The Examiner’s Josh Partridge, Ben Hann and Hamish Geale unpack and discuss the sports news across Northern Tasmania.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Hello one and all and welcome to another episode
00:09 of the Press Box, episode 39 on Ben Hand.
00:13 We don't have Rob and Brian again this week,
00:15 but Josh is here once again
00:18 and we have our honorary sports team member, Hamish,
00:22 for your second appearance.
00:23 Welcome, Hamish.
00:24 - Thanks for having me.
00:24 - Yeah, today's show is gonna be quite a busy one.
00:28 We're gonna start off though with Sam Armani
00:31 for the Greater Northern Raiders men's team.
00:33 Josh, tell me a bit about what Sam has managed to do
00:37 the last sort of month or so, it's been quite special.
00:39 - Sam's in a bit of form, to say it lightly.
00:44 So last weekend, he scored 123, not out, off 141 balls.
00:49 And then just went, I'm not done here,
00:51 and went out and took five for 54.
00:53 So the big left arm quick from Devonport
00:55 was certainly putting his name out there for higher honors.
00:58 And our friends down the Northwest Coast,
01:01 the Advocate, did a story yesterday
01:03 about the fact that he's actually going to Ireland
01:05 in the off season to play cricket over there.
01:09 Can't go to England like most people would
01:11 because of the little technicality,
01:13 'cause he's played one second 11 game for Tasmania,
01:16 which is a bit of a ridiculous rule, but it is what it is.
01:20 But you'd assume and hope that soon
01:23 he'll add to that second 11 game.
01:24 And yeah, just making his case for higher honors.
01:30 You just look at some of the stuff that he's done.
01:32 That was his third score above 50 this year
01:35 and his third by far with two other four wicket holes.
01:39 And those two four wicket holes, if I'm not mistaken,
01:43 have come in the last couple of weeks.
01:44 So he's taken, what's that, 13 wickets
01:47 in the last three games, which is pretty good.
01:51 - Yeah, you'd think just the batting alone
01:53 would be, or the bowling alone would be
01:54 as impressive as it is, but he's in career best form
01:56 for sure, and the writers themselves
01:58 are starting to make a bit of a resurgence, aren't they?
02:00 - Yeah, they've really started to put it all together
02:02 in the last couple of weeks.
02:03 I mean, they've been, you can't use the word unlucky,
02:07 but they weren't getting the results
02:09 they wanted earlier in the year.
02:10 And since, I think they've won the last three games
02:13 in a row now and have really started to make a push
02:15 for finals, which would have been unlikely
02:17 when you look at it at the start of the year.
02:19 But yeah, they're on the right track now.
02:21 - It's a credit to Alistair Taylor
02:23 and the whole crew over there for sort of turning
02:25 this season around for sure.
02:26 We'll move right along to cricket north.
02:29 So it's obviously coming down to the back end
02:32 of the season, third last round of action.
02:35 We have first place Westwick playing,
02:37 second place Riverside, and then we had South Launceston
02:40 who are third place playing, it's fifth, Mowbray.
02:43 We'll start off with the game at Inga Mel's.
02:47 You know, it's pretty tightly packed.
02:50 I think Westbury on the back of Daniel Murphet,
02:54 a brilliant 97-0 out, almost chanceless innings.
02:57 He had one drop catcher at 40-odd,
02:59 but other than that was class.
03:03 And they made 183 in reply, Riverside five for 103.
03:08 So it's going to be really close going into the second day.
03:12 You've had a fair bit to do with Daniel Murphet
03:13 over the years as a former sports reporter.
03:15 What was your impression of him when you got to meet him?
03:17 - Oh, no, he's always been a lovely fella, Dan.
03:21 He's just kind of very laid back and chilled,
03:24 and you just kind of feel nice being around him.
03:27 So always love it.
03:29 Yeah, it's always lovely seeing him go well.
03:32 - Yeah, and obviously it's his ability
03:34 to be able to pick up lengths so early
03:35 that's been such a massive boost for him.
03:38 And he's probably going to be in Raiders,
03:40 I think, coming up this week.
03:41 You obviously have played a fair bit of cricket against him.
03:45 What do you feel like are his strengths?
03:47 - Yeah, as you said, he picks up length so well.
03:51 I think it was probably four or five years ago
03:53 we had a season over in England
03:54 as we just touched on with Omani.
03:57 And he scored runs for fun over there.
03:59 And since he's come back from that season, he's been...
04:03 But somehow he's still underrated.
04:04 Like people, for some reason, seem to discount
04:07 how good of a cricketer he actually is.
04:08 And he's just a class act.
04:11 And as you said, he picks up his length so easily.
04:13 And you can't give him any weak 'cause it just goes.
04:16 So yeah, as Hamo said, he's one of the good guys out there.
04:20 So it's fantastic to see him doing well.
04:23 - And like all of the Westbury players,
04:25 just plays that ground out there so well.
04:28 Just no room for error.
04:30 The other game going on at the moment,
04:32 it's probably a little bit more one-sided
04:34 than that game out at Westbury.
04:36 So South actually bowled Mowbray out for 164.
04:39 Luke Scott made 50.
04:42 So that was the top score for the Eagles.
04:44 And then South actually replied with 435 after the first day.
04:49 So they needed 30 runs to get with six wickets in hand.
04:52 They had a bit of a late collapse last game,
04:54 but you'd be surprised if that happens again.
04:57 They're a very quality team.
04:59 So that's really exciting,
05:01 heading into the end of Cricket North.
05:03 But we'll just keep going, I reckon.
05:05 The Jackjumpers, the other great news story at the moment.
05:10 The Jackjumpers won against Cairns
05:13 and they won against Adelaide over the weekend.
05:15 Brings them to 14-12 in the season.
05:17 Third place, they're two wins ahead of Illawarra.
05:19 In fourth, two wins behind Western Australia,
05:23 the Perth Wildcats, who have 16 wins.
05:26 So it looks like they're going to have
05:27 their third straight playoff season in three seasons.
05:30 Hamish, as someone who's been around the entire time,
05:34 while they've been in existence,
05:35 how impressed are you by just how consistently good
05:39 they've been since the outset?
05:40 - I mean, I think if you have a look at any new team
05:44 that comes into any competition, really,
05:47 it is hard work to come in off the bat
05:51 and actually be at the top
05:53 and actually really pushing the best team.
05:56 So yeah, I think it's a real credit to everyone
05:58 who's been involved in, I suppose, on that project.
06:03 And as I think us or Rebob say,
06:06 it is a bit of a blueprint for what,
06:09 I guess, a TASI would be hoping to achieve as an AFL team.
06:14 - Well, they've been so strong culturally, haven't they?
06:15 I mean, that's been there.
06:17 They want to really build it off the court
06:19 before they even step onto the court.
06:21 And they were doing that six, 12 months
06:23 before they even played a game.
06:25 So as you said, it's been a real credit
06:27 to the organisation as a whole,
06:29 not just the players, to really build what it means
06:33 to be not just a jackjumper, but Tasmanian in general.
06:36 - 100%.
06:37 There was actually an incident in that game against Cairns
06:41 I want to just highlight.
06:43 So Will Magne, obviously, has had his injury trouble
06:45 since being a jackjumper,
06:47 has finally started getting a good run of games.
06:49 Now, he was involved in an incident,
06:52 initially with Patrick Miller,
06:54 where the two, Patrick sort of stepped into the contact,
06:59 but Will definitely pushed him.
07:00 And there was a bit of a scuffle after that,
07:03 and it sort of looked like it was over.
07:05 Then later in the game,
07:07 the Cairns Top Hands captain, Tajian McColl,
07:10 saw Will running into the post, into the paint,
07:14 and sort of checked him.
07:17 And Will was really, crucially, winded,
07:22 as you can see in this picture here,
07:23 looking at the camera.
07:24 He actually didn't play the rest of that game,
07:26 went to a hospital that night.
07:28 But fortunately, no major injuries, he played the next game.
07:31 But as a result, Scott Roth, the coach,
07:35 called for more protection of Will Magne.
07:37 That hasn't quite happened.
07:39 Instead, Will has actually received a one-game ban,
07:42 reduced to a $1,550 fine on an early play.
07:46 Tajian McColl also received a $775 fine
07:50 on an early play as well.
07:51 - Which is interesting,
07:52 'cause if you look at the footage,
07:53 Tajian didn't do anything.
07:54 His hands went up, he ran away.
07:56 It wasn't his fault, if you ask him.
07:58 - Yeah, exactly, or even the Cairns coach,
08:00 he just said it was an incidental contact.
08:02 I'm not so sure myself.
08:04 But really, besides that incident,
08:08 I think he was pretty heartily done by it,
08:10 they're just doing what they always do.
08:11 They come good at the right time of the year.
08:13 They play the right kind of basketball
08:15 to win in these big moments.
08:17 And I did make a prediction about a month ago
08:20 that they would make another NBL Finals,
08:23 and I'm feeling pretty confident about that right about now.
08:26 - Oh, yeah.
08:27 - Toot, toot, blow the iron.
08:28 (laughing)
08:30 - I'm running on the money though, you guys.
08:32 I'm running on the money.
08:33 - Well, I reckon that's all we have time for
08:35 for today's Pressbox.
08:36 Thank you once again, and we'll see you next week.
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