The Examiner’s Josh Partridge, Ben Hann and Hamish Geale unpack and discuss the sports news across Northern Tasmania.
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00:00Welcome one and all to episode 57 of The Press Box. I'm Ben Ham filling in with
00:13hosting duties with Rob and Brian away today. Alongside me is Josh as always and
00:18Hamish, our recurring special guest. Thanks for having me. It's always great to
00:24bring a bit of our candy to the show. We wouldn't bring in anyone else for that reason. It's obviously been a great
00:32weekend in Tasmanian sports, specifically footy with the, I would call them
00:37devils, they're not the devils, it's just the Tasmanian state representative team
00:40going up to Queensland, the men, and resounding win Josh. You obviously covered
00:45the whole thing. Just how good was it? Yeah, it was ridiculous. They scored seven
00:49goals to zero in the first quarter and really looked like they were gonna blaze
00:53away with it but then it was pretty obvious that was with the wind and the
00:57game kind of went that way really. There was only probably five or six goals
01:01scored at the other end all day and then the men came away 46 point winners
01:05which was fantastic. Kieran Lovell just continued to be a star on the massive
01:10stage, winning the Laphroaig medal after winning the best on ground in the TSL
01:15grand final last year. So he's really making his name as one of Tasmania's
01:21best footballers really and there was a few other northern players that were
01:26named in the best players. So Oscar Van Damme who kicked a superb goal, he was
01:30named in the best and so was Harry Bales which is fantastic for the two young
01:34North Lawny boys. And I know it's not quite North, a bit more North West audience but
01:39Bailey Bogue was named as the devil. Tell me about what that award means for him.
01:43Yeah, so that's a new award that they've put together that's voted by the players
01:46and it's just pretty much the the player that they think best embodies the
01:50Tasmanian spirit throughout the course of the game and he did have a
01:54really good game. He kicked two goals and he was one of only two players from
01:58outside the TSL of course alongside Jake Hines. So it's massive for him and he
02:04played last year as well so he's really putting himself as one of
02:08the names that probably will be going forward into the VFL in a couple of
02:11years time. And obviously it was such a close game last year, this time they
02:16visited Queensland and got an even better win. Is this a sign of the
02:20Tasmanian footy improving or maybe just the condition suited? What do you
02:24think is the reason for such a bigger margin? Yeah, it's a really interesting
02:28one. I think they had nine players from North Launceston and it was so
02:34often, obviously that's half a team on the field, but it was so often that the
02:38North Launceston players were linking up doing their thing. So I think just the
02:41familiarity, even though there was 13 different players in last year's team,
02:45just that familiarity between the players and I think they had a bit
02:49longer training this time maybe as well. It just seemed like they were always
02:53on the same page. There's only a couple of times say where players didn't lower
02:57their eyes and kick for goal and went, oh I'm gonna kick a goal for Tasmania kind of thing.
03:00But no, it really looked like they were a solid combined unit this time.
03:05And obviously helps when you have Andrew Phillips in the right, even though he's
03:08knocked off our boy Alex Lee. For the women, obviously it wasn't as good
03:14a day in terms of results. I think there's still a lot of positives to take out of it.
03:18But I suppose from what you watched, take me through what I suppose transpired.
03:23Yeah, just it looked like to start with, it looked like the level was just
03:27over-roaring them a little bit. It looked like you'd take your first few steps and
03:32you'd do things that you'd be comfortable at doing at a local level,
03:35but then you'd have a Queenslander come in and tackle you kind of thing. But there
03:39was really positive sides in the second half as well. So that really
03:42leads in well to the July 20 game down here against New South Wales and ACT.
03:46But in a positive thing, long since Kelsey Hill was best on ground for the
03:51women. And Ben, you talked to coach Deb Reynolds about her yesterday. I suppose
03:55talk me through a little bit about Kelsey and her future, I guess.
03:59Yeah, obviously she was down back, you know, trying to act as I suppose like a damn wall
04:04while Queensland had attack after attack. Her and her sister obviously were really
04:09busy all day. But Kelsey, I think what impressed Deb most about Kelsey's game
04:14is she's only young compared to her opponents. She's only got a slight small
04:19frame and yet she was always the first one to put her head over the footie, put
04:23herself in harm's way and at no stage was there any sort of fear associated
04:28with her game. She just kept on going all day and, you know, I think she probably
04:34agreed that the margin could have been a lot bigger if not for Kelsey's
04:38performance. Well she's been she's been playing women's footy basically since
04:42she could. So she's like, I don't know how old she is now, but I think you can
04:46basically start playing when you're about 16 or whatever. She played junior
04:50footy at Evander before coming across to Lonnie and she's been playing in that
04:53Lonnie senior team from a very young age. So I suppose that's where that no fear
04:58kind of element comes from is that she's been playing against women a fair bit
05:01older than her for her whole footy career basically. Yeah, absolutely and you
05:06know I think it's gonna, you know, bode well for her going forwards. You know, Deb
05:10was not shy in saying, you know, when more, you know, opportunities in Tasmania
05:14come out, which they're about to with the VFLW and whatever else, you know,
05:19she's gonna be a big part of that. I think no one questions that. She's marked
05:23herself as one of the best players in Tasmania right now so it would make
05:27sense that, you know, future VFLW cap would be in the works for her. A
05:32slight change of pace following what was a great celebration of footy. There's
05:38obviously an ongoing issue with umpires and how, especially in junior sport, not
05:44just football, parents and coaches and supporters treat umpires. Fortunately we
05:49have our very own ex-umpire in the room today. Can you, Hamish, maybe give us a
05:55bit of an insight as to what it was like as for your experience as an umpire in
06:00terms of any abuse or, I suppose, bad experiences you might have had? Yeah, no, it's an
06:06interesting question. I think, well, I was a, I was a, like, boundary umpire so I
06:13think you're, you're maybe more shielded from some of that abuse than maybe if
06:18you're, like, in the field. But you're also closer, you're also closer.
06:21Yes, I hear a lot more of it. Yeah, no, I really, um, I guess, I thought it was a great
06:27article that you, that you, um, wrote and I thought it kind of really asked some
06:34really excellent, like, questions that kind of make you think, oh yeah, like, how
06:38come I maybe, like, like, respond like that way or have that, like, have that, like,
06:43reaction. And yeah, it's, it's interesting as an umpire because you, you kind of do,
06:48kind of feel like you're everyone's enemy even though you're, yeah, I suppose, like,
06:54trying to do your absolute, like, best to try to make it fair. But, um, I think what
07:00your article, like, did really well was maybe draw out, kind of, some of the
07:04positives and I was just, like, thinking back that actually one of the memories
07:08that I always, I guess, like, think back to and, like, I umpired for ages and I did,
07:14you know, like, finals and umpired again with my two, like, older brothers and stuff
07:18like that. But the thing that I always, like, um, remember is um, umpiring a game out of the
07:24arse at Windsor Park. It was, like, Lonnie and I was, like, I think a Lonnie player
07:28was, like, lining up for our goal, like, and I was, like, standing behind the post and I
07:32remember Sonny Whiting, who's, who's been, like, a champion, I suppose, forward across a
07:37few clubs. I remember him, like, coming up to me, like, and saying, oh mate, is, is, is, um, is
07:43he going to un-kick this one? And I was, like, yeah, yeah, I reckon he will. And he's, like, nah, mate, he won't.
07:48And, like, he didn't. And, um, it was just, like, I just, that, that always, kind of, stood out to me
07:55because I think you always, kind of, think the players are, like, against you and you're there,
07:59like, enemy. But I was, like, a real, I guess, like, nice moment of, I just, like, kind of, kindness and
08:05it kind of makes you feel like you're part of it, I suppose. So, I think it would be good to have,
08:10kind of, more of that, like, in the game where we're all just getting together and trying to
08:14have a bit of fun, so. Absolutely, it's a great point you made and I think that's what learning
08:17life through sport, which is the program, wants to encourage is asking questions, you know, the umpires
08:22are there, you know, do they want to have fun? Most likely, like, they're not there, you know, as the
08:27enemy, they're just there as well to have fun, like everyone else in junior sport or at any level.
08:32And, um, you know, it just, I think, something that Nick Demden, who's an East Launceston coach
08:38and vice president, sort of, talked about was, you know, it really, sort of, widens your eyes and,
08:45and you realize that things that you probably have taken for granted as,
08:49perhaps, it's acceptable because the rest of society thinks it's acceptable. If you look at it
08:53at a different lens from the umpire's perspective, none of it is acceptable, you know, throwing your
08:57arms out and, you know, going, ball, you know, what the hell was that? Like, you might think
09:03it's harmless at the time being but, you know, it isn't and I think, um, it's a really good program
09:07and I think the, the more that can change, I think, the more we can get umpire, you know,
09:13levels and more people to get interested in umpiring and I think it's really important going
09:16forwards. I reckon that's all that we've got time for for the 57th episode of the Pressbox.
09:22We'll catch you for the next one.