By Lachlan Mitchell
LACHLAN: It’s good to be back in the saddle for my second Let’s Talk Sport as host, hopefully the sequel is just as good as the original…unlike Caddyshack Two which was a flop. Going from one film to another. Batman is coming out soon, with Robert Pattinson, and he’s is known as the caped crusader, but not all heroes wear capes. What I want to know is who are the unsung heroes of local sport. Dave let’s start with you.
UNSUNG HEROES
DAVE: In the West-Gippsland cricket I watched a young blonde-headed bowler from Pakenham do his thing, a young-bloke called Tom Brennan. I’ll be honest, I thought he was going to battle after the first few rounds but he has now taken 16 wickets and I think he is very important to them as they head into the finals series. They have also got Patrick Lawson who’s a bit quicker than Tom, but Tom is really good with his line and length and is really going to cause some troubles when the pressure is on in finals.
Also Cranbourne Meadows has had a lot of trouble this year with Covid and a lot of people going in and out of the club. But there is a player called Sunny Paul who has just kept that batting line-up together when everyone else has fallen. He has made almost 300 runs in a team that’s really struggled this year.
LACHLAN: What about you Bruce Wayne, I mean Tyler.
TYLER: I have got a couple. Matthew Goodwright from Buckley Ridges bowls off-spin and he bowls so tight on that ridiculous small ground at Park Oval and he only goes for two or three an over. Another one is Jacques Augustin from Frankston. He bats at nine and he is a wicket-keeper. He is the best glove-man I have ever seen.
A footy one is Jack Toner from Narre Warren, a famous name around these parts and he does his job and he’s a really good guy as well.
DAVE: Another one from me is ‘Teddy’ Fonseka at Carlisle Park. Ravi Kodithuwakku is taking all the glory at the Vikings – and rightfully so – but without Teddy they don’t win the last two games and potentially avoid relegation. He’s definitely an unsung hero.
TYLER: What about you Lachlan?
LACHLAN: For me it’s hard to go past your unsung heroes called umpires who have also felt the full-effect of Covid as well.
I have seen a lot of division two games where players have had to do square-leg just because there isn’t enough umpires to go around. Hopefully moving into finals we have two neutral umpires and we can get back to normality. Also the canteen staff and the people behind the scenes at local sport, who don’t always take the field, but without them we wouldn’t have the privilege to talk sport so a big thank-you to them.
FINALS PREPARATION
LACHLAN: The next topic is…We have reached the final-round of cricket this season and teams know where they sit and if finals is a possibility or if they can still make the finals or not.
But what I want to know is do you leave your team the same or experiment leading in. Tyler we will start with you.
TYLER: I am a big believer that the team that is going to win the flag rarely loses a game from about six weeks out. That fails a bit in the AFL with the second chance but I’m a big believer that building momentum in the finals rounds is crucial and you cannot make any changes going into finals.
LACHLAN: What about you Dave, you have had coaching experience as well.
DAVE: In West Gippsland at the moment there are a couple of ways that the contenders are looking at it. Kooweerup’s best batter is Chris Bright, who hasn’t opened the batting in three weeks after opening all year and making a real impact. He’s doing that just to share the load and let other players get into form. But everyone is different and he needs to be confident that not seeing the new-ball for a few weeks won’t effect his performance come finals time. Others wouldn’t dare switch things around…but that’s personal preference.
Tooradin on the other hand has Cal O’Hare batting well at the top of the order and Tom Hussey and Russell Lehman have started making runs as well. My opinion is there’s no way they’ll be meddling with that.
Pakenham has also dropped an out-of-form opener down the list to see if that works, but for me I am with Tyler. If its working don’t touch it ,especially if you’re coming of five or six games in a row like Tooradin are…don’t mess with what’s working.
LACHLAN: Would you give anyone a bowl who hasn’t bowled or would you let it be.
DAVE: If you get to this part of the season and you haven’t bowled yet, you’re not considered a bowling option. Finals are different, there’s more pressure on so you bowlers that apply pressure and get into a groove.
TYLER: Teams are afraid of getting out
DAVE: Pakenham and Cardinia played a game on the weekend with the score 130 to 115, which for me is perfect preparation for finals…absolutely perfect…because that’s what they’ll be like. What about you Lachlan any finals preparation?
LACHLAN: You start to think of what’s working but if you have thought throughout the year that this might work or you want to experiment with something…this is the time to do it. Possibly an over here to a part-timer with the fear he might get belted or take a wicket.
TYLER: I think it also matters who you are playing, if you playing a finals team you don’t want to reveal your cards, but if you’re playing a side that won’t make finals try things.
Such as who’s a potential spinner that we might try just before drinks that might shock someone before finals.
TECHNOLOGY IN SPORT
LACHLAN: Finally boy’s technology in sport. We see it with VAR in soccer, DRS in cricket, ARC in AFL, technology is growing into the game more and more.
Over the weekend Manchester City and Everton found themselves in the middle or a controversial decision with a handball late in the game. The decision was not picked up on VAR on second glance, even Chelsea legend and Everton coach Frank Lampard said his three-year-old daughter would have picked up the call.
Dave does technology have a place in sport…you’re from a time before technology was around in sport.
Dave: That’s very true..I’m an old bugger compared to you blokes. We are not going to go backwards or get rid of any technology, it’s only going to get more and more advanced. You see in cricket a ball pitching and turning and wonder how is that missing the stumps. I don’t think its 100 per cent right…I’m not sure how it picks up if a ball is dipping or turning, but in general I think it removes the anger in sport. But the Manchester City one, my son saw it and said straight away it’s a handball.
LACHLAN: The Tuesday Melbourne City game saw Mathew Leckie make clear as day contact in the box to potentially change the result, but for me what needs to change is the time taken to get to the wrong decision, upward of five minutes, Tyler I’d love to get your take on it.
TYLER: Way too much reliance on it, especially with cricket. The DRS was brought in for the howler, and then there were two reviews, and now with non-neutral umpires there is three. People use it as a strategic play.
The best batters use it when he’s six down and he’s on 60 as a hail Mary, he’s clearly out but I’ll go for it anyway. I like how the cricket has gone with the no-ball and how the third umpire has gone with that. I hate umpires call and there’s too much reliance on it.
DAVE: The one that gets me is the fielder who get the catch in the deep trying to judge if the ball has been caught or not.
If you catch it with your hands open and the ball touches the grass is it out or not out. We get two of them every summer and technology can’t fix that.
TYLER: The AFL one is the worst, just back the umpire in, every time they waste six minutes on it…just back the umpire in. Most of the time its comes back as umpires call anyway so what’s the point.
DAVE: You think of how many goals were kicked over the years where it was possibly touched.
LACHLAN: The one that springs to mind is Stephen Silvagni and Michael long in the 1993 Grand Final.
DAVE: Yeah but think how many goals we would have stopped.
TYLER: But think how many wickets Muralitharan and Warne would have taken if DRS was around back then.
DAVE: I think tennis technology has come a long way, it’s really improved the game. John McEnroe wouldn’t be known as a bad boy if technology was around back then. He would have just argued with a computer and looked like an even bigger idiot than he did back in hey day.
LACHLAN: Tennis got rid of lines-people because of Covid but I think its here to stay. The out-call for the 2021 Australian Open was voiced by local heroes who helped during the pandemic including, lifesavers, firefighters and emergency service personal.
DAVE: What about local sport, surely the technology doesn’t filter its way down; I think the local sport will keep its charm and be pretty safe from all that stuff.
LACHLAN: The only technology in local cricket that bothers me is seeing a big fat zero next to your name…a duck on the screen sends shivers down my spine.
Anyways great performance as usual boys hopefully this sequel was more Godfather than Caddy Shack.
