JONTY: Welcome again to Let’s Talk Sport gents. Dave, before we get into the Olympics can you please kick us off with your best action for the week?
DAVE: Thanks Jonty, it was a huge weekend for the Pakenham women’s team on Saturday; progressing through to the big dance in two weeks’ time. Pakenham’s ruck, Sarah ‘Ace’ Ventura is still only new to the game, but she’s got some real spring in those legs of hers. She took on a VFLW player on Saturday, Paula Pavic from Healesville, who hit Ace with some strong blows to the stomach and mid-region. Ace had to come off at one stage; badly winded I think, but went back on and showed tremendous courage and steered the Lions to victory. Just getting up off the deck when her game looked over gave the rest of the team a lift. Well done Ace!
MARCUS: Good stuff Dave. Late in Gembrook Cockatoo’s important clash with Officer on Saturday, Aaron Firrito attempted to run around Jackson Honey while he was standing the mark. I don’t think he, or anyone who saw what happened next, will make the same mistake again. Honey grabbed Firrito by the jumper and rag-dolled him; throwing him to the ground with one hand in what almost looked like a wrestling move, winning a free kick for holding the ball in the process. It was an awesome show of strength from the youngster.
JONTY: Thanks Marcus, we love a bit of wrestling action in LTS. For me, I can’t go past Pakenham’s youth women and men qualifying for the big dance at Cardinia Life in a double header on Sunday. If I was to pinpoint a piece of best action, it would be Hayley Letts’ first quarter, she scored three triples at a time when Pakenham was struggling to convert under the pressure of finals. Not just the coolness of those shots, but the crowd lift that came off the back of that; it seemed to really get the Warriors going. Now that the Olympics are over, a record-breaking one for Australia, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on some highlights of Paris 2024.
PARIS HIGHLIGHTS
DAVE: I must admit I’m not overly honest when it comes to this stuff usually, but I did shed a few tears over the last two weeks. A lot of great stories have come from the Australian team. I think Saya Sakakibara, the BMX rider, is the one that has touched my heart the most. The journey that family has been on is an incredible story. I don’t think there were too many dry eyes when she gave her brother a hug at the medal ceremony so that was one of the highlights for me; and seeing two Aussies up to their necks in it in the Stade De France – Nina Kennedy (Pole Vault) and Matt Denny (Discus). Watching those two win medals was awesome on centre stage.
JONTY: The storyline of Saya and her brother has captured a lot of attention.
MARCUS: The highlight for me was seeing so many Australian athletes, with expectation on their shoulders, go into their respective events and win it so comfortably. I’m primarily thinking the Fox sisters (Jess and Noemie), Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus. The fact they had the weight of expectation on their shoulders and did it successfully speaks to their character and fortitude. Arisa Trew’s final run in the skateboarding and the commentary on that was brilliant. They seemed to really know what they were talking about and the sheer bewilderment and fact she kept pulling tricks out of nowhere was really exciting. On a non-Australian front, the United States v Serbia basketball match didn’t go the way I wanted it to, with Serbia unable to hold on for an upset win, but my god it was a heck of an exhibition of basketball.
JONTY: Well summed up. For me it was the fact we had so many golden moments – not necessarily gold medals – but memorable achievements away from the swimming. I think we come into every Olympic Games thinking the success will be dictated by what happens in the pool, but we won 11 gold away from swimming. You talked about the Fox sisters, Marcus, and one I really liked was seeing Noemie step out of her big sister’s shadow. That was a massive upset. There were members of the Fox family who would ask Noemie ‘do you do canoeing as well? She has no profile whatsoever even in her own family so to see her win gold in an inaugural event on the world stage was cool to see. And the skateboarding, the race walk and track and field were some other cool moments for the sporting landscape in Australia.
BOOSTING BRAND
JONTY: On a similar note, which athlete do you guys think has lifted their brand the most based on their achievement these games? I have a strong view on this so I’ll be interested to see if either of you agree.
MARCUS: The first one is Jessica Hull – coming into the athletics with a 1500m world record. We spoke last week about how we’re starved of success in track and field and we’ve had field events notch medals, but her winning a silver medal on the final night was awesome to see. The Opals, we were speaking about them lacking a big name. The opening game was a disaster on all fronts but to dig their campaign out of the dust and finish with a bronze medal was an incredible effort. It was a huge win for the brand of misfit teens at skate parks, with a 14-year-old and 21-year-old winning gold. Dave, you’ll probably be more lenient on young (grandson) Caleb if he wants to spend all his time at a skate park going forward knowing a potential gold medal is on offer.
JONTY: And a 51-year-old was part of the skateboarding as well!
DAVE: I think Marcus has summed it up well. Nina Kennedy’s probably the one for me. She seems to have jumped up to the stratosphere of elite athletes. We spoke highly of Jess Fox and Ariarne Titmus leading into the Olympics, but I think Nina Kennedy has become a name synonymous with our Olympics. I think she’ll be a name none of us will ever forget now. Some of our gold medallists work just as hard, but you just don’t remember their names in two months’ time, but I think Kennedy is going to be a name now embedded in our Olympic history. From a different point of view; you talk about brand awareness, the two young skateboarders will probably become the wealthiest of the Australian athletes. Because as a swimmer, how many speedos and goggles can you sell? Those two will get brand agreements with skateboards, helmets, pads etc. and will come out of Paris best in that regard I think.
JONTY: That was exactly my answer to the question, Dave. Marcus spoke about the difficulty of penetration and disrupting the mainstream market in a niche sport. You need a point of difference and it’s difficult to do, even for Titmus and swimming, which is more main stream than skateboarding. Keegan Palmer has personality, spunk and flair and I look at skateboarding and think it is the perfect sport for the future of the world. It’s the intersection of sport, entertainment and culture and you talk about the sponsors that will go after him: there’s the skateboard-related sponsors, and then there is Red Bull that love extreme sports, there’s apparel, there’s fragrances, and I feel like Palmer sums all of that up perfectly. And to have two gold medals by 21, I just think he has the world at his feet so I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays out and how skateboarding grows.
DAVE: On skateboarders, Arisa Trew’s run looked so far superior to the opposition it wasn’t funny. I was surprised she won by only one or two points. She came out blazing with lots of flips where the others looked pretty conservative. I don’t understand the sport and how it’s judged, but she seemed head and shoulders above the rest to me.
JONTY: If there’s one sport I’ve come away from these Olympics thinking I’ve fallen in love with it, it’s skateboarding. It will be interesting to see if it can keep me beyond the Olympics.
DAVE: There is a skate park at Pakenham, Jonty, so you know what you can do in your lunch breaks…it’s not too late, mate!
MARCUS: The only thing I wonder about Arisa Trew is whether she has peaked too early. Will brands be ambivalent to align themselves to a 14-year-old girl?
JONTY: I think that’s a really good point.
DAVE: I think you’ve got kids at school and everything, she’s in amongst that group and the sponsors and kids will relate to that. It will be interesting to see how that plays out but she’s in a very good place to cash in.
JONTY: She probably has congruence with different types of brands and sponsors than a Keegan Palmer.
HITTING FORM
JONTY: We’re right at the end of the home and away season and about to start finals so I’ll ask you guys which players have hit strong form right when it matters. Marcus; you go first.
MARCUS: Narre Warren beat Wandin last week and there were a few who turned the tide of the game in the second half. One was Jesse Davies, a key forward who wasn’t having much of an impact so he was thrown into the ruck and his mobility around the ground allowed him to have a real influence. He missed some games through the middle of the year but he’s strong and one of the main key forwards in the forward line. Daniel Toner as well, kicked four goals last Saturday, one of the best games he’s played. He’s a nippy forward alongside Hamish West. The Magpies came into the year with the mandate of moving the ball quicker into their forward line and those two are the apex of that. And Officer is still in finals contention… just. If they don’t it won’t be from a lack of effort from Sam Hoghton. He missed the first eight weeks of the season through injury but since he’s come back he’s been a seamless fit into the midfield and has been named in the best for his past five games. He was on the sidelines again on Saturday and the Kangaroos really could have used him in the middle.
DAVE: For me, one is Cam Pedersen, a former AFL player who did his ACL in the grand final last year. He didn’t play until round 12 and then he played a week off but he’s played a couple recently and I think bringing in a big-bodied league best and fairest winner changes the dynamic of Phillip Island. He can go into the ruck or go forward and no defender can go with him. And Dermott Yawney, did a bad hamstring in round eight. He’s been back for two or three weeks and is the second best full forward in the comp. He hasn’t been kicking a lot of goals but last week, he played a high centre half forward role and set up a goal to get Nar Nar Goon in front and then took a Leo Barry game-saving mark in the dying stages. He then came out and kicked six on the weekend. He looks ready for a huge finals series.
JONTY: I’ve picked out players from my three finals bound teams. I’ll start with Hampton Park – Jackson Dalton’s return has been important for them, just the experience and toughness and firepower he brings. He has been named in the best for each of the last three weeks. He looks to be priming himself for a big finals series. At Doveton, Shannon Henwood and Jake Basa returned for their second and third games respectively of the season last weekend and now have a bit of continuity. They add the grunt you want around finals time. And Patrick Ryder last week, in his third match back from injury, he took eight contested marks and kicked three goals for Devon Meadows. So after stumbling to the finish line last year, he’s one that looks like he’ll be ready at the right time of the year. Thanks boys; we’ll talk again next week.
