Tasmanian athletes making waves | The Press Box 73 (29/10/24) - video Dailymotion

The Examiner

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)

Transcript

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.

Tasmanian athletes making waves | The Press Box 73 (29/10/24)

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