The Examiner's Ben Hann and Brian Allen unpack and discuss sports news from across Northern Tasmania. Video by Aaron Smith (20/8/24)
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00:00Welcome one and all to another episode of the Pressbox. It's episode 65 and it's just
00:11the two of us this week. Brian and myself are here for what's effectively the first
00:17of multiple weeks of Footy Farmers. Brian, we're going to be diving straight into it.
00:22But first of all, I need to bring up everyone's favorite opening segment. This week, or this
00:28number in Tasmanian sport. So, 65 is, I suppose, a big number in Tasmanian sport, Brian, because
00:41in 1965, Daryl Boldock was St. Kilda's best and fairest leading goal kicker and also finished
00:49runner-up in the Brownlow. All in that one year. Obviously, the famous Tasmanian footballer
00:55was remarkable. He obviously won the premiership the very next year, but that's a pretty stellar
01:01season if you ask me. Yeah, no, I like this one this week. I think that'd be the famous
01:07photo where I think he's wearing the Collingwood jumper on the podium. Yeah, something like
01:12that. They used to swap the Guernseys. So, yeah, I don't mind that. Oh, we're off to
01:16a ripper start then. Let's hope we can continue it. Obviously, you know, well, one week of
01:21finals has actually already began, but, you know, we've got all four divisions now at
01:25the NTFA playing in, you know, what's historically called September football, the footy that
01:31we all love to watch. But there is a bit of a quirk to this fixture list, Brian. Yeah,
01:37well, yeah, just dropped last night that everything's coming forward a bit. We've got Roach Valley
01:43and Longford in the NTFA Premier Men's qualifying finals starting at 1pm on Saturday. And then
01:50on Sunday, we've got Bridge North against Hillwood at Bridge North at 1.30pm. So that's
01:57just talking about the NTFA Premier Men's. But Ben, can you obviously speak to the women's
02:01times? Yeah, obviously, the Division One men are the same corresponding times, but the
02:06women will kick off the due pretty early. So on the Saturday, both Premier and Division
02:12One women will be kicking off at 9.15am. And then on the Sunday, the Division One women's
02:18game on Sunday between Deloraine and Georgetown will be at 9.45am. So yeah, very early indeed.
02:25We've obviously got a Friday night game as well in the under-18s. Now there is a reason,
02:30but first of all, we need to bring in everyone's other favourite segment, and he's hard hitters.
02:37So, Brian, are we a fan of these earlier times, I suppose? And maybe we can explain
02:50maybe why it's happening. Yeah, well, to start with, it seems pretty clear that yes, we have
02:56Hawthorne against North Melbourne at 4.35pm, which is on Saturday evening, a unique time
03:03as decided by the AFL in recent weeks. It's a marquee game, Colby McUrchir of the Launceston
03:11Blues will be playing. And yeah, there's plenty of reason to get to that game because the
03:18Hawks are the hottest ticket in town, or the hottest ticket in the AFL world in terms of
03:23their form, and they need to win to lock in a final spot. So yeah, I'll just, yeah, I
03:32guess throw it back to you there, mate. Like, yeah, it's clearly we understand that that's
03:38part of the reason that the games have been moved forward. But I guess what do you feel
03:41about that they are earlier? I think it's great. I think it's really good, sort of reading
03:48the room almost, because people want to watch Colby and they want to watch the Hawks. And,
03:52you know, we've sort of talked about it off air, but this is the potential for the biggest
03:57crowd we're going to have all year. On a year where we've already had some really impressive
04:01crowds, we could be talking upwards of maybe 15,000 or more. As you said, it's a bit of
04:07an unusual time. I think it's going to be a good time. I think people will really get
04:10around it. And, you know, I think when finals is on, I mean, I can definitely say for myself,
04:17people just, you just love watching footy at this time of year. It's just a great feeling.
04:21And I think having the games early, getting through all that in time, it leaves just enough
04:27time, I think, for a lot of people to at least get there, maybe during the first quarter
04:30and stuff like that. So I think they've done it really well.
04:33Yeah. And just on your point about the potential Hawks crowd, like the big, biggest game this
04:40year at UTAS was against the Saints, 15,000 plus, and then also drew crowds of more than
04:4611,000 against GWS and Freo. So, yeah, could we get more than 15,000 again this weekend,
04:53despite local finals? We'll see. So I do agree with you. I'm excited about the NTFA,
05:00finals being earlier, like particularly that the men's being around that one or one-thirty
05:05time slot. And I actually hope that that continues through the finals and is like the grand final
05:10day time slot. I've obviously said in the past, like, I think it's more family friendly.
05:16You know, I'm not a, I'm not huge on like a 4pm start. I think it's just too long to
05:21wait. And obviously, you know, drinking is a big part of the big day. And yeah, it's
05:28sort of, you know, when you have such a big day, it can create issues. So I quite like
05:33that, you know, that sort of around that one or two o'clock time slot.
05:38Yeah. And on a selfish note, it's a lot easier for us on a Saturday when it's a bit earlier.
05:43Long may it continue. We'll get into the games now, obviously, with NTFA Premier starting,
05:48Brian, we've got another battle between the Tigers, potentially the last one we'll see
05:53for a good long while. And, you know, obviously, Bridge North back into finals. Tell me a bit
05:58about what's up this weekend.
06:00Yeah, well, yeah, it's the battle of the two Tigers. And yeah, like, I'm quite happy to
06:05sort of reveal my tips, as I've done mostly throughout the season. So yeah, I think that
06:12Rochelle will win by five points at home. And that's, it's an extremely hard one to
06:19tip because both the games this year have been close. The first game was rocked by the
06:25scoreboard drama where maybe Rochelle won, but Longford actually won by just a few points.
06:31And then the second game Rochelle just really like, I guess, wore Longford out and everyone
06:37was pretty tired by the last quarter and Rochelle won that by 13 points. So yeah, I think it's
06:42going to be they're going to be hard to beat at home. They're well coached. And look, Zach
06:48Morris is the real kind of the key player for Longford and Rochelle's Braden Bassett
06:54did a pretty good job on him last time. So if they can curtail him, they'll probably win.
06:58But if he gets off the chain, well, it's trouble. So and yeah, just quickly onto the Bridge North
07:05Hillwood elimination final. Again, two teams that have played out games that have finished
07:12with a result of less than 10 points. Bridge North winning both times. I just think that
07:17it's probably going to go the same way. Bridge North win by about seven, like win by seven
07:22points in my opinion. And yeah, I'm pretty big on the idea that like Jake Kynes, the former
07:28Launceston Blues player, the Tassie representative is going to grab a finals game by the scruff of
07:33the neck. And I think this is probably the one. So yeah, it's sort of on Hillwood to really like
07:38lock him down. We'll see what happens. Yeah, the Sharks obviously struggle with consistency
07:42and injuries and that stuff as well. Probably doesn't help them. Look, your games have obviously
07:48been, I promise to be close because you know, the history tells us that. I think Div 1 might
07:53even have them covered though. I tell you what, I'm out of breath after the weekend. We had two
07:59just truly remarkable games of finals footy. Two unbelievable comebacks as well within that 33
08:06points down Lily Dale. They came back to him by a single point. And then on Sunday, we have
08:11Bridport down by 21 points at three-point time. Kick eight, goal seven in the last quarter. 55
08:17points. It was unbelievable to watch, to win by the reverse margin. We have Bridport facing
08:25now Perth. Now their last game was also decided by a point. So that promises to be a really close
08:30game. And then we've obviously got Lily Dale and Odd Scotch for a chance potentially into the grand
08:35final. I think Odd Scotch is going to be pretty hard to beat from here. Lily Dale is going to have pretty
08:39heavy legs. So I think it's theirs to lose. Yeah. Yeah. Take me to the last quarters of these two
08:46games on the weekend, mate. Like, I think particularly for Lily Dale, like, you know,
08:52they were at home. They were expected to win. They're well down at three-quarter time and they
08:57storm home. So was it sort of a Hawthorne-esque or Collingwood-esque roll of the dice last quarter,
09:03just attacking football? Well, I think it's the case for both teams. You really felt the effect
09:07of being the home team going into that last quarter. It genuinely, I feel like, does have an
09:13effect when the crowd is right behind you. Both teams, I thought, were aided by the opposition,
09:20forgetting how to play that attacking brand that had got them to where they were.
09:25They began to really play this ultra-defensive football, weren't taking any risks, and effectively
09:29both teams just preyed on that, especially Lily Dale. The ball barely left their forward half,
09:35but, you know, I spoke to Corey Lockett after the game. It looked like they were going to
09:39potentially pass them with time to spare, and then all of a sudden they panicked,
09:44and then it was seven points, and then it was one point, and then it was a draw,
09:49and everyone was looking like, what's the extra time rules? What's going on? What's happening?
09:52And then Thane Badenhagen misses a soda at the top of the square, but it gets them in front,
09:57and they're celebrating anyway. It was so intense, and I was pretty stressfully trying to
10:03ride up as much as I could, but, yeah, if they can top that this weekend, yeah, who knows, but
10:11it was a genuinely amazing way to start the finals, and certainly got me, you know, wanting more of it.
10:17Yeah, yeah, Matt, just quickly, obviously there was a bold declaration on this show last year,
10:21about 10,000 people at the grand final, and I suppose, like, you know, you've been amongst
10:28the atmosphere already. Are we on track? Well, if Bridport's crowd is anything to go by,
10:35cars three deep up onto the hill, packed stands, packed rafters, I think we could be on for a
10:43seriously well-attended final series as well. We've got some games in town this week as well,
10:47so, yeah, expect more of the same. I reckon that's all we have time for this week.
10:51We'll catch you guys for the next one.