Josh Partridge and Ryan Bentley discuss the upcoming NTFA vs NWFL representative match at UTAS Stadium in episode 87 of The Press Box. Video by Aaron Smith (22/5/25)
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00:00Hello and welcome to another episode of The Press Box. My name is Josh Partridge and with
00:11me today is Ryan Bentley. This is episode 87 and you might notice that we're still missing a crew
00:17member. Ben Han is still absent but rest assured that next time we're sitting in these seats we'll
00:23have the big tall man in between us. But now it's time for everyone's favourite segment,
00:28numerology. Now the number 87 is important in Tasmanian sport Ryan because David Rhys Jones
00:40was the 1987 VFL Longsmith medalist and he might sit back and go David Rhys Jones why him? He's not
00:47Tasmanian you're right but after he played with Carlton in the VFL he came down and played 50
00:53games as captain coach of North Launceston and coached them to their 1995 TFL Premiership.
01:00So that is why an 87 is significant to Tasmanian sport. It's a stretch but...
01:05It's a very big stretch but I'll save it with a nice segue. North Launceston obviously had a really
01:11big win over the weekend over Scottsdale. It was kind of I guess the thing that people were kind
01:16of stressing about the Premier League when this game was going to happen and
01:19yeah North Launceston held them scoreless throughout the game in a devastating win but that's not where
01:25I was on the weekend. I went out to Longford to watch Longford versus South Launceston where
01:30South Launceston got up by seven points. Hunter Farrelly kicked four. He kicked two goals in the
01:36second and two goals in the third that really were important in two little blitzes both back to back
01:41but Hamish Sitsma in the last quarter made it really close and really interesting by kicking
01:46three goals. A massive target up forward when he was the ruck for most of the day but yeah
01:52just went up forward and did his business I suppose. Ryan which men's game did you go to on the weekend?
01:57I was back at my favourite league of the NTFA, Div 2, out at Evendale for Evendale-Campbelltown
02:03the rematch even though they played like two or three weeks ago on Anzac Day. Don't ask you
02:07about the schedule. Yeah it was a really good game. Campbelltown got into a great start. Kicked a
02:13couple of goals early through Corey Goodluck. He set the tone early but then it was pretty much all
02:18Evendale from there really. Like Campbelltown showed a little bit in the third quarter but no.
02:22Evendale got over the top. Dan Barry kicked three and they came out 21 point winners so
02:27it's all on for Evendale now I think. They've got their full squad pretty much back now and they're
02:32looking good. Yeah when you get Ratai back into that side he's been one of their major inclusions
02:38obviously had a lot of recruits this year but he's been one and Dawnoff as well obviously that
02:43really pulls apart in that league and I suppose. Talk me through what women's game you went to as well.
02:47Well I went out to Infermate Park for OL's Meander Valley. Obviously we know Meander Valley have had
02:53their struggles both in the men's and the women's. I thought they played pretty well though. They
02:58probably let themselves a little bit down in the third quarter but they were competitive I think
03:01throughout the whole day. OL's though got the job done winning by 98 points. And then earlier in that
03:08day I was out at Deloraine for Deloraine versus Launceston in the women's game. That was a draw. That was a
03:13massive game. Deloraine kind of came out of the blocks but Lonnie only kicked one goal eight for
03:20the game so they created plenty of opportunities. Meg Radford kicked their goal in the second quarter
03:26and then from there especially in the second half they really peppered the goals but obviously either
03:31side of the goals. But it was a really good contest and Deloraine hung on like expertly. The way that they
03:37played in the in the defense in the second half they were so strong. Karina Baxter for example she
03:44was brilliant. Renee Brough. They were both fantastic in the background just two that I can mention off
03:49the top of my head. Yeah it was a really good game of footy and it shows why they are the top two teams
03:53at the moment. Lonnie obviously went down to south earlier in the year so that top four along with
03:59Scott Stahl in the women's Premier League is really close and really showing what the Premier League can
04:05be can become in future years I guess. And that kind of leads into our next next thing next weekend
04:11we've this weekend sorry we've got the rec games. So NTFA take on the NWFL in the Premier competitions.
04:18So the NWFL in the men's have dominated over the past couple of decades really. I think it's six or
04:25seven wins in a row the NTFA yet to beat them so but that's been obviously without the likes of the TSL
04:32players especially over the last last say 10 years since Bernie and Davenport exited the TSL. So
04:40you've got the likes of Jake Hines, Brodie Palfreyman, Alex Lee, Fletcher Bennett that you expect to be
04:46in those teams because those squads haven't been announced as this video is going to air. But it's
04:50going to be really interesting to see how that game plays out. I suppose how do you see as someone
04:56that's kind of had a foot in both camps coming from the northwest coast I suppose how do you see
04:59this game potentially going? Well it is always a point of pride for the Northwesters getting the job
05:05done both over the NTFA and the SFL but yes I think having all those guys back from North Lonnie
05:11and Lonnie will certainly make a difference. Now I don't know what camp to sit in now that I live
05:18in Launceston. I used to live in Burnie. Do I want to see the NWFL win? Possibly but hey hoping for a good game of
05:26footy. But we're all impartial as generalists. Exactly well exactly. But um and then in the
05:32women's um they've obviously been playing this tri-series for a bit longer now obviously since
05:36the uh TSLW disbanded at the end of 2020 the women have been playing uh this tri-series since 2021.
05:43Um the northern women have won one of those clashes so it's been a struggle against the northwest as
05:49well for the uh NTFA women so it'll be really interesting to see how they go especially with
05:54having lost some of their players due to the uh reshuffle in uh competitions over the last year
05:59so it'll be really interesting to see how that team goes as well. Um you during this week sat down
06:05with one of the Devils uh new signings I suppose talk me through your chat with Todd Patterson. Yes
06:11I had a chat with Todd Patterson who's the new Devils head of list management and strategy for both the
06:15men's and the women's side. Um it was a pretty wide-ranging chat. Chatted about his times at South
06:20Lonnie as a youngster um obviously his president Rod was uh his father his father Rod was president
06:27of South Lonnie um and sister Lisa also heavily involved as well. Yes and sister Lisa you mentioned
06:33that as well um talked a bit about South Lonnie he was back here for the 20th anniversary of
06:38Scott Jokeburn winning a school premiership um so he's getting around to that and some local footy
06:44but yeah I he seemed like a great guy from the 20 minutes I spent with him um really passionate
06:50about Tassie as well which is I think super important and um yeah he's just a really good
06:56guy. Yeah and you wrote a story I guess about his path into um list management and all that kind of
07:02thing so talk me through I guess how he got to to where he is today and what he did what he's done uh in
07:06the AFL landscape previously. Yeah so he was the list manager for the AFLW side at um Melbourne um
07:13obviously they won the premiership in 2022 and he was a big part of that um but yeah his story to get
07:19there because he did a degree in business majoring in valuations I believe and it was basically not
07:25life in that job and had a coffee with oh I forget his name a guy from Melbourne. He had a coffee with
07:32a guy from Melbourne so he started doing some volunteer work there um just doing some scouting
07:37and then he got paid a little bit more and a little bit more and then eventually it turned into his
07:40full-time role at the Melbourne footy club and now he is doing both the women's and the men's for Tassie.
07:46Well he could very nearly have won uh what our next segment is but uh it's going to go to someone
07:51else and this is our segment Josh's Local Hero of the Week.
07:54Local Hero of the Week this week it goes to something that we've kind of already touched
08:04on before the North Launceston versus Scottsdale game it goes to Jack Event. Jack Event had a day
08:11out against Scottsdale obviously um a bit of a different uh kind of opponent that he's played
08:16in recent years but Jack had 52 touches uh 31 kicks and 21 handballs and kicked six goals too
08:23uh so Jack had a rather big day and if you if you had him as captain as your AFL fantasy team
08:28uh well NTFA fantasy team whatever you want to call it uh he had 291 points so if you double that
08:35quick maths uh just short of 600. So uh Jack you are you've had a really big week but this is obviously
08:41going to be the biggest thing you've achieved this week so congratulations. And that is all we've got time
08:47for today that is another episode of the Press Box in the can. Please go out read the newspaper and check
08:52at askstuffonline.