The Examiner's Ben Hann, Josh Partridge, and Brian Allen unpack and discuss sports news from across Northern Tasmania. Video by Aaron Smith (25/9/24)
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome one and all to another episode of the Pressbox, episode 68.
00:11My name is Ben Ham, joined once again by Brian Allen and Josh Partridge.
00:14The whole team's back together again after what seems like almost two months.
00:19First of all, we'll start with everyone's favourite segment, numerology.
00:29Now boys, I've actually had to put a little bit of extra effort into this one because
00:32there wasn't anyone screaming out at me, but I thought in the midst of the final ever TSL
00:37Grand Final, a history-making moment in Tasmanian football, I thought I'd lean into the sort
00:43of adding up numbers.
00:46I thought Lauderdale's best three players on the weekend were Andrew Phillips, Nat Franklin
00:51and Thor Boscott.
00:52So that's number 35, number 24 and number 8 or 9, sorry, good maths, and that equals
01:03number 68.
01:04Well done, apart from the fact that Thor did not set one single foot into the midfield
01:10all day, but that's all right, Ben.
01:11I just said he was the best player, one of their best players, that's all I'm going for.
01:15Is the final figure right?
01:17You had to adjust 8 to 9.
01:18Sorry, number 9.
01:19So 35 plus 24, 59, plus 9 is 68, so I was actually correct, but I just got the number
01:26wrong.
01:27Moving on, we've got obviously a massive moment, as I mentioned before, North Launceston playing
01:33as Lauderdale.
01:34North Launceston in a really, sort of an odd game, to and fro, Lauderdale missed a lot
01:39of opportunities that maybe, looking back, could have really had them with an upset win.
01:44But Josh, take me through, I suppose, how you saw the day pan out and I suppose six
01:49flags now for North Launceston.
01:50Yeah, so North got up by 20 points.
01:53Lauderdale were really good.
01:55I know that sounds a bit condescending and all that kind of stuff to say when they lose
01:59by 20 points, but they were really good.
02:01They really took it up to North, who hadn't been taken up to all year, really.
02:05North were leading by, I think it was 41 points at three-quarter time and Lauderdale kicked
02:11five goals in the last quarter and really, we were sitting there, I'd already written
02:15my story and we were going, this is getting close.
02:18Yeah, it got even closer than 20 points at one stage.
02:21Yeah, yeah.
02:22And it took a goal from North to really steady, Brandon Leary's seventh, who was, he was unbelievable.
02:28And to his own admission, he could have kicked 10, he's like, oh, I kicked a couple of sodas
02:31into the post and all that kind of stuff, but no, it was just a really good quality
02:36display of footy and you had a chat to Alan Christensen after the game and he said it doesn't
02:41really make sense that this product's not around anymore after that's the offering that
02:45it provides.
02:46Yeah.
02:47I'll obviously quickly touch, he also said, for a lot of that game, they were just as
02:51good, if not better.
02:52It was that 15-minute period in third quarter, it went from 10 points to 40 points.
02:56That was really what killed them.
02:57Six goals to one, I think that third quarter was.
03:00Yeah, yeah.
03:01And Jordan Lane, I don't want to single anyone out, but he misses a few chances that maybe
03:04he would have taken and on another day and it could have been a different result.
03:08But yeah, in terms of the holistic thing, he's obviously been a very vocal supporter
03:12of the TSL and has never quite been on board, let's just say, with this change into a regional
03:18approach.
03:19He will not be at Lauderdale or at this stage coaching at all in Tasmanian footy.
03:24So he is a loss to the state.
03:27But yeah, I suppose this is the way it is and this is how he's even admitted himself,
03:31this is the way it's going to have to be and there's no point sort of dragging your feet
03:34over hot coals when it's already done and dusted.
03:37Right, so we're losing Christian to potentially the mainland then, is it?
03:41Yeah, he's got, as you said in your story, he's got offers from both mainland and Tasmanian,
03:46but he also said he's been in professional systems since he's been 13.
03:50So what was it, 19 years or something in professional systems?
03:53Yeah.
03:54He went, nah, probably it mightn't be for me in footy anymore.
03:57So he might take a step back and see what life's like outside of footy, but he could
04:01still be in Tassie, which is interesting.
04:03There's a few little rumors circulating about where he could be next year.
04:06So it'll be interesting to see what he does.
04:08Yeah, might even reappear when the VFL team comes in, who knows?
04:12But I suppose with that in mind, Josh, there are obviously a lot of champions that played
04:17for North Launceston on Saturday, but there's probably one in particular that leads me into
04:21the landmark segment of the Press Box, Handy's Hardhits.
04:25So my question this week is, and I think we're all going to have the same answer for
04:37this, but who is the undisputed Tasmanian State League coach?
04:41Well, he won his third Lynch medal on Saturday as the best player in the league at 31 years
04:46of age.
04:47And I've also seen footage which might say he's the best player off the field as well.
04:52Brad Cox-Goodger has been fantastic after North Launceston have won their premierships,
04:58but his on-field contributions to not just North Launceston Football Club, but the TSL
05:03in general, he was voted the GOAT by all the fans.
05:07And to get that over Jay Bowden, who's been equally obviously as good a player, it's obviously
05:13a testament to Brad and how he goes about his footy.
05:16Yeah, I can't really answer it properly.
05:19I've only seen a handful of TSL games, but just because Brad Cox-Gooder came back to
05:25play for Rotorua Lea in a one-off game earlier this year, I guess that kind of gave me a
05:30bit of a look at how good he is.
05:32He was just quite a cut above going back to an NTFA premier level.
05:38He kicked four goals and was a match winner and seemed to be going at 75% or whatever
05:46of his best.
05:47So yeah, I'd probably say him.
05:51Yeah, absolutely.
05:52And I think the numbers really ultimately speak for themselves.
05:54He's a 10-team of the years, has been both in multiple league best and fairest, also
05:59a leading goal-kicker.
06:00He's really done it all.
06:02Six-time premiership player, one of only two now.
06:05So yeah, I think the resume is pretty unbeatable.
06:08And I think we mentioned it on the weekend, but he wasn't that big for North Launceston.
06:12But as spectators, we thought, oh, he could just pop up a year.
06:17If we're thinking that, imagine what Lauderdale are thinking playing against him.
06:21The amount of work that has to go into stopping a player like him would be otherworldly.
06:25And you even noticed that his best period was that third quarter period where they just
06:30happened to go from 10 points up to 40 points up.
06:32We'll move on now to the national version of the sport, the AFL.
06:37Brian, you were in Melbourne on Saturday watching one of the great finals in recent memory.
06:42It is a Brisbane-Sydney grand final.
06:44Take me through, though, how the Lions got there.
06:46Yeah, so the Lions and Cats preliminary final will go down as one of the greats of all time.
06:53Yeah, I guess because all footy lovers are probably tapped into all the ins and outs
06:57of the game and, you know, the injuries ahead of the grand final, I'll probably just talk
07:02about what it was like to be there in person, in the crowd.
07:05We were just like level one and, yeah, really got to soak it up.
07:09It was interesting because I really feel like post-COVID there's...
07:16This is because I've gone to the Jack Jumpers games at the Silverdome as well, but there's
07:19a real emphasis on the spectacle now in sport.
07:24And so, yeah, there was all the loud pumping music, the fireworks and smoke as the players
07:31run out through the banner, observing the crowd, like there was a lot of movement all
07:38the time.
07:39There's like 90,000 people there, but just like people moving in and out of seats, which
07:44is a little bit annoying at times, but it clearly wasn't like some people weren't just
07:48there to watch the footy.
07:49Like it was more of an event.
07:52And I guess it's just interesting to think about that post-COVID.
07:56I went to the MCG a lot when I had lived in Melbourne and growing up.
08:02So it's just interesting to see that change that I guess I just noticed it more.
08:08I was like, oh, people aren't just here to watch the footy.
08:12I don't know whether you guys feel that way.
08:14Well, I'm a Saints fan.
08:16And so obviously when I go to Melbourne, their home games are at Marvel and it's a light
08:21show.
08:22It's a performance.
08:23It's not a game of footy.
08:24You've got the red, black and white lights flickering every time the Saints kick a goal.
08:29It's full on.
08:30It's not just a game of sport, which it caters to a whole lot of people.
08:33I've been with my wife and she didn't watch a second of the footy, but she enjoyed the
08:38whole night.
08:40It's doing really well to cater to all audiences, I think.
08:43Yeah, absolutely.
08:44It's an entertainment and a content industry.
08:45Like anything, it has to be able to draw a larger audience.
08:48We'll just quickly touch on Chris Fagan as well.
08:51Obviously back-to-back grand finals now for the Tasmanians.
08:53He's obviously got a very storied history in the sport.
08:56Could potentially even be part of the Devil's Setup once they join the competition.
09:00I suppose it's a really testament to him that he's come under a bit of a flack actually
09:04in the last few weeks about how he's coached.
09:06These are two pretty remarkable wins, Josh, to be able to pull off back-to-back.
09:10Yeah, I think you talk about the flack that he's been under.
09:13At the start of the year when they were struggling, so many people were calling for his head.
09:17They didn't like the way that he coached, even though it's been okay for them for the
09:19last however many years.
09:22It's a real testament to him and the environment he's built up at Brisbane to get them to where
09:27they are now.
09:28Yeah, and anyone told him that you'd win in Sydney and then in Melbourne against those
09:34two.
09:35It's a great effort.
09:36I'll just finish off the AFL segment before we go to Brian in one moment with your tips
09:41for the game.
09:42Well, I've been saying for six weeks that Brisbane are winning, so I'm not fluctuating
09:46funnily enough.
09:47Yeah, I like it.
09:48I think Sydney will win.
09:49I've just seen Brisbane and how impressive they were against Geelong, but I think Sydney
09:53probably just have a few too many top liners like Yohane, Goulden and Chad Warner.
10:00I think they've just got a few more of those players than Brisbane.
10:03I think Oscar McInerney is a massive out, to be honest, for Brisbane, but I do think
10:06Brisbane's defence will shut down Sydney's forward line, so I think Brisbane will win
10:10by two goals.
10:11But as a staunch Darcy Fort fan, I'm very excited to see you return.
10:15Oh, there you go.
10:16Now, it's been missing from our screens for a little bit too long for my liking, but it
10:20is going to make its long way to return.
10:21It is Brian's Extremely Difficult Sports Quiz.
10:31Brian, take us away.
10:33Yeah, we'll whip through it, guys.
10:35So, it's an AFL theme and last night was the Brownlow medal.
10:40How many votes did Carlton's Patrick Cripps receive to win the Brownlow?
10:4445.
10:45There you go.
10:46Harder.
10:47Very quick.
10:48What was the previous record and who was it held by and that's a joint, sort of held by?
10:55I know it's 39.
10:56No, it's 36.
10:57Oh, dammit.
10:58Oh, I don't know.
10:59It's wrong.
11:01We're both wrong.
11:02I don't know the players, though.
11:03I couldn't tell you the players.
11:04I'm going to guess one of them's Gary Adler.
11:05I'm going to guess one's Dane Swan.
11:06No.
11:07So, we'll leave that there, but it was Olly Wines and Dustin Martin.
11:12Right, there you go.
11:13This is a bit of a trick question type thing.
11:17When did the Swans and the Lions last face off in the Grand Final?
11:211899.
11:22Well done, Pardo.
11:23So, that's two to you.
11:24Very good question.
11:25I like it.
11:26Name a Tassie Link involved with the Grand Final this week.
11:32Chris Fagan.
11:33Yeah.
11:34Grant Birchall as Brisbane's runner.
11:36Yeah.
11:37Give me a few more.
11:38Robbie Fox.
11:39Robbie Fox.
11:40He's going to get dropped.
11:41There you go.
11:42Yeah.
11:43And finally, John Longmire is, yeah, he's led the Swans for 14 or 15 years.
11:50How many Grand Finals has he led them to?
11:53Five.
11:54Yes.
11:56That's going six.
11:57Yeah.
11:58Yeah.
11:59We've got a two all result again, I think, guys.
12:02Yeah.
12:03I was right with the 36, though.
12:04Yeah.
12:05So, that gives you that.
12:060.1.
12:072.1 to 2.
12:09Excellent.
12:10I reckon that's all we have time for this week.
12:13Thanks again, and we'll see you for the next one.