00:00Welcome one and all to another episode of the Pressbox episode 69.
00:12My name is Ben Hand.
00:13Joining alongside me once again is Brian Allen and Josh Partridge.
00:16We've cut off the backs of a pretty forgettable AFL grand final to be honest, but obviously
00:22one that Brisbane richly deserved.
00:25But before we get to any of that, we've got to go to everyone's favorite segment, numerology.
00:29So lads, I'm going to take you back, I'm going to paint a picture for you where we're getting
00:40rid of the pluses and minuses again.
00:41We're going to an iconic moment in Tasmania in Australian sport.
00:45The high-to-be status as the finisher, James Faulkner, playing against England in Brisbane
00:52at the Gabba.
00:53I think everyone already knows what I'm talking about here in 2014.
00:56Australia were down and out.
00:57Mitchell Johnson had just gone out, Clint McKay came to the crease, we were nine down
01:01and needing a lot to win.
01:04James Faulkner hit 69 not out in a remarkable display of batting, sixes and fours against
01:11Tim Bresnan.
01:12A couple of really iconic shots and Clint McKay just stayed in there and we got the
01:18win.
01:19Obviously a very famous summer with Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris.
01:21I now know what I'm watching when I get home tonight, so thank you Ben.
01:25I hope I've inspired a few other people as well.
01:28We do have, obviously, the AFL grand final to look back on.
01:32Brisbane premised the first time in 21 years under Chris Fagan.
01:36Josh, take me through, or take the audience through, I suppose, how you saw the game pan
01:42out.
01:43Well, it was just that seven goal to one second quarter.
01:46Any game of football, if it's seven goals to one in a quarter, you're going to win.
01:49That was really where Brisbane took the game away from Sydney after a pretty close first
01:53quarter, especially given Brisbane had the first couple of shots on goal and all that
01:56kind of thing.
01:57But, yeah, it was just that quarter just really took the game away from them.
02:01Despite a couple of Sydney players' best efforts, especially Tasmanian Robbie Fox, he was brilliant
02:06once again on the grand final stage in the two grand finals that they've been absolutely
02:10demolished in.
02:11He's been fantastic, but Brisbane were just way too good.
02:15Yeah, and obviously, Brian, the spectacle on the field from the players wasn't exactly
02:22entertaining for the neutral viewers, but there was a pretty good spectacle going into
02:27the game.
02:28Yeah, yeah.
02:29Look, the game itself was a fizzer, really.
02:32It was over at halftime and, yeah, I mean, for me, I went to the South Lawny luncheon
02:39on Friday and talked to a few of the personalities that were speaking at that and, yeah, we were
02:44talking about, like, what do you think of the current entertainment package of footy
02:48and there was various opinions and I suppose, yeah, there was a lot made of Katy Perry playing
02:54an American pop star and a real proven performer.
02:59She's been doing the job for so many years.
03:02So, yeah, there was anticipation ahead of that and I guess my experience watching, I'm
03:08obviously a footy lover and probably I'm definitely focused on just the footy itself, but to have
03:15Christina Noo and Mike Brady up there, Gazalia, as usual, I was ready for the first bounce
03:22after that.
03:23I was pretty psyched up.
03:24But, yeah, obviously, they're big on their pre-Grand Final entertainment now and Katy
03:30Perry, I thought, did an excellent job.
03:33She was very professional, yeah, a real proven performer and, yeah, by the end of it, my
03:39daughter and I were having a dance to Firework and, you know, she's only learning to talk
03:44but she was kind of singing along, so, yeah, it was a special moment in that sense.
03:51So, yeah, probably got a lot out of that and then, yeah, I thought later, because the game
04:01didn't really live up to its hype, that it was probably really good that they did put
04:06a lot of effort into the pre-Grand Final entertainment because if you're a ticket holder and they
04:12do cost a lot of money or you put the investment of time in to watch the game, then, you know,
04:20the fact that there was that pre-game entertainment helped make it worth it.
04:25Yeah, exactly right and obviously, Katy Perry, Tasmania Indel's number one ticket holder,
04:30so I thought that that sort of pre-interlude going into the game as well, the way she opened
04:37herself up to media was really good too.
04:40I suppose the main Tasmanian connection, obviously, other than Robbie Fox, as you mentioned there,
04:44was Chris Fagan breaking all sorts of records or maybe, has he, as in terms of whether he
04:50was the first to be not playing at the level, which obviously has been discussed at length,
04:55but, you know, first non-playing coach, effectively, and the oldest coach to have won a flag.
05:04What an amazing achievement.
05:06He has really worked his way up the hard way to get to this level.
05:11Assistant coaches and then Director of Football at Hawthorne, he's had such a great era of
05:16success and it led me into writing a column yesterday about how I think the Devils just
05:22have to throw everything at trying to get him his contract runs until the end of 2026
05:28in Brisbane.
05:29So, yeah, you know, I think he has the temperament, he gets Tasmania, I think he ticks a lot of
05:35boxes.
05:36I wrote a lot about my reasoning and stuff like that.
05:38Josh, is that, I suppose, an option you'd first go to?
05:41Yeah, I think, and as you said in your column, it doesn't necessarily have to be the coach.
05:46I mean, the stuff that he's done behind the scenes as well at Hawthorne and things like
05:50that, I think it's certainly a possibility and you just watch the impact that he has
05:54on the players.
05:55I saw an interview with Kyle Oman before the game who described him as a father figure
05:58and all that kind of stuff.
06:00So, he's just a fantastic human being that's obviously had an impact on players from whether
06:06they're 18 or whether they're 35, in Dane Zorco's case, he's had an impact on his entire
06:10playing list.
06:11Yeah, I really look at the Kevin Sheedy approach, how much the inaugural GBS players talk about
06:16how much he set up the culture of the club, not just obviously the on-field coaching,
06:20it was everything else that went with it.
06:22He just got how to build an AFL winning culture and I think Chris Fagan has proven time and
06:27time again he can do that.
06:29But, more on that later.
06:31We'll first go to you Brian for just one of the emerging talent segments going out there.
06:38Brian's Extremely Difficult Sports Quiz.
06:47Look, it's a grand final special of course, so get your buzzers ready.
06:53But yeah, we'll start with the first question.
06:55How many goals in a row did the Lions kick in the second quarter to essentially win the game?
07:00Six.
07:01Ben's got it.
07:03Will Ashcroft was taken at what pick in the 2022 draft?
07:08Two?
07:09Yes.
07:10As a father-son.
07:11Question three, Queenstown's Chris Fagan embraced with who following the final siren?
07:17Lee Matthews.
07:18Pardo.
07:20Question four, which injured Swans player was subbed off in the third quarter?
07:24Logan McDonald.
07:28What a storming performance.
07:30Who did the Lions sub into the game?
07:32Conor McKenna.
07:33Yes.
07:35It's a 3-2 win to Pardo this week.
07:37Well done.
07:38In hot form, Josh Barker.
07:39I think that's the first clear win.
07:41I think we've had a tied...
07:43You had a 0.1 win last week.
07:46But that was a well-played contest, Josh.
07:50You're in hot form.
07:52And just yet another barnstorming segment of BEDSQ.
07:55So watch out for it next week.
07:58And that takes us on to the landmark segment, obviously.
08:02It's a great lead-in.
08:03It's Henny's Hard Hitters.
08:04So guys, as we were talking about before, Chris Fagan is such a great achievement for
08:16a man who clearly deserved that success.
08:19Henny's Hard Hitter for this week is, will Fagan be the Tasmanian Devil's first coach?
08:27And if not, who?
08:28I'll start with you, Josh.
08:30I don't reckon he will be.
08:31I reckon they'll, as I mentioned before, kind of settle him into a behind-the-scenes kind
08:34of role.
08:35And I think the name that's kind of been thrown around that I've seen is Nathan Buckley.
08:38And I think by the time Tassie come into it, I think he'll be invested enough to want another
08:44shot at the AFL stuff.
08:45Because he wasn't that bad of a coach.
08:47So I reckon that's roughly where they'll go.
08:50I'm going to back in Fagan in the Kevin Sheedy role.
08:53Not with the intention of coaching for years and years.
08:56With the intention of coaching the first two, set the foundations up.
09:01And yeah, it helps a lot that he's a local.
09:05Yeah, absolutely.
09:06I think, yeah, I'm going to sort of hedge my bets a little bit.
09:09I think he will definitely be part of that Devil's setup.
09:12I think he will be slightly more behind-the-scenes.
09:14He will be a head coach for at least a decade by the time that comes around.
09:17So he might be ready for a break.
09:19But I think if not head coach, he'll certainly be a director of coaching or maybe an assistant coach.
09:25And if that is the case, then I actually think they might try and go for someone like Alistair Clarkson.
09:31I know he's obviously contracted with North Melbourne at the moment.
09:34But he is always expressing support for a Tasmanian team.
09:38And his intention to maybe be a part of that someday.
09:41And I think the Devils could do a lot worse than a four-time premiership coach.
09:46Could be a five-time one then.
09:47Well, wishful thinking, I think, for North supporters.
09:51We'll just quickly wrap up with, I was at today, the Tennis World Launceston.
09:56A great announcement that they've got the Launceston International back at, well, Launceston.
10:02And it's been played at Burnie the last few years while they've been waiting for a new clubhouse.
10:06It's been well overdue. Been a saga that's gone on for about a decade, if not more.
10:10So that's great news. They're also adding in a junior tournament too.
10:12So there will be two tournaments as part of a five-week festival of tennis following the Australian Open.
10:19There will be two tournaments at Burnie, same set-up, as well as another one at Devonport.
10:23And obviously the Hobart one remains.
10:25So it's a great moment.
10:27Obviously, slightly unfortunate, Josh, that Burnie Loop have dropped their licensing to one tournament standard worse.
10:37But in terms of the health of the sport in the North, it's a really good thing.
10:41Yeah, it's massive.
10:42I mean, we've got a couple of junior talents that are playing in junior ITF tournaments.
10:48Young and George Anderson, Alicia Dale and the females as well.
10:51They've all been playing junior ITF.
10:53So for them to get that crack in their home state will be unbelievable for them.
10:57Yeah, the whole, you can't be what you can't see sort of phrase comes to mind.
11:01So that's all we have time for this week.
11:03We'll catch you guys for Episode 70 next week.
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