The Examiner’s Rob Shaw, Ben Hann & Brian Allen unpack and discuss the sports news across Northern Tasmania.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Welcome to episode 36 of the Press Box,
00:10 The Examiner's weekly sportscast.
00:12 Josh Partridge seems to be under the impression
00:14 he's deserved some sort of annual leave,
00:16 so he's not with us this week.
00:17 But delighted to welcome back new dad, Brian, welcome.
00:21 - Thank you, Rob, thank you, it's good to be back.
00:23 - Good, good to have you back.
00:26 Plenty to talk about this week,
00:27 from cricket north through to Tasmania's involvement
00:30 in four different national competitions.
00:31 We're gonna kick off with cricket north.
00:33 It was a good weekend for Westbury, Brian.
00:35 - It was, it was a cricket bonanza on the weekend.
00:37 And Westbury, yeah, they achieved something big.
00:42 They played in three different formats across three days,
00:46 and they beat three different opponents.
00:48 So to start with, they beat Riverside
00:51 in the 2020 grand final on Friday night.
00:54 It was a well-attended game.
00:56 Riverside, as a club, put on a great night, a great event,
00:59 that had about 200 plus people there.
01:02 And then on Saturday, it was the second half
01:07 of Westbury's two-day against Launceston,
01:09 and they got the job done.
01:10 They were in the box seat anyway,
01:11 but they finished strongly.
01:13 Feature of that day was that Adam House
01:16 and his 15-year-old son, Christian, played together,
01:18 which was-- - Always a lovely story.
01:20 - Yeah, great story, and Christian, he got a bat and a bowl.
01:24 So yeah, what a great thing for a young guy
01:28 to be making his first debut alongside his dad.
01:31 - Yeah, that's a good day for the dad, isn't it?
01:33 The dad would have been very proud.
01:34 - Yes, yes, so I was loving talking to them afterwards.
01:37 And then on Sunday, the Shamrooks beat South Launceston
01:41 in the one-day semifinal, and have progressed
01:44 to the grand final, which is coming up this weekend.
01:46 So what an effort.
01:48 I think it shows you Westbury's depth,
01:51 especially at first grade level.
01:54 They have been at the dominant side of this competition
01:58 in the recent years, but yeah, to achieve the result
02:03 they got over three different formats was a great effort.
02:06 But yeah, you were covered Sunday, Ben.
02:09 What did you think?
02:10 - Yeah, well, they've only lost two games all year,
02:12 like all summer.
02:13 It's a remarkable effort.
02:14 I spoke to Ollie Wood after the Sunday game.
02:19 He was pretty tired, as you can imagine,
02:21 having played in all three.
02:22 And he pretty much said, "Look, that sort of next man up
02:25 "that they've been able to produce so often,
02:28 "it's just the culture of the club, which is just so..."
02:31 Success has sort of just come with it,
02:35 but it's more just they all love playing with each other.
02:38 And it's all just 'cause of how much enjoyment they get
02:41 out of playing for the club and playing
02:43 with their mates effectively.
02:44 The results just seem to follow.
02:47 And they just have players who just, no matter who it is,
02:50 they know their role on the team,
02:52 and they know how to get the job done,
02:53 and they're trusted to get the job done.
02:55 And you look at a player like Liam Ryan,
02:58 who didn't have a major role to play
03:00 for the first two games,
03:02 but then takes three wickets in the semifinal,
03:04 is a massive reason why they are gonna potentially
03:07 have a massive crack at getting two on the way
03:12 to potentially even three trophies this season,
03:15 which would just be an amazing effort.
03:16 - Yeah.
03:17 And also playing three games in three days,
03:20 that's probably not ideal, is it?
03:22 - No, and they played South Launceston
03:24 in this one day semifinal,
03:25 who actually had the two day bye.
03:27 And so South played one day of cricket,
03:30 as opposed to Westbury's three in a row.
03:32 So yeah, there's definitely sort of some question marks
03:36 over the scheduling.
03:37 And I guess like for me,
03:40 I just don't feel that there's an incentive,
03:43 there's encouragement to be making these finals
03:47 if they're gonna be played on January 10, 11, 12,
03:51 and you're, yeah, as Westbury was,
03:55 you're in the 2020 under one day final,
03:58 and they're being played by the side
03:59 of your two day cricket anyway.
04:01 So it instantly puts you under the pump
04:04 in terms of your numbers,
04:07 and obviously sore bodies and those sort of things.
04:09 So Westbury's defied the odds here,
04:11 but they didn't, they shouldn't have, needed to.
04:15 Do you know what I mean?
04:15 - Have you got a solution for that?
04:17 - Yeah, so I really feel that I like
04:20 that there's a 2020 round robin that was actually played,
04:24 I think it was the weekend of December 16 and 17 this year.
04:27 And I think that there's a number of games played
04:32 across both days, and what happens is we end up
04:36 with the two teams that will play in the grand final
04:39 a few weeks later.
04:40 But I think it should all be played in this one weekend.
04:43 I think that's plenty of time to squeeze in the games
04:46 that you need to.
04:47 And if you want to have more, maybe play them
04:50 on the Thursday or the Friday night leading up,
04:53 and then spill it over the weekend too.
04:55 But I think it just needs to be more contained than it is.
04:58 And really last weekend, I felt should have just been
05:02 the two day cricket and the one day semi on the Sunday.
05:06 - Yeah, what do you think Ben?
05:08 - Yeah, I think that also could even be a bit more flexible
05:12 with the scheduling.
05:13 Like you'd mentioned about South having a bye,
05:14 maybe look at potentially if possible,
05:18 holding over the two day comp,
05:22 fixturing as late as possible.
05:23 So then you know, well, if Westbrook are going to have
05:25 two games that weekend, maybe give them the bye.
05:28 You know, it's just to lighten their load,
05:30 or if that's too difficult, then maybe,
05:32 I think Brian's solution is probably more practical.
05:33 But I just think, say if Westbrook had the bye this weekend,
05:36 we probably wouldn't have been talking about it as much
05:39 because they're playing a game on a Friday and a Sunday.
05:41 - Yeah, and I guess that's all said
05:43 with obviously the unpredictability of results.
05:45 And we want to know that Westbury were going to make
05:48 these finals.
05:49 So of course, all these things come into it,
05:51 but it's probably just something worth considering
05:54 over the off season.
05:55 - And just to further complicate the situation
05:56 is you've got to go ahead and Northern Raiders.
05:58 So Westbury are one of the sides that would provide players
06:01 towards that.
06:02 And Jono Chapman's been a good example in the past
06:04 that some of their best players get taken away from them
06:07 voluntarily, but you know, it's then very difficult
06:10 for the club to adjust.
06:10 So what they've done is remarkable really.
06:12 - Yeah, and they did it without their captain,
06:14 Danny Murphy, who's on his honeymoon.
06:16 So, but that just shows it's that time of year
06:20 where people are on holidays and they're on honeymoons
06:23 and that sort of stuff.
06:24 - Yeah.
06:25 We're going to move on to national competitions
06:27 and Tasmania's involvement in four different national comps.
06:29 Last night, we're recording this on a Tuesday morning.
06:31 Last night was the Hobart Hurricanes last fixture
06:34 in the BBL.
06:35 It was a bit of a dead rubber against the Melbourne Stars
06:38 to see who would finish fifth.
06:39 The Hurricanes actually got the win by seven runs.
06:42 So they finished fifth.
06:43 They won four and lost six over the season.
06:46 But I think it's fair to say it's another disappointing
06:48 season for the Hurricanes.
06:49 Ricky Ponting was on co-coms on Channel 7
06:52 and bleeds purple as a keeper.
06:56 He was getting into them and in particular,
06:58 he said he thought the imports had been disappointing again,
07:01 which is something we said about the WBBL as well.
07:03 But another pretty disappointing campaign really
07:05 for the Hurricanes.
07:06 - Yeah, probably a bit harsh for Chris Jordan.
07:08 I thought he was okay.
07:09 But Corey Anderson was a puzzling selection.
07:13 I think from the outset,
07:14 the person is not even playing for a regular cricketer
07:18 in America.
07:19 So I don't really know where the thinking was there.
07:22 And Sam Hain is just another one of these players
07:24 who clearly is a very good cricketer,
07:25 but just hasn't quite come together for the Hurricanes.
07:28 It seems to be a very familiar story.
07:30 - And we made the point, and again,
07:31 this is mirrored in the WBBL.
07:33 There's very good Tasmanian players
07:35 who aren't getting much of a look in.
07:37 But I guess if you spend a lot of money
07:39 and give a lot of publicity to the imports,
07:41 you then feel a bit obliged to play them.
07:43 - And you look at something simple,
07:45 Nikhil Chaudhary, he's not from Tasmania,
07:47 but selected out of Brisbane Great Cricket
07:51 and was the Hurricanes' leading run scorer this tournament.
07:54 So it shows you that it doesn't often matter
07:58 how many runs you have on the board
08:01 in which countries beforehand.
08:03 It's the person who can put it together for a few weeks
08:05 and don't necessarily need to go after these big names
08:08 to make that happen.
08:10 - And moving on to the WNCL,
08:11 which is a complete contrast.
08:13 Tasmania absolutely dominating that.
08:14 They've won the last two titles.
08:16 They've won every game they've played this season
08:18 and won again yesterday.
08:20 Good day for Emma Manix-Jeeves.
08:21 - Yeah, second 50 in a row.
08:23 70 off 72 unbeaten, seven fours along the way.
08:28 Her and Lizelle Lee, who made 97 massive parts
08:31 in that win against second place Queensland Fire.
08:33 So it was a really big game too.
08:34 Emma Manix-Jeeves is averaging over 35
08:37 since returning to the Tassie Tigers
08:39 a couple of seasons ago.
08:41 Just continues to get it done week in, week out.
08:45 Even despite continuously probably not being
08:49 looked at seriously for Hurricane selection.
08:52 - Didn't get a look in.
08:53 And the imports did and one of them
08:57 undefied considerably.
08:58 Emma did not get a look in.
09:00 - Yeah, but she can hold her head high.
09:02 She just continues to do what she needs to.
09:06 In the A-League, there was a big announcement yesterday
09:08 that Tasmania will get three fixtures in the A-League.
09:10 Two in the men's, one in the women's.
09:13 But we've got an issue that all three games
09:15 are being played in North Hobart.
09:16 These games always used to be played
09:18 out here at Utah Stadium.
09:19 And prior to COVID, we used to get really good attendances.
09:22 I remember going to a game, pre-season friendly,
09:25 that got, I think 8,000.
09:27 Harry Kiel played here in a fixture.
09:29 We got a very good crowd for that.
09:31 COVID's hit everywhere.
09:32 So basically nobody's, no one's getting good crowds
09:35 at either end of the state.
09:36 But it's a bit disappointing
09:37 that we don't have a Northern fixture.
09:39 - Yeah, I've covered this issue a bit in the past, Rob.
09:42 And I guess like actually attending the game last year,
09:46 I remember the two things that stood out was
09:48 there wasn't a big crowd and the game was quite far away,
09:51 given that it was played on an AFL footy field.
09:54 So I know North Hobart is the same,
09:58 but yeah, I just remember those being two challenges.
10:01 And yeah, it's a really interesting topic, this one,
10:04 about the post-COVID, you know, in-person viewing.
10:08 Is it because of all the streaming services
10:12 and the ability, have we got comfortable
10:14 watching things online, do you think?
10:15 - I think so, yeah.
10:16 The crowds have just been chalk and cheese
10:20 before and after COVID.
10:22 I went to an AFLW game at Utah Stadium,
10:25 about 150 people watching it.
10:26 It was a terrible attendance.
10:28 So I guess it could be the streaming services.
10:32 What do you think, Ben?
10:34 - Yeah, I think there's a number of things.
10:37 A-league's had an issue probably with fans
10:40 rocking up to games everywhere all over the country,
10:42 not just in Launceston.
10:43 But I don't think sport is as high a priority
10:49 since COVID, to be pretty honest,
10:51 to a lot of people who are probably on the fence
10:53 about whether to go or not.
10:55 Probably since COVID, probably it's just been the decision,
10:58 no, let's not go because you might get sick
11:00 or you might do this, might be that.
11:01 So it's just-
11:02 - But the one sport that is bucking the trend
11:04 is basketball.
11:05 And the Jackjumpers sell out every home game,
11:07 but they keep suffering narrow losses.
11:10 I wrote a story this week.
11:11 I don't think they've lost by more than eight points.
11:13 But-
11:14 - They lost 11 times, though.
11:15 - Yeah.
11:16 So what's happened to the Jackjumpers, do you think?
11:18 Are they gonna make finals?
11:19 - Well, they're making,
11:20 Scott Ross doing a lot of lamenting in the past week.
11:23 They had a double overtime loss against Illawarra
11:25 on Friday night at home.
11:27 It's their fourth home loss in five games.
11:30 Their sixth loss in eight games.
11:32 So since the international break,
11:33 they just haven't been able to get going.
11:35 Look, I think they will.
11:37 I think they will.
11:37 They've got enough quality there.
11:39 They're still 11-11.
11:40 They're still third, somehow.
11:42 I don't really know how, but they're still third.
11:44 And Scott Ross teams usually continue to get better
11:47 as the season wears on.
11:48 They're usually so well disciplined
11:51 that that's the thing that usually gets them across the line.
11:53 But yeah, they haven't shown,
11:57 they've got a clear path out yet.
11:59 So they're gonna have to find a way.
12:01 - Yeah.
12:03 All good.
12:04 That wraps us up for this week.
12:05 Read all about all those competitions
12:06 in the Examiner on the website and Facebook.
12:09 Thanks for tuning in.
12:10 See you next week.
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