Footy fight returns to the field
AFTER months of pre-season bickering between North Hobart and the Tigers, they will square off today at North Hobart Oval to start the Tasmanian State League season.
Former Demons assistant coach Trent Baumeler will lead the Tigers team for the first time, which includes six former Dees and a seventh injured in the stands.
The Good Friday game will also be the first time in four years North Hobart will play under its traditional name and wear the blue and red guernsey. Proudly wearing the old jumper will be North Hobart’s Nathan McCulloch, who got an early hold on the Tigers’ Eddie Burrows-Cheng yesterday.
The match starts at 3.05pm.
THEY have played in the past four TSL grand finals, winning three flags including last year’s by a record margin, but the Northern Bombers believe they have never been hungrier.
And to make the prospect even scarier, it looks like the 2018 model could be even better than last season’s recordbreaking squad.
New captain Brad CoxGoodyer said motivation was not an issue.
“To have that feeling again, once you’ve had that feeling you know what it’s like and you want to get it again,” CoxGoodyer said.
“Definitely for me the drive is still there and for the group the drive is still there. Once you’ve had that feeling you want to get there again.”
Cox-Goodyer himself is the perfect example.
He was the Northern Bombers’ and the TSL’s best and fairest and was best afield in the grand final with an eight-goal haul.
Into this all-conquering side comes former Devonport captain Beau Sharman and two Mariners from the former North-West Coast club, Sherrin Egger and Cooper Stuart, while last year’s playing-coach Tom Couch will also return as a fly-in player later this season.
But Cox-Goodyer believes it is AFL-bound super talented teenager Tarryn Thomas who will set the competition alight when available.
“The best thing about Tarryn is he’s a really good kid, he doesn’t have a big head,” he said.
“He’s had a lot of attention on him since he was a 15-yearold, but he’s really humble.
“His talent on the footy field is something I’ve never seen before. I wish him all the best but we’ve still got him for one more year, which is really good.”
The Northern Bombers’ premiership defence will start tonight against arch rival and flag contender Launceston at University of Tasmania Stadium starting at 6.30pm.