Ben Hann, Josh Partridge, and Ryan Bentley discuss the Cricket North grand final in episode 85 of The Press Box. Video by Aaron Smith and Craig George (9/4/25)
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00:00Welcome one and all to another episode of the Press Box. My name is Ben Hand, joined alongside
00:11me once again is Josh Partridge and our new sports reporter and new Press Box presenter
00:16Ryan Bentley here today as well. We've got a massive episode for you guys today with the
00:22cricket season just finishing up and the footy season already beginning. But before we get into
00:25any of that, it's, you know, everyone's favorite segment, numerology.
00:37So for today's numerology boys, we're going to stick to cricket because that's how we're
00:41going to start the show before we get into the footy. We're going to start off with the
00:45Ricky Ponting medalist. Now, eagle-eyed viewers would remember that Ricky Ponting was the subject
00:53of Press Box 84. Well, this one is the Ricky Ponting medalist, Jono Chapman. He had a remarkable
01:00match to secure Westbury that win just a week and a half ago, scored 89 runs in the second
01:07innings. And if we minus those 80 runs by the full wickets he took to secure the win in the
01:13second inning, so that's 85, isn't it boys? So we are off to an absolute flyer. And speaking
01:18of which, Josh, wow, what a game. Yeah, it was a massive game. It was probably one of
01:25the best finals we've had in quite a while. So Westbury came away, 65 run winners. So
01:30Jordan French, here is your little rap of the game that you requested very nicely in our
01:34Facebook DMs. So Mowbray actually won the first innings, which is crazy in the terms of
01:41any game of cricket. But for a grand final, for Westbury to come back and win their third
01:44premiership in a row. Actually, it might be fourth now, I think. It was really well done
01:50from the Shamrocks and it just showed they're never out of the contest, no matter how badly
01:53it looks. Yeah, 19, 13 years too. It's a remarkable effort. And Ryan, I suppose someone who's
01:59come from the outside a fair bit, looking at that game, I suppose, what did you think
02:04of Mowbray hosting the game? How did you think the pitch looked? How did you think the field
02:09played? And I suppose the cricket in general? Well, obviously it's a really high standard.
02:13You have guys like Jared Freeman coming back and playing. And then all those Raiders boys,
02:18Lachie Clark was a standout in the first innings, I thought, for Mowbray. So yeah, it was awesome.
02:24And lots of people, the first day they had the auction slash the guest speakers that came
02:30in and were under the marquee there. So yeah, it was a really awesome event, I thought. And
02:34then, yeah, cracking game going along with it.
02:36Yeah, absolutely. It's a real testament to both clubs how well the game went and sort of, I suppose,
02:42the enjoyment for everyone else, the neutrals. And Josh, since then, we've had the Cricket
02:46North Awards. There's a wide array of clubs represented in this. Just take us through,
02:51I suppose, the winners and what they achieved.
02:52Yep. So first grade player of the year went to Mowbray coach John Hayes. So I suppose after
02:57they've suffered that disappointment, he's got a nice little bit of individual success,
03:00which is good. And then the one-day player of that competition went to Nathan Phillip,
03:06who also won the best batting average with 680 runs at 136.
03:11And averaged a cool 230-odd in the one-day competition.
03:14Yes. Yeah. So yeah, he had a pretty good year. And then Westbury's Kieran Hume took out the
03:21bowling, as he usually does. Fantastic Cricket North bowler who just gets things done every
03:26time. So then in the women's comp, Caitlin Webster won the player of the year. Monique
03:33Booth from Riverside won the batting. And Sophie Parkin from Riverside won the bowling.
03:37Yeah. Awesome. And, you know, it's one of those things where we feel like our cricket season's
03:42gone on forever. It's been a wonderful year. So many winners, so many losers, you know,
03:46lots of highs and lows. But straight into it, week later, footy season. You don't even hold
03:51your breath. And I suppose with that, Ryan, you got yourself your first taste of NTFA footy
03:56as well. That's right. Out at Evandale. I suppose take us through what you saw out at
04:02Morven Park. Morven Park. Not Morven Park, as may have been written in the paper. Don't
04:06talk about that, though. No, it was a cracking game, really. Evandale scraped home by six points
04:12in the end. Bridgeport kicked, I think, six straight with the break, coming back with the
04:17breeze to make it real close. Yeah, just a really awesome game. Like, there were a lot
04:23of good players around the ground. I thought Jackson Davey up at full forward, kicked three
04:26goals, just looked really good whenever he got isolated one-on-one. And then, I should
04:31shout out, Aaron Walker kicked an incredible, like, dribbling goal. Eddie Betts-like, I might
04:36say, in front of the Evandale club rooms for the home fans, and they all loved it. So
04:40I'm sure he's going to be talking about that for many, many years to come, because it was
04:43an incredible goal. But yeah, real good game. Evandale looked real good. Bridgeport, I thought,
04:50when they started playing a bit more aggressively in that fourth quarter, also looked really
04:53good. So, yeah, Interfa Diff 2. Looks like it's going to be a serious good goal.
04:58Yeah, I think it will. Maybe a pocket named after him as well, just like Eddie. And you,
05:03Josh? Probably a pretty vaunted competition, that Diff 1. Tell me, I suppose, take me through
05:08what happened over the weekend. Yeah, I went out to the freezing Bridge North Oval, Parrot
05:14Park. But no, it was a really good game of footy out there. Ropes of Lee came away, 47-point
05:19winners. They just kicked, when they had the breeze in the second quarter, they just kicked
05:23away. And that was kind of where the game kind of, it kind of got a bit stagnant from
05:28there. And then they also managed to do it in the end as well. So they kicked, I think
05:31it was seven second goals in the second half in a row. So they were just too good for Bridge
05:37North in the end. But their recruits, Jake Rice and Corey Nankervis were two of the standouts,
05:43according to coach Luke Richards, who was really happy with the way that those boys have kind
05:47of come into the team. And especially Rice playing against Bridge North, he kicked a goal
05:51and gave a bit of carry on. And there was a few boos here and there. He got caught holding
05:56the ball in front of the Bridge North bar, which was interesting, to say the least. But
06:01elsewhere in that competition, Lillydale beat Georgetown by 83 points. Bracknell beat
06:07Hillwood by 49. And St. Pats beat Old Scotch by 15.
06:11Yeah, awesome. And just to finish off as well, there was probably a one-sided start to the
06:15women's game as well. There was one highlight, though, I suppose, for the winning team with
06:19the... Who was at the kick nine goals? I'm going to butcher a name here, so apologies to
06:24Amy. Amy Prokopich? Prokopich. Prokopich. There we go. Thank you, Joshua. Thank you for
06:31saving Amy as well. Apologies, Amy. Yeah, obviously a really one-sided game. Old Scotch
06:36coming out 142-point winners. It was always going to be tough for St. Pats. I think Old Scotch
06:42were a really good sign. Premier Division last year, so Division I might be a little bit too
06:46easy for them. Although Bridge North also did one. So it'll be interesting to see how
06:51that goes. But yeah, it was good to see, I guess, a remix of the old rivalry of Old
06:58Scotch and St. Pats as well. So that was nice. Yes, and certainly men's result made me a very
07:02popular man amongst the Saints crowd. More said on that later, I reckon. And I suppose with
07:09that first round now concluded, or somewhat concluded, to varying degrees, I'm going to
07:16take you guys through the trademark segment of the Press Box. Handy's Hard Hitters.
07:29So boys, you've had a bit of a taste. Not every league's really come into play yet, but based
07:36off of what you've seen so far, what league are you most looking forward to this year?
07:40I'm still going to go with Division I. I think what we saw firsthand with Liddell beating
07:46Georgetown, so new teams playing each other for the first time in 41 years for the first
07:51time between those two. So yeah, I think just the mix-up of our old competitions and how
07:57they shaped up, this Division I is a bit of a melting pot of those. So it's going to be
08:01really interesting to see what happens in that Div I men's competition.
08:04Any few, Ryan?
08:05Well, I'm going to shout out the league that I'm covering. Division II, I think. It looks
08:11like there's five teams there that all look like they can win the Premiership, I think.
08:15Campbelltown obviously coming back from odd for last year. Yeah, I just think there's
08:21five teams there that I think just all look really good. You can make a case for winning
08:25the Premiership. So we'll see how that unfolds over the next couple of weeks. I think Evendale
08:31playing Perth this week, so that'll be another big game. And then the week after, I think
08:37Evendale and Campbelltown. So we'll finally get to have a look at how Campbelltown go against
08:42another contender.
08:43Yeah, exactly right. And I'll just give you a quick shout out to two leagues. I think
08:47Div I obviously is going to be just so strong across the board. It's just great seeing so
08:51many proud clubs sort of coming up against each other that might not have. We already saw
08:55some potentially surprising results on the weekend too. But I also want to give a shout out
08:58to the Premier League women's competition. I think the top end of that league is going
09:02to be really interesting to see who comes out as the best club. I think there are three
09:06clubs in South, Launceston and Scottsdale that could all have a genuine say winning the
09:13flag. So I think that'll be really interesting with the women as well. And that moves us on
09:17to a segment that has really grown in leaps and bounds since the start of its airing.
09:23And I've had multiple people stop me in the street every week just saying, I really want
09:27to win this segment. It would just make my year. And that is, of course, Josh's local hero of the
09:32week.
09:40Well, my local hero of the week this week, he's already won awards. We've already talked about
09:44him. It's Jono Chapman. It's an easy way out. I'm sorry. But yeah, Jono's obviously been a
09:49standout performer of the Cricket North scene for many years now. And having won the Ricky
09:54Ponting medal, he's just taken his game to a whole nother level, which I didn't even
09:59know was possible. So after getting a golden duck in the first innings, he's kind of, he
10:03recovered himself pretty well in that grand final to be the game changer in the end. So
10:07congratulations, Jono, on once again, what would be the best award you would have received
10:11in the last couple of weeks?
10:12So nine Cricket North two-day flags, four one-day flags, four T20 flags, two Ricky Ponting
10:18medals, and another CTPL grand final best on ground. But that is by far the best thing
10:23Jono Chapman has ever received. And on that note, we'll...
10:27Well, before we finish, actually, Ben, I'm just going to give you a quick shout-out as a member
10:30of the Cricket North team of the year. He didn't want to mention it. But now, given that he
10:35just reeled off Jono's little encyclopedia, I thought I'd say congratulations, Ben. Well
10:39done. Thank you, Josh. Well done, Ben. Thank you, Ryan. I didn't need that. But on that
10:44note, we'll catch you guys for the next one.