DAVE: Good morning boys, it’s a chilly Monday morning and we’re back as a full unit with Jonty returning from his time off last week. How was the trip mate?
JONTY: You don’t understand the deepness of the red soil in the outback until you go there Dave. Driving to Broken Hill, with the sun setting, was both captivating and beautiful, and then absolutely petrifying when the sun set and it was completely pitch black. I have a new-found appreciation for the size of Australia as well.
DAVE: Well, there’s the ‘Postcards’ section of LTS taken care of for this week; but how about we get stuck into sport. What was your best action from the weekend Jonty?
JONTY: My best action was watching Tiras Morton go about it for the Pakenham Warriors men’s team on Saturday night. They had to get him out because Malik Colvin-Seldon, their initial import, got a contract to play in Mexico.
MARCUS: (Laughs uncontrollably).
JONTY: What’s so funny Marcus?
MARCUS: He’s gone from bloody Pakenham to Mexico; that’s an unusual progression in basketball. It just sounded ridiculous that’s all (laughs again).
JONTY: Anyway, they got him in for his defensive stuff, and it’s one thing to hear about it from people at Pakenham, but to see it in the flesh was quite impressive. The way he launches at the ball at the defensive end, and makes a nuisance of himself by getting in passing lanes, was absolutely unbelievable. He was sensational in the second half and a big reason why Pakenham got it to overtime. He got himself into foul trouble, so we didn’t see him in overtime…but he was the reason they got there.
DAVE: Jonty, it was a late finish for you on Saturday night. You had to do some overtime yourself after the men’s and women’s games both went into overtime.
JONTY: Very nice segue Dave. Unfortunately it was heartbreak for both sides; both went down in overtime.
DAVE: Marcus, your best action from the weekend?
MARCUS: I was at Berwick Springs, at a pretty important stage of the last quarter, and Berwick Springs was making a run at Emerald. Kyan Buselli had the ball about 50 metres out, looking to kick inside 50, and one of my favourites, David Johnson, does a full-body diving smother on his kick, forces a turnover, they transition the ball the length of the ground and Johnson takes an uncontested mark about 30 out. He does the unselfish thing and kicked it to an open teammate, at the top of the goal square, who takes his 30 seconds and then ices the game for the Bombers. It was Johnson’s first game back after a month off with injury, but to put his body on the line like that, and then be so unselfish, that earns him my best action for this week.
DAVE: I thought Johnson might be a contender for the next topic actually, but we’ll get to that shortly.
MARCUS: I didn’t want to get into the whole Jonty/Joel Hillis category, bordering on being a stalker, so I’ve just mentioned Johnson in one topic this week.
DAVE: Good call, Hillis has definitely overtaken Dylan Chapman as Jonty’s man-crush this year.
MARCUS: Do you think we should reach out to Chapman and see how he’s doing? (Jonty laughs).
DAVE: Jonty, you’re the expert on the Coates Talent League and on Saturday the Pakenham women’s team had five players from the Gippsland Power in its team. My best action came from one of those girls, Ava Deszcz, who split a pack at centre-half-forward in the same style that a Dermott Brereton or Wayne Carey would have done back in the 80’s and 90’s. Deszcz hit the contest a millisecond late and left two Healesville girls stricken on the ground after a huge collision. Deszcz bounced to her feet, but it took her two opponents about 10 seconds to get to bounce up. Deszcz gave one of the girls a pat on the back as she ran past the next time; it was either being a good sport or she was rubbing it in a little bit. I loved it, you don’t see too much of that type of thing in women’s football. Ava, you play the game hard and you get my best action for the week. It made the crowd ooooh and ahhhh…and that’s what LTS best action is all about.
MARCUS: Spot on.
DAVE’S A POP
DAVE: Hey boys, you’re always having little digs about my age and I now have a title to prove that you blokes are right. Last Wednesday, while everyone was reading the Gazette, little Caleb Hudson Nagel made his way into the world and made my wife Kellie and I grandparents for the first time. It got me thinking about old people; like veterans in sport. Marcus, if you could recruit three sporting veterans to have an impact on a side, who would they be and why?
MARCUS: Before I have my say, is your daughter-in-law Bianca a bit stiff not to get your best action this week; she just had a baby? (Boys laugh).
DAVE: Actually, that’s a very good point Marcus. The entire Nagel clan was around there last night, handballing the young fella around like Greg Williams in his prime.
MARCUS: My first pick for this topic is heading down the cricket path.
JONTY: Ooooh…that’s interesting!
MARCUS: Thanks for your enthusiasm Jonty. I’m looking at Michael Davies, who moved from HSD to Buckley Ridges after winning a Wookey Medal and getting into his thirties. He trains hard, he’s super-competitive, he’s a great guy, and I had some Buckley Ridges players come up to me after the grand final win and say how good it was to get the win for ‘Slick’, and you could see the impact that he has. The second one is Brent Moloney at Officer Football Club; I actually don’t know how old he is, but the way he carries himself and the seniority he has, he certainly plays like a veteran. He’s selfless and he’s playing a new role this year, and his coach Daniel Charles said a couple of weeks back that he would love to clone him. The third one I’m going to Narre Warren and picking Brad Scalzo. I’ve never spoken to the guy, but he’s always got a huge smile on his face and seems to carry good energy. He missed 2022 with a knee-reco and then walks back into the senior side the next season and has an impact; that’s the regard he is held in at Fox Road. There are a lot of young blokes trying to take his spot, but there’s no way he plays twos when he returns from the odd injury. He seems to hold a special spot at that place.
DAVE: Well done Marcus; you’re terrific form in LTS continues.
JONTY: He’s in good form Dave. Actually, the last time we did LTS I was quite nervous about the prospects of Uganda at the T20 World Cup, but they’ve been very disappointing don’t you think.
DAVE: I’m sure there are a few grandpas playing in that team, Jonty.
JONTY: You’re probably right Dave. My three veterans; I’m starting with Harley Primrose from Doveton, who is entering the veteran stage of his career, but he epitomises what local footy is all about. He has toughness and courage over the footy, and then what he does off-field for Doveton has been really important as well, and why he was promoted to the co-captaincy last year. Then I’m going Dean Kent at Devon Meadows, his leadership has been outstanding, both when he’s been playing and not been playing. Some ex-AFL players that go local have checked out, just playing for fun, but he has become an impactful player on-field, and also a really strong presence – almost a second coach to Ryan Hendy – when he hasn’t been playing. And I’ve gone Brandon Osborne; who we talk about a lot on this page. He is the perfect spine player at full back and brings wonderful attributes to a football club.
DAVE: Marcus, speaking of Brad Scalzo, one of his premiership teammates at Narre Warren 16 years ago was Shane Brewster, who is now a legend at Warragul Industrials. ‘Punky’ must be pushing 380 senior games in his career and is showing no signs of slowing down soon. Every time you speak to someone from the Dusties about training standards and work ethic, Brewster’s name is always first mentioned. He gets a gig in my team because he’s a standard setter; and brings many other traits as well. He will get to 400 games that bloke. Lewis Rankin from Inverloch-Kongwak is my next pic, because he’s a gun player and a true inspiration. He was born with a limb deficiency and has no right arm below the elbow; but hasn’t made any excuses and is now a multiple WGFNC Team of the Year member as a defender. I’d love him on my team, because when things get tough, and you’re feeling sorry for yourself, you’d only have to glance his way to gain inspiration. And it’s no secret boys that Meaghan Winter is my favourite netballer (apart from Bianca of course) and she would bring similar standards to the table that we discussed earlier about ‘Punky’. Brewster, Rankin and Winter; three pretty good inclusions I would have thought.
THE HOLY GRAIL
DAVE: Hey boys, about half hour ago Bryson DeChambeau won the US Open at Pinehurst No2; widely considered one of the most traditional and toughest golf courses in the world. It’s almost the ultimate test in golf, and if you get your name on a major trophy at Pinehurst; it means that little bit more. What are some Holy Grails in other sports boys; the ultimate tests that need to be overcome?
JONTY: The one for me is Wimbledon; it’s got the prestige that no other tournament has, even though it’s a great honour to win any grand slam. That’s the pinnacle for me; it’s also on grass, which adds another element to it because you only get one shot each year to make it happen. In cricket, an away Ashes series has always been considered the pinnacle, but I think winning a test series in India is becoming a more difficult prospect for Australia. And it’s probably a no-brainer but the Olympics as well. If you win an event at the Olympics it’s probably as good a sporting achievement as any other on the planet. Usain Bolt once said he trains four years to run nine seconds…I love that comment and it sums up what the Olympics is all about.
MARCUS: Jonty pinched one of mine; I was going to say winning a test series in India, just because it’s a rarely seen sporting achievement. We used to have the Gabba, but that mystique has been whittled away by India and then the West Indies.
DAVE: Sorry to interrupt Marcus, but what was the name of the West Indian quick that steamrolled us that day?
JONTY AND MARCUS: (In chorus) Shamar Joseph.
DAVE: Very good boys.
JONTY: Did you know that Dave?
DAVE: I remember the performance, but no, I couldn’t remember his name. I’m a granddad now, remember!
MARCUS: The West Indian loss was really hard to swallow, given the standard of opposition and how the first test played out. And another on the tennis front; playing Rafa Nadal on the red clay of Roland Garros. Does anyone want to have a guess about his record at Roland Garros? (Jonty starts doing the sums).
JONTY: (Whispering, first round, second round, third round, fourth round, quarter finals, semi-finals, finals, as he counts his fingers) It would be something like 115 and 3…something like that.
MARCUS: Oh my god, was that off the top of your head?
JONTY: Yes, was I close?
MARCUS: 112 and 3. (Everyone laughs).
JONTY: That’s not a bad guess is it?
MARCUS: That’s incredible. He’s won 14 finals there; so to come up against Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros – either in his prime or not – would be one of the greatest challenges in world sport. As an opponent, Rafa Nadal and red-clay would be one of the least-welcome sights of them all.
DAVE: Well done again boys. Love your passion; we’ll catch up next week for another edition of LTS.
