- 2 days ago
Welcome to The Examiner's weekly sportscast, The Pressbox, with Northern Tasmania's sport experts Josh Partridge, Ben Hann and Ryan Bentley. Edited and produced by Paul Scambler and Phillip Biggs
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00:00Welcome, I know, to another episode of the Press Box.
00:12My name is Ben Hang.
00:13During alongside me once again is Josh Petrooch.
00:15We are without Ryan Bentley for episode 110.
00:19He's under the impression he can take time off.
00:21But we will get going without him.
00:24Before we get going on what is another big week in Tasmanian sport,
00:28perhaps one of the biggest weeks, in fact,
00:30of Tasmanian sport,
00:31we will go to everyone's favourite segment, numerology.
00:38Josh, preceding what we're going to be talking about
00:41with the WNBL massive announcement this week,
00:45I've done a little bit of a Tasmanian basketball theme
00:48with episode 110.
00:51The Jackjumpers were the 10th licence of the NBL.
00:56And obviously this successor, the Tasmanian Jewels,
01:01the 9th franchise in the WNBL.
01:04So that is 10 times 9 equals 90.
01:07That is, of course, 20 short.
01:09Now, Alana Smith is the Jewels ambassador,
01:13global ambassador, famous Tasmanian basketballer,
01:17playing in the WNBL defensive player of the year.
01:19The WNBA.
01:20The WNBA, sorry, apologies.
01:22Playing for the Minnesota Lynx.
01:25When she made her Australian debut,
01:27she was 20 years old.
01:29So, of course, 90 plus 20, that is 110,
01:34is a remarkable...
01:35Coincidence, isn't it?
01:36...episode number slash numerology for us,
01:41ladies and gentlemen, today.
01:43But we will get straight into that now, Josh.
01:45Take us through what exactly has just gone on this week.
01:49Yeah, so the Tasmanian...
01:51The Tasmanian Jewels,
01:52which will be the Tasmanian WNBL team,
01:54has been named.
01:56They're the 9th team in the NBL,
01:58which came about in August,
01:59was when it was first announced
02:00that they were going to join the competition for next year.
02:03So the Jewels is a direct link to the Queen Ant,
02:07which is, I suppose,
02:07what you thought they were going to be named,
02:09the Queen Ants.
02:10You said that, didn't you?
02:11Yeah, I think that was something I'd heard
02:14that they were going down.
02:15So I don't think I was too far off.
02:16No, no.
02:17So, yeah, instead of going, I guess,
02:18the Queen Ants to join that Jackjumpers
02:20kind of ant-based theme,
02:22they've gone with the Jewels as a link to that.
02:25So I quite like it.
02:26What do you think about the name, Ben?
02:28Yes, well, I'm actually going to
02:31lead us into the landmark segment
02:33because you have, in fact, asked the question.
02:35And that is, of course,
02:36Hanny's Hard Hitters.
02:41Is it a good name, Josh?
02:46I'll answer it first.
02:48Look, I think it's not a bad name.
02:51I think we'll grow to like it.
02:53And one of those things,
02:54you have your initial instinct and reaction.
02:57You go, could they have done better?
02:58Usually a name is more about
03:00what the team represents.
03:02So Jackjumpers was one of those ones
03:04where people didn't really know
03:05if they liked it or not
03:06because it was so out there.
03:07But when you have that culture
03:08and that identity to go with the name,
03:11it actually makes the name a lot better.
03:12So I think we'll find
03:13whether this one stands up to it.
03:16It is a little bit similar, I find,
03:18to the Opals
03:19and there's other sort of basketball names.
03:22So probably one mark down for that
03:25just because I feel like
03:25I've heard that name before.
03:27But I think there could have been
03:28plenty worse than the Jewels.
03:31Yeah, I think it's just something different.
03:32I think, it's funny
03:33because you say it's similar,
03:35but I think it's something that's unique.
03:36There wouldn't be many other
03:37sporting organisations in the world
03:39called the Jewels.
03:40So yeah, I think it's just nice.
03:43I think it's a pretty nice name
03:45that will be pretty fitting
03:47for what they're wanting to achieve.
03:48Exactly right.
03:49None of that matters
03:49that if they don't get this thing
03:52underway on the right foot,
03:53I've got total belief that they will.
03:55They've got very good backroom staff
03:57there at Tasmania HQ.
04:00But yes, it's another exciting step
04:02towards our very own WNBL team.
04:05And because I kind of cut you off
04:08and did the handies hard hitter myself accidentally,
04:10I'll go back into a bit more detail.
04:12So they've got their colours
04:14of forest green and mandible yellow.
04:17And to add a more,
04:18what they've called a more feminine input to it,
04:20they'll be eucalyptus green as well.
04:22So very marketing-based terms,
04:24similar to what the Devils have done
04:26with their colours as well.
04:27But just traditional Tasmanian colours
04:29that they're adding their, I guess,
04:31own little spin onto as well.
04:32That's it.
04:32It's another part that's a little bit
04:34of a variation to the Jackjump.
04:35It's similar, but slightly different.
04:38We'll move quickly onto the other big story
04:41of the week.
04:42By the time of this recording,
04:44the vote hasn't been done yet in Parliament
04:48where the Macquarie Point Stadium will get billed or not.
04:52By the time you're watching this,
04:54it probably already has.
04:55So we're not going to effectively talk
04:57about the vote itself.
04:58We're going to talk about something
05:00that I wrote earlier this week
05:03based off of an open letter
05:05that Peter Gutwin sent
05:06to the Legislative Council.
05:08So Peter Gutwin, obviously, the former Premier,
05:12he detailed in that letter,
05:14it was quite a long one,
05:15but I had a look at a specific region
05:16and that was two conversations he had, Josh,
05:20with various people back in 2021,
05:24right at the start of when this all occurred,
05:27where he talked about speaking
05:29with a Gold Coast official
05:31when the Suns were playing North Melbourne
05:33at Bell Reeve Oval.
05:34It was a horrific day,
05:35very windy, very wet.
05:37And they spoke about how
05:40these clubs need to be convinced
05:41to vote in favour of the licence.
05:44And Gold Coast,
05:45they're not going to come down to Hobart
05:46when it's like this every week
05:48because they don't think
05:49that they'll have any sort of competitive advantage
05:51by adding a Tasmanian team
05:53with those conditions in mind.
05:55So he said,
05:57the only way we're going to vote in favour of you guys
05:58is by you guys producing a club
06:01with the infrastructure,
06:02like a roof,
06:05like, you know,
06:06better conditions
06:07that will make the Suns welcome them to the club.
06:11He then went and spoke to other clubs
06:13based in warmer climates
06:14and they all said similar things.
06:16So that was the first conversation.
06:18It sort of got his head around the fact
06:20that a new stadium might need a roof.
06:22The second one came
06:24when Michael Bublé
06:26was actually going to perform in Australia
06:30and his management team
06:32went and approached the Tasmanian government
06:34and asked whether they would like to headline
06:36in Tasmania
06:38and whether they had a 20,000 seat area precinct
06:41for them to perform in.
06:43Peter said, obviously, yes.
06:45But then they looked at the weather forecast
06:48for that part of time.
06:49In Hobart, during October, I believe it was,
06:52or maybe even September,
06:53it rains on average 50% of days.
06:56So they had to,
06:57the government would be required
06:59to underwrite the performance.
07:00So if it does rain
07:01and it does get cold off,
07:03the state government still pays them
07:06the equivalent money they would have earned
07:08for their headline first show of the tour.
07:11And effectively,
07:11the words that Peter used were that
07:13it was out of the state's reach.
07:16So two conversations between
07:18the media,
07:20not media,
07:21the music industry
07:22or the entertainment industry
07:23and obviously the AFL industry
07:25both saying
07:26the only way we want to go to Tasmania
07:28is if there's a roof.
07:29That is what...
07:30And that's really interesting as well.
07:32It speaks to the multi-purposeness
07:34of the stadium
07:34that I suppose sometimes
07:35seems to be getting lost.
07:36Obviously,
07:37it's been a condition of the AFL licence
07:40and it's been very AFL driven,
07:42but it's not just being built
07:43potentially for the AFL team.
07:46Obviously,
07:47it's going to be able
07:48to have a lot of different things there
07:49if the stadium does get built
07:51in the future.
07:52That's it.
07:53And there's,
07:53of course,
07:53question marks
07:54about the ability for cricket
07:57to be played there.
07:58That won't be answered
07:59until we play there effectively.
08:01Should it obviously get built,
08:02that little proviso
08:04will be in all of these comments.
08:06But the idea that even Michael,
08:09someone like Michael Bibler
08:10would come down and perform
08:11is encouraging.
08:12He was convinced
08:13that other musicians,
08:15high-level musicians,
08:16would come down
08:17and play with a suitable venue.
08:19So that is effectively
08:20how he was convinced
08:22that the stadium needed a roof
08:23and I suppose the rest is history,
08:25Josh.
08:26I suppose,
08:27as I said,
08:28the viewers probably already
08:29knowing this answer,
08:30but I suppose we'll wait
08:30and see what happens.
08:31That is leading us on now
08:34to the final segment
08:36of the show,
08:37but of course,
08:38not the least segment
08:38of the show
08:39and that is Josh's
08:40Local Hero of the Week.
08:44Local Hero of the Week
08:45this week
08:45is someone who is well-known
08:47within Northern Cricket Circles
08:48and has done a lot of things
08:49within his cricketing life,
08:51but Sunday marked
08:53a new achievement.
08:54So this is Jade Selby
08:55is the Local Hero of the Week
08:56who scored a 4th Grade 100,
08:58which, you know,
08:59it's kind of for everything
09:00that he has done,
09:00but he was batting
09:01alongside his son,
09:02playing alongside his son
09:04when scoring it.
09:05So a whole new experience
09:06for Jade
09:07in the Lonnie Cricket Club,
09:08so congratulations, Jade,
09:09for what is an awesome achievement
09:11and also scoring 100
09:12on the weekend.
09:13Absolutely,
09:14and the vision of that,
09:15if you haven't seen it
09:16from Launceston Cricket Club,
09:17is fantastic.
09:19He has clearly...
09:19Slightly humorous.
09:20Clearly pinged a hamstring
09:22there at some stage
09:23and is hobbling his way
09:24to the other end of the crease,
09:25but, you know,
09:26a great effort nonetheless.
09:28That is all the time
09:29we have for this week.
09:30We hope you guys
09:31for a long time.
09:32We hope you guys
09:33for a long time.
09:34We hope you guys
09:35for a long time.
09:35We hope you guys
09:36for a long time.
09:36We hope you guys
09:37for a long time.
09:37We hope you guys
09:38for a long time.
09:38We hope you guys
09:38for a long time.
09:38We hope you guys
09:39for a long time.
09:39We hope you guys
09:40for a long time.
09:40We hope you guys
09:41for a long time.
09:41We hope you guys
09:42for a long time.
09:42We hope you guys
09:43for a long time.
09:43We hope you guys
09:43for a long time.
09:44We hope you guys
09:44for a long time.
09:44We hope you guys
09:45for a long time.
09:46We hope you guys
09:47for a long time.
09:48We hope you guys
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