King and Queen of the Mountain finishes in the snow | The Press Box 82 (20/2/25) - video Dailymotion

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In Episode 82 of The Press Box, Ben Hann gives a solo wrap-up of the King and Queen of the Mountain on Ben Lomond. Video by Aaron Smith and Paul Scambler (20/2/25)

Transcript

00:00Welcome one and all to that episode of The Press Box, episode 82.

00:12My name's Ben Hand.

00:13Joining alongside me is no one because it is a bit of a special episode we're bringing

00:17to you guys today.

00:19We don't have Josh.

00:20He's currently, or he's just come back actually from the Live Golf in Adelaide and our special

00:25guest Hamish is not quite available for us today.

00:28So it'll just be me and I'll take you through what has been a massive week in Tasmanian

00:33sport but first of all, it's everyone's favourite segment, Numerology.

00:44So this number, episode 82, 82 is a big week in, or a big number I should say, in Tasmanian

00:52sport because on the weekend the Tasmanian Netball League got started.

00:59The Northern Hawks and the Cavs playing at home at the Silverdome, well unfortunately

01:03for the Kingston Blues based in the South, they had to play both of them for the doubleheader

01:08on the weekend and they lost both of them, 41-39 against the Hawks and 57-42 against

01:15the Cavs.

01:16And what that meant was that after their first two games of the season, their percentage

01:20is 82.

01:22So pretty stunning stuff if you ask me.

01:25Now we do actually have a big week to talk about, most notably and very hot off the press

01:33in terms of when I'm speaking is Basketball Tasmania's announcement of a strategy report

01:42to navigate their severe court loss.

01:44They came up with some pretty damning figures that really highlights just how bad the situation

01:51is with basketball in this state.

01:54They claim that 309 players have to share, for every court I should say, there are 309

02:01players.

02:02So for those who are avid basketball fans, you'd know only 10 can play at a time on a

02:07court, so 309 is far too many.

02:11And they suggest that 31 more courts are needed than what is currently there.

02:19There are 39 full-size courts available statewide.

02:24Only six of those meet Basketball Tasmania's requirements.

02:29Of those 31 that are required, nine would be based in the North according to Basketball

02:34Tasmania.

02:35Though they do note and acknowledge that there is a Northern Suburbs precinct in Mowbray

02:43getting built as we speak that will provide three more courts and Elphin Stadium is due

02:49to get three courts after an election promise was made.

02:53However, that is still yet to be built and there is no timeline for when that might happen.

03:01On to, I suppose, lighter news but certainly just as interesting was on the weekend we

03:07had the King and Queen of the Mountain held at Ben Lomond.

03:12It's a great event held by the Launceston Mountain Bike Club and this year's event was

03:19even more spectacular than the usual views you get at Jacob's Ladder and on the Alpine

03:24Plateau because it was snowing.

03:26Because of course it was snowing in the middle of February in Tasmania.

03:31So riders had to traverse obviously the usual course, go up Jacob's Ladder, it's a very

03:37steep course, very beautiful too.

03:41But then they were greeted with snow as they tried to cross the finish line and it was

03:45Tasmanian's Izzy Flint from Launceston and Oliver Sims from Devonport who were quickest

03:52and crowned King and Queen respectively.

03:55Izzy was very honest about the day, said she's a bit of a princess in the cold so I don't

04:00think she loved just how cool it was on top of the mountain but she did say it was pretty

04:05remarkable just to be surrounded by a blanket of white in the middle of Tasmanian summer.

04:12And to finish off with in what has, as I said, been a massive week in Tassie sport is the

04:20Hawks announced their extension, playing in Launceston for another two years until the

04:28end of 2027 where they'll continue to play four games per season.

04:32It is news that's come much to the delight of the Launceston business community that

04:38will surely have their winter tourism schedule beefed up as a result of this.

04:44I spoke with the Siebel Launceston hotel owner Craig Richmond about his reaction and well

04:51his first initial thought is yeah this is great but we actually hope that they can continue

04:55even beyond 2027.

04:57He suggested that there is a world that the Devils and the Hawks can co-exist and play

05:05games at UTAS Stadium at the same time, it remains to be seen whether UTAS Stadium will

05:09be too busy or not but he said look, City of Launceston Council I should say, Tourism

05:17Tasmania, they're always looking for ways to fill the schedule and fill the hotels during

05:22winter when it can be quite a bleak weekend period.

05:27And he said well if you get nine AFL games a year that pretty much is your winter strategy

05:31and you know it is optimistic I think right at this moment to have nine games in my personal

05:38opinion before the stadium is built where Launceston will receive about seven games,

05:45Devils games I should say, so whether or not as well as the VFL, VFLW, AFLW games amongst

05:53the other content the Hawks will be able to fit into that schedule remains to be seen

05:57but certainly I think all of the Northern Tasmanian community hopes that that can happen.

06:04There is plenty more that has happened but that is all the time we have for today.

06:08I really appreciate you guys joining me for another episode and we'll see you guys for

06:12the next one.

King and Queen of the Mountain finishes in the snow | The Press Box 82 (20/2/25)

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