The Examiner's Ben Hann and Josh Partridge discuss some recent success stories from Tasmanian sport in episode 73 of The Press Box. Video by Aaron Smith and Paul Scambler (29/10/24)
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00:00Welcome one and all to another episode of the Pressbox. This is episode 73. My name
00:12is Ben Hane, joined once again by Josh Partridge. We've got a very big episode for you guys
00:16today, but first of all, it's everyone's favorite segment, numerology.
00:22Now Josh, I've actually got quite a good one for you today. Oh, as always, but this one
00:31especially.
00:32Yeah, why are you so shocked man? They're all good.
00:3473 is a big number in Tasmanian sport because it is in fact the exact number of sixes that
00:41Ricky Ponting hit. Famously, Mo Bray's Ricky Ponting hit in Test Match Cricket 73.
00:46I won't act surprised, but that's actually a good one, Ben. Well done.
00:50We're off to a flyer. Speaking of flies, Sam Clifford. The Bernie 10, obviously a really,
00:56really famous running event in Tasmania, and even in Australia, was run on the weekend
01:02and he absolutely smashed it. Josh, the second Tasmanian ever to win the event. A pretty
01:08remarkable time too.
01:09Yeah. 28.17 was his time for the 10 kilometer race and he follows in brilliant footsteps
01:15following Stuart McSwain, who's obviously a two-time Olympian as well. So Olympics has
01:20always been Sam's goal. He's always spoken pretty openly about wanting to reach the Olympics,
01:25but I spoke to him earlier this year before the Launceston 10 and he said that he's really
01:30added a lot of discipline, patience, and consistency into his running. So he's really evolved over
01:36the last year and really put himself in a strong position. But I remember as a kid,
01:42I'd go down to Laguna Cricket Oval and me and my mates would play cricket there and
01:46Sam would always be running around. He's, I think, I can't remember how old he is. He's
01:50a couple of years younger than me, but he was always that energetic kid and he was always
01:54in primary school, the one that was winning all the cross countries and all that kind
01:57of stuff. So to see where he is now, it's a credit to him and what he's done.
02:02Yeah, absolutely. And I think for people, just so they can get maybe an understanding
02:06of just how hard that Benetton race is, it's the first five kilometres, it's pretty much
02:12directly into a headwind. You've got hills, you've got all sorts of different levels of
02:19going up and down. It's not an easy 10k.
02:22And he was leading at the 5k as well. He got an extra $500 bonus for leading at that 5k mark.
02:29And I think he almost went quicker in the second, didn't he?
02:33Yeah, yeah. So he finished faster than he started. It's a truly remarkable effort. Running
02:3810k in under 30 minutes is actually really hard to get your head around just how fast that is.
02:43But he's not the only person, Josh, in Launceston that's really making a name for himself and
02:49really starting to become a household name in their sport. I was lucky enough last week to
02:54have a wonderful chat with Harrison Sellers. He's only 19. He's really making waves in motorsport
03:02at the moment, finishing up now with the Formula Ford, where he entered the final weekend at
03:07Phillip Island with a chance to win the whole thing, having really thought he'd not had the
03:14season he wanted and seemingly out of the whole thing. He managed to win all three races at
03:20Sandown. He's now won four races at Sandown. It's something about that track, obviously.
03:24And it's a pretty good track to have as your signature track, isn't it?
03:27Exactly. Everyone knows Sandown. Exactly right. And unfortunately, he couldn't win the championship,
03:32but it was a great end as well. He earlier won Bathurst this year. To even race at Bathurst is
03:38a pretty remarkable achievement. He spoke really honestly about how, for most people,
03:42a bucket list item is to go to the Great Wall of China, go to London, or go to New York,
03:47something like that. But for him, it's pretending to be Marcus Ambrose, obviously a famous Tasmanian
03:51driver, or Craig Lowndes, and race around, obviously, the famous Mount Paderama circuit.
03:56He doesn't know what he's going to do yet next year, but I'm sure whatever he does,
04:00he's going to be incredibly successful. Someone else, Josh, that's been in the news recently,
04:08obviously, been around NTFA footy for such a long time is Noreen Murangi,
04:13taking over as coach at Hillwood.
04:15Yep. Yeah, so she moved to Tasmania in 2019 and started playing at Evandale there. 2018,
04:21sorry. Or 2019. No, 2019. I'll go with 2019. Started playing at Evandale and played under
04:27Dwayne Beaton there, who coached Hillwood for the last four years. Then, yeah, she followed him to
04:33Hillwood, where she's now going to be taking over the coaching role. She was effectively a succession
04:38plan. That's how she described it. I don't think it was originally the plan, but she was assistant
04:43coach for all four years under Dwayne. She was really honest about what she learned from Dwayne,
04:49and I suppose really pleased with the growth of the NTFA women's competition. Obviously,
04:54it's added a few more teams over the last couple of years and all that kind of thing,
04:57with Hillwood really being one of them four years ago. But yeah, she really, not necessarily
05:03pleaded, but said to AFL Tasmania and the NTFA that they really need to lean into the growth
05:09in women's footy. That's where the main growth of Aussie rules in the States coming from.
05:13Yeah, of course, she comes into a really exciting Div 1 competition. You've got
05:16three really powerhouse clubs joining into that competition. Hillwood have been there
05:21are thereabouts the last couple of years, but haven't quite been able to find that final
05:25success. It'll be interesting to see where they can build on their past couple of years.
05:30Also named as a new coach is a name that anyone in Tasmanian football will be familiar with.
05:35Fletcher Seymour has been an assistant coach for Old Scotch since he came back from
05:41Launceston, but he's now the coach with Bradley Combs stepping away from the role.
05:46Really remarkable achievement. He's won five flags in his last five years. He's won
05:50league best and fairest, best on ground in grand finals. Pretty much, if you think of something,
05:56he's done it. But it'd be really interesting to see how he goes as a coach.
06:00Yeah, I think you would have to have thought that when he first came over to Scotch,
06:05the plan eventually would have been to get into coach. Obviously, it mightn't have been
06:09the first thing on their minds, but that would have been something they would have gone,
06:12oh, we want Fletcher's brain here. We want not just his on-field ability, but what he brings
06:17in off-field capacity. I think having him learnt under Bradley, who he really rated as a coach
06:23from what I've heard, that it'd be really fantastic to see what he can bring to the role.
06:27Yeah, and he spoke about how it's a really exciting new challenge for him that Old Scotch are now
06:32no longer the top dogs, the guys who are going to, expected and probably would,
06:36dominate every single game they go into. They're now in the chasing pack. They're no longer
06:41considered to be favourites. I think that's something that really excites not just him,
06:45but the whole club. And to be honest, that actually brings us on to our
06:50landmark segment, Hannie's Hard Hitters.
07:00So Josh, for today's Hannie's Hard Hitters, I'm going to ask a prediction question,
07:07which never bites us in the ass at all.
07:09No, not at all.
07:11My question for you today is, who's winning the NTFA Division One competition next year?
07:17I still think Roach Lee will win it. Although Josh Ponting isn't coaching, he's still playing
07:23there next year. Luke Richards is a proven leader and all that kind of things. I think
07:30they haven't really announced much up at Roach Lee. It'd be interesting to see what recruits
07:33they'd get eventually, but I think they've got the solid base, but
07:38Scotch won't be too far behind, even though they are making that step up. Bridge North won't be
07:43too far behind either, even though they've lost a few top-end talent. They've still really stocked
07:47up over the last couple of years underneath the Hinds that they've lost and all that kind of
07:52thing. So I think those three are top. I think four and five is, you can throw a blanket over
07:59a number of teams, but I really like Lillidale. I think they're going to be close as well,
08:05but it's anyone's guess from there, I suppose. Where would you see it going?
08:09Yeah, I think what's going to be great about it is I think Lillidale and Scotch are a genuine chance
08:15at winning. I think you're right, Roach Lee is certainly going to this, at least at this stage
08:21of the pre-season as favourites. They're way too early.
08:26But yeah, I'd have Roach Lee and Bridge North as my one and two. I'd have Scotch actually third
08:32with probably Hillwood at this stage fourth over Lillidale fifth. But really, I can expect
08:38Bracknell to have a really good rebound year. It'll be really interesting to see. I was brought
08:42in a lot of youth and St. Pat's brought in some really high-profile names and Georgetown weren't
08:47nearly as bad as I think maybe some people expect them to be this year. So it's going to be a really
08:52amazing comp to be a part of and to cover. And yeah, it's going to be really exciting.
08:57Yeah, well you mentioned Georgetown there. They had young Alex Tubb who made the
09:01NCFA Premier Team of the Year. So if he can take his football to that next level above,
09:05I think he's going to be really damaging for the defenders.
09:08Absolutely. All right, that's all I have time for. Thanks for joining us and we'll
09:11see you guys for the next one.