monday is not very convenient.
05:31 As I said there's a lot of other factors in play.
05:34 But if you can come along it's really entertaining.
05:37 It's really good cricket.
05:39 As Rob said before it's domestic and international quality players.
05:45 You won't be disappointed at all.
05:47 It's just for some people it's just a bit too tough on a Monday night.
05:51 And we've also got the first BBL game of the season will be in Launceston.
05:57 Monday December 11th against the Sydney Sixers.
05:59 But again it's a Monday night which doesn't do them any favour.
06:02 You were saying that the competition is smaller this year so that's why we've only got one
06:05 fixture instead of two.
06:06 Yeah so instead of 14 games I believe it's only 8 games per team.
06:11 Which you can understand why it went from 2 to 1 and makes sense as a ratio.
06:16 But yeah you hope people will come around.
06:19 I think BBL has had its moments here and there.
06:22 Obviously as a league it's probably plateaued a bit in the last few years.
06:27 But this Tasmanian team looks really good and exciting this coming season.
06:31 Hopefully a bit more international men's players can play during this tournament.
06:36 You saw how much of an effect it may have on Steve Smith and David Warner playing those
06:39 couple of games.
06:40 So hopefully we can see a bit more of that.
06:42 It also doesn't do the competition many favours when they play games at neutral venues.
06:46 And I remember going to a non-Hurricanes game played at Invermay Park here a couple of years
06:50 ago and at least Perry was playing in the game.
06:53 There were some high profile players but again not many people were there.
06:57 It was a non-Tasmanian game and yet it's quality cricket.
07:00 It would be great to watch them but you're never going to get big crowds in that situation.
07:03 No, no, not at all.
07:05 But there's time for this to change.
07:07 It probably needs a bit more effort from Cricket Tasmania or Cricket Australia, whoever is
07:14 mainly involved.
07:15 It probably needs a bit more effort from the Launceston community to make an effort to
07:18 get that.
07:19 So just to recap, the Hurricanes play in Perth on Wednesday night, in Adelaide on Friday
07:24 and then they're back here for their second home game.
07:27 But our last, Launceston's last game for the WBBL that Monday at 6.10pm against Sydney
07:33 Thunder.
07:34 So moving to local cricket and Brian you've got a lovely story out of Cricket North this
07:37 week.
07:38 Yeah, yeah it's one of these great sort of bits of good luck really.
07:43 I was sitting looking at the live scores online at 4.30pm on Saturday and Mowbray's Ishang
07:52 Shah was on about 85 and Mowbray were chasing 215 and were probably in the 180s.
07:59 And I thought, should I go down and see what happens, like he's maybe going to score a
08:04 century, Mowbray might get the win, it could have really good story value.
08:11 And yeah, just sort of took the risk or whatever and went down.
08:20 And I ended up, the match just as it happened, I think it went on until about 6pm so I saw
08:25 about an hour of it in there and Mowbray slowly got towards the target and it just so happened
08:33 that it came down to a ball where Ishang not only hit his century but he also won the game
08:44 on the same ball.
08:45 And so, having this experience of, should I or shouldn't I go down, as the reporter
08:51 I was pretty happy with myself at that moment.
08:55 But also, it was a wonderful thing because he's hit it long, he's smacked it down the
09:03 ground, I don't think it quite went for four but it was near enough.
09:06 And halfway down the pitch him and Sam Artis, his teammate, they had a big hug after he
09:13 hit it, which you were watching that, but then at the same time you're hearing their
09:17 teammates on the sidelines going "Run 'em, run 'em" because they technically still needed
09:23 the run to win and as I say, I don't think it went for four.
09:27 So the guys on the sidelines are half cheering, half being like "Guys, win us the game!"
09:33 And it was one of those great human things where you're so caught up in something that
09:38 you forget what you're actually meant to be doing.
09:42 And I don't know if Ishan really knew, he'd just gone from 99 to 100 in that moment.
09:48 I want role, we'll let you call, go Eagles, go Eagles, we'll let the winnings call, you'll
09:57 see it in the storm.
10:00 That's a lovely story.
10:01 The only other example I can think of where a player completes his century and wins the
10:06 game in the same shot was another MoGo player because Ricky Pontoon once did it for Australia.
10:11 I think the game was in South Africa, I might be wrong on that, but yeah, he needed a six
10:14 to get his century and to win the game.
10:17 What does Ponting do?
10:18 Does he try and hit a six to win it?
10:22 I don't know.
10:23 I don't think so.
10:24 I think number one in his mind is a victory for Australia.
10:27 Well, I think he has tried.
10:32 Has it?
10:33 Ricky Ponting thinks it has, he's dancing down the field.
10:39 And he did it, so we've got that lovely MoGo connection with both those stories.
10:43 What are we up to this week, fellas?
10:45 Is it a busy weekend coming up?
10:47 Yeah, I mean just quickly on the cricket north stuff, it's all been pretty interesting.
10:51 South Mancester are 3-0, they've started the season really well.
10:57 Yeah, otherwise, we're at that stage now where we've crossed over to be playing the cricket
11:05 north-west teams, so I think we're in for a really good one-day combat.
11:11 And great northern laders, both men's and women's games were all rained off.
11:16 There wasn't a single ball bowled in either Darren Simmons' women's teams or Alistair
11:20 Taylor, who went down south with his side and they didn't get a ball in, so it was a
11:24 frustrating weekend in Premier League.
11:26 I guess your weekend will be dominated by coming up for the WBBL on Monday.
11:30 Yeah, there's also Jack Chalmers' play on Friday night down in Hobart, I believe they'll
11:35 play a Sunday game as well.
11:38 And there's also BMX National Championships going on this weekend, so over in Victoria
11:43 there's a lot of kids who will be making the trip up to the mainland and giving it their
11:48 all, so it'll be very exciting to see what happens.
11:49 And I know you want me to ask about this, I know Brian and I have both gone for the
11:52 short-sleeved shirts options, what shirt have you got on today, Ben?
11:55 Funny you ask that, Rob, completely unprompted.
11:58 This is my Tottenham shirt that I bought over in London to commemorate Ange Postakoglou
12:04 becoming the best starting manager after nine games in Premier League history.
12:09 We're going to have to cut it short there, thanks for joining us this week and hopefully
12:13 see you next week.
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