Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Six things we learned in the past week

 

1.  The floodlighting at KGV Park needs urgent attention.

Last Friday night, the floodlights at KGV Park failed yet again and the second fixture of the evening, the Championship Summer Cup game between Metro and Clarence Zebras, had to be abandoned at half-time.

This is just not good enough, and it has happened before.

KGV Park is the premier football ground in Tasmania and the inadequate floodlighting is an embarrassment.

Whether it is the responsibility of Football Tasmania or the Glenorchy City Council, it has to be fixed, and now.

2.  The standard of some teams in the NPL is worrying.

Last Saturday, Launceston City and Riverside Olympic hit rock bottom.

They were soundly beaten.  City went down 9-0 to Olympia Warriors, while Riverside lost 8-1 to South Hobart.

Such score-lines are not acceptable in a serious competition and they do not augur well for the future of the NPL Tasmania competition,

I know it’s only the Summer Cup, but if such score-lines carry over into the league competition, it could damage the credibility of the top flight in Tasmania.

3.  Some substitutes don’t take things seriously enough.

A couple of decades ago, I was watching a top-flight game in Tasmania when I witnessed something I could scarcely believe.

As the second half of the game commenced, I noticed that the substitute goalkeeper on the bench of one of the teams was eating a pie.

I wonder what would have happened if he’d been called on to take the field?  He would not exactly have been in the best of shape to dive around.

Well, I thought the game had progressed in Tasmania.

Last Saturday, I was watching a top-flight Summer Cup game and as the substitutes were warming up along the side-line, I again witnessed an amazing thing.

One of the substitutes interrupted his warm-up and ran over to a group of young boys sitting just behind and to the side of one of the goals.  They had beckoned him over because they were eating hot chips and they wanted him to share some.

The substitute took some, ate them, and resumed warming up on the side-line.  This is, remember, in our top-flight competition.

I don’t think the coach or support staff saw the incident as they were watching the play.

Had they seen it, I wonder what would have happened?  Any top coach worth his salt (I don’t know if the chips were salted, by the way) would surely have sent the substitute back to the changerooms to get dressed.  He certainly would not have brought that substitute on.

Now, I don’t think the substitute took a handful of chips, but regardless of that, it was a silly thing to do while you are warming up and preparing yourself to come on, which he did.

It doesn’t look good in any competition, let alone Tasmania’s top-flight competition.

I’ve got photos of the incident, but I won’t embarrass the player or his club

4.  Are Football Tasmania now understaffed?

With the departure of Michael Edwards, Glen McNeill and Andrew Cooling, one can’t help but wonder if Football Tasmania has lost key personnel who played an important role in football in this State.

Michelle Mizzen has replaced Andrew in the media role, but the other two positions are up in the air.

The league season will commence soon and one can only hope that the organisation is up to it administratively.

By the way, I wish Michael Edwards well in his new coaching role in northern Queensland.

I shall also miss Andrew’s competent arrangement and handling of media conferences and his work on Slice of Cheese and as a commentator on the live feeds of games.

5.  There are some young female players that are ready for national exposure.

Congratulations to Annalee Bidwell, Eloise Paine, Holly Bonnertz-Benn, Kate Bonnertz-Benn and Jessica McCallum-Smith, who are being scouted as possible inclusions in the Young Matildas.

We have had young Tasmanians who have made that jump to national selection, but to have five in with a chance is a wonderful situation.

Good luck, girls.

6.  Tasmanians on the national refereeing stage.

Tony Peart was a regular assistant referee in the A-League two seasons ago, but the pandemic put an end to that.  For how long, no-one knows.

But, Lauren Hargrave, a Tasmanian female referee is currently active in the W League.

I watched her on the line in a W-League game on the weekend that was being televised on the ABC.

Lauren moved to Canberra last year for work and it’s great to see she has progressed to the national stage in her refereeing career.

She has refereeing pedigree, too.

Apart from being a top referee in Tasmania in recent years, her grandfather, Doug Slater, was a prominent Tasmanian referee in the 60s and 70s.

13 comments:

Phil Randall said...

To add to point 1 Walter, my son, who was on the bench in that game mentioned afterwards he was he didn't have to come onto the field, as the showers/toilets were in such a poor state he would have found it impossible to have a shower after the match. One has to wonder if the strategy is to let the facilities become sub-standard to wangle extra funding with the upcoming Women's World Cup. Obviously this does no favors to those trying to participate in our sport this year.

Anonymous said...

Would be an eye opener to wander through the top gate and inspect the AFL ground facilities situated within the same sporting precinct. Would be great to inspect their maintenance scheduling and compare expenditure for each ground. Would just about bet that the facilities and maintenance cost fall more favourably to the oval shaped ground.

Brian Young said...

Ten+ years ago, I saw a goalkeeper answer his mobile phone then made a save, in the second half of a match at the Showground.

Anonymous said...

Brian, it obviously wasn't a top-flight game!

Anonymous said...

I understand a no confidence motion in the CEO and Board is at hand .

Anonymous said...

agree city and riverside have the potential to damage the npl.the solution has to be the introduction of relagation.so that poor descion making at board level and coaching level is punished

Brian Young said...

No names...to protect the guilty. 👼⚽

Anonymous said...

Time for the clubs at the forthcoming AGM to make it clear how utterly ****ed off most of the soccer public is at the continuing second rate admin. Long overdue is a new President - in a galaxy far far away is unfortunately an apt description.

Anonymous said...

When is the AGM please Walter?

Anonymous said...

Are there any football department people left? whether it be the south or the north.

Anonymous said...

Changerooms, toilets etc are an absolute disgrace at KGV.
FT should be embarrassed.As it is they are an embarrassment in the local sporting community.
I have never seen a diabolical, dirty , unhygienic , unhealthy sports complex, if you can call it that. We talk about avoiding Covid ?????? You could catch much worse if you showered or want to the toilet at KGV.
Maybe a check by council health inspectors may help the situation or has FT been asked to keep the matter quiet . If so then they are just as responsible and should be taken to task over the matter as individuals and as an organisation. And clubs pay thousands of dollars to be part of this circus ???? When are they going to band together and insist something be done ?
We would be better off giving the facility to an organisation that will use it and provide a facility for the community.
FT you should be ashamed. ( maybe one or two execptions)

Anonymous said...

Sadly the Federation has never being ran so badly at board or CEO level !

The Phoenix said...

Here we are on the cusp of smacking AFL in this state but wait.....KGV. It hasn't changed in the 40+ years ive been playing except for the shambolic surface it now has. FFT you are the guardians of the game and you are not doing your job.