The Examiner’s Ben Hann, Brian Allen and Josh Partridge unpack and discuss the sports news across Northern Tasmania.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Hello one and all,
00:08 and welcome to another episode of the Pressbox.
00:10 Episode 42 today.
00:12 I'm once again hosting as Ben Ham,
00:14 we've got Brian Allen, we've got Josh Partridge, Rob Still.
00:17 I think he might be back from the mountains,
00:19 but still not with us again for another week.
00:22 Today we've got a really action-packed episode.
00:24 A lot of sport coming to Launceston this week
00:26 and this weekend.
00:28 We'll start off with Brad Cox, good year,
00:30 it's hot off the press.
00:32 Announced as a junior pathway coach for AFL Tasmania,
00:36 working with 12 to 15 year old boys and girls
00:40 as a talent pathways coach for AFL Tasmania.
00:42 So congratulations to Brad.
00:45 - Super excited to be able to join the AFL Tasmania staff
00:48 and hopefully provide a platform for these kids
00:51 to one day play for an AFL team in Tasmania.
00:54 That's the end goal.
00:55 So there's a lot of work to go before that,
00:57 but yeah, that's a point in the sky
00:58 and I can't wait to get started.
01:00 - Tomorrow is a massive day for Tasmanian sport,
01:02 Brian and Josh.
01:03 First of all, we're going to start with
01:05 is the Launceston Cup.
01:06 You're out there on the ground, Joshua.
01:07 What is, what's going on in Launceston Cup?
01:09 - Goodness me, that is scary stuff.
01:12 So we've got Aurora's symphonies going for three in a row,
01:15 which is the first time ever.
01:17 There's been a horse in the 1860s and 70s
01:21 that won it four times, but not in a row.
01:23 So Aurora's symphonies going for three in a row,
01:26 which is obviously massive.
01:28 At the moment, that's a $3.30 favourite
01:31 ahead of Acceleration, Gran Piero and Alejandro Ladd.
01:35 So that's, Launceston Cup gets underway at 4.54pm,
01:39 but it'll be a couple of minutes late
01:40 knowing what racers do.
01:42 They usually, you know, carry on a little bit.
01:45 - Just on the earlier race in the round,
01:48 we're at race four.
01:48 Tell me a bit about that,
01:49 about the relationship with the footy clubs.
01:51 - Yeah, so race four, it's a part of the
01:54 Ladbrokes Community Sports Series,
01:56 where each horse in the race gets paired up
01:58 with a local sporting club.
01:59 So not just footy clubs, you've got a few hockey clubs,
02:02 a few cricket clubs,
02:03 even an RSL club in there as well.
02:05 So every club in that race is guaranteed 500 bucks,
02:08 but the winner gets 10,000,
02:10 which is obviously fantastic for any local sporting club.
02:13 And then 5,000 for second and 2,500 for third.
02:18 So that's also happened at the Hobart Cup
02:20 and the Devonport Cup as well.
02:22 So really massive from Ladbrokes
02:24 to be supporting our local sporting clubs
02:26 in that kind of shape, I guess.
02:28 - Absolutely.
02:29 Also happening though on Wednesday, Brian,
02:31 is the Jackjumpers' first playoffs game
02:34 for hopefully a few in the coming weeks.
02:38 Tell me a bit about what's going to be happening
02:39 on Wednesday night.
02:40 - Well, a few minutes after the Launceston Cup is running,
02:44 the Jackjumpers' game will start at 5.30 p.m.
02:47 And yeah, we have made a bit of this in the paper
02:50 with an article and interviewing the Jackjumpers' CEO.
02:53 And yeah, obviously it's not ideal,
02:55 but both massive events have fallen on the same day
02:59 at roughly the same time.
03:01 But yeah, it's the way it is.
03:03 And basically the Jackjumpers are playing
03:05 the Illawarra Hawks in Hobart.
03:08 It's at home seeding qualifier.
03:12 So yeah, just to simplify that,
03:14 it's basically if the Jackjumpers win,
03:17 they are into a playoff series final against Perth Wildcats.
03:21 It's like a prelim final.
03:22 Whoever wins that goes to the grand final series.
03:26 If the Jackjumpers lose,
03:28 they'll play the winner of Sydney Kings
03:30 and New Zealand Breakers.
03:32 So yeah, it's basically Jackjumpers are in the finals
03:37 mix for the third season in a row,
03:39 which is fantastic.
03:42 And yeah, I'm sure that a lot of people
03:44 will be watching on Wednesday night.
03:45 - It'd be really interesting if they lose that
03:47 because that's the two teams that have knocked them out
03:49 over the last two years.
03:50 So it's kind of a salivating rivalry that'll happen
03:52 if they lose.
03:53 Obviously don't want them to lose at all.
03:54 We'd love them to win and go straight through
03:57 to that prelim style clash.
03:58 But if they lost, it's gonna be really interesting
04:01 to see them face either New Zealand or Sydney, I reckon.
04:03 - Yeah, absolutely.
04:04 And there's gonna be tens of thousands of Tasmanians
04:07 across the state at live sporting events on a midweek.
04:10 On Wednesday, it's quite a unique day, I think,
04:12 on the Tasmanian sporting calendar.
04:15 But there is another Hawks, not Illawarra this time,
04:18 of the Hawthorn variety coming to Launceston this Saturday.
04:22 Tell me a bit about what's happening there for the Hawks
04:25 and what's going on.
04:27 - Yeah, so it's the AFL preseason clash.
04:29 Look, I don't know the long history of preseason clash
04:34 start times in Launceston,
04:35 but I know that that clash, I believe,
04:38 has been on Sunday in recent years,
04:40 or maybe midweek it was against Collingwood,
04:42 I think Thursday night last year.
04:44 So to have the Hawks play Western Bulldogs
04:47 at 6.10, I think I've got that right,
04:50 6.10 on Saturday night at Utah's stadium,
04:55 this is a real chance to get to the footy
04:57 a reasonable time.
04:59 Like Saturday night, it's after the local crickets
05:03 finished up.
05:04 I don't think there's any other competing events
05:06 locally on that night.
05:08 And there's reason to get there.
05:11 Riley Sanders, number six pick for the Western Bulldogs
05:15 in the most recent draft,
05:18 he's regularly in AFL articles
05:22 and he's having a great preseason.
05:24 It's not just that he's a Tassie local doing well,
05:28 he's one of the best and most promising prospects
05:31 in Australia coming into this season.
05:34 So we're really wishing him well for his season ahead.
05:38 And yeah, I'd imagine he will be playing Saturday.
05:40 So look out for Riley.
05:42 And of course the Hawks are back here again.
05:44 So, you know, there's gonna be,
05:47 I think they're getting to the schools on Friday
05:49 and there's gonna be a real good buzz this week, guys.
05:52 - Yeah, Riley kicked a fantastic goal.
05:55 It's just, he got it kind of in the middle
05:56 and straight through and kicked him a goal.
05:58 Like, it's the kind of stuff you'd see
05:59 when you're at junior level.
06:00 And to be able to do that in the first
06:02 match simulation game that he played
06:03 for the Dogs on the weekend,
06:05 it's just, it's unreal to see what he could become.
06:07 It's really exciting and especially playing
06:10 on his former home deck,
06:11 obviously he used to play at North Lawny.
06:12 So it'd be fantastic to see how he goes
06:14 on the weekend.
06:15 - Yeah, we're gonna be pretty lucky this year.
06:16 We're gonna have a lot of Tasmanian talent
06:18 from that draft come down this year.
06:21 And a lot of those games will be in Launceston.
06:23 So absolutely get down and show your support
06:25 to these kids because they're achieving a dream here.
06:28 And I think it's the least the Launceston public can do.
06:32 To finish off with here,
06:34 we've got obviously the Tassie Tigers winning
06:36 their third straight WNCL final.
06:38 They've now become the second most successful team
06:42 in the WNCL's history behind,
06:44 a long way behind New South Wales,
06:45 it must be said, they won about a million in a row.
06:47 But this way they've done it,
06:50 not quite as close as last year.
06:52 - Thankfully.
06:54 - Yeah, took with 15 goals to spare,
06:57 a brilliant century from Nicola Carey.
06:59 But I wanna touch on Emma Maddox-Jayes.
07:01 Obviously a Launceston talent come through the ranks.
07:06 She took a brilliant catch to take the first look
07:09 at when Queensland were none for 50.
07:11 And then a great knock, 26 off 21, not out,
07:16 was exactly what Tassie needed
07:19 when they'd just lost two for none
07:20 in really, really high intense circumstances.
07:23 It's not the first time she's done this in a final.
07:25 It's a really, a testament to her ability and her composure.
07:29 - 100% it is.
07:30 And she's actually, you mentioned that,
07:31 she's played a K-port part in all three finals.
07:33 First one she scored 100.
07:35 Second one she took a really key stumping in the last over.
07:38 And this time she's done herself a good favour
07:41 with that knock.
07:42 So she knows how to stand up in high pressure moments
07:45 and she really thrives off it.
07:46 I think she was saying,
07:48 I can't remember which one of you two interviewed her
07:49 through the week, but she was saying
07:50 that because she's a wicketkeeper, she's always involved.
07:53 And she knows that she's gonna have to take her opportunity
07:56 when it comes.
07:57 And she's obviously done that in all three finals now.
07:59 - Yeah, and I'll just give a shout out
08:01 to the other Greater Northern Raiders products
08:04 that were at least involved
08:05 in the Tassie Tigers squad this season.
08:07 So you also had Longford's Sasha Maloney
08:10 and then we had Hayley Silver Holmes.
08:14 She's originally from New South Wales,
08:15 but she's been playing with the Raiders of late.
08:17 And those two played as well as Emma.
08:20 And then Julia Kavanagh was in the squad as well.
08:23 So a big shout out to them as the Northern representatives.
08:26 - Yeah, absolutely.
08:27 It's great testament to the Raiders.
08:29 Sasha Maloney took a wicket
08:30 and Silver Holmes also played in that game.
08:31 So it was, yeah, it's great work from Darren Simmons
08:34 and the whole set up over there.
08:36 That's all the time we have for this week.
08:38 Another episode of the Press Box.
08:40 We'll join you again for another one.
08:42 (upbeat music)
08:45 (upbeat music)
08:48 (upbeat music)
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